About-Us

• Born in 1971 in South Africa as an Irish citizen
• Started Taekwondo at the age of 12
•  Married with six children.
• o   Five children participate in Taekwondo.
• o   One daughter is a 2^nd degree black belt.
• My professional career in Taekwondo started in the late 1980’s
• Moved to Ireland in July 2011
• Presently running two clubs in the Waterford region.
• Affiliated with the Irish National Taekwondo Association (INTA) in Ireland
•  On the grading panel for the INTA
•  In 1985 received an award as the best Taekwondo Student in South Africa 

Black Belt Grading 

• 1987 – 1st Degree under the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF)
• 1989 – 2nd Degree Taekwondo Black Belt, under the ITF,
• 1991 – 3rd Degree Taekwondo Black Belt under the ITF Cert No SA -3-3
• 1995 – 4th Degree Taekwondo in Italy Cert. No SA-4-2
• 1999 – 5th Degree Taekwondo with ITF in Dublin Ireland Cert No SA – 5 – 1
• 2005 – 6th  Degree Taekwondo Black Belt, under  GTF Cert IRE-6-19
• 2011 – 7th Degree Taekwondo Black Belt Master GTF 2011 Cert IRE-7-10
• 2021 – 8^th Degree Taekwondo Black Belt, under the ITF,

• Qualified international ITF Referee
• Global Taekwon-Do International Referee, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011.
• Selected to coach Irish Team for Patterns in World Championships 2014.
• Selected to referee for ITF at World Championships.
• Refereed at most tournaments attended.
• 2010 – Selected as one of three Instructors across the World to head up the Technical committee of the Global Taekwondo Federation by Technical Chairman Master Ha, 8th Degree Black Belt
• 2014 – Selected to coach Ireland Team to Choi Jung Wha ITF World Championships in Italy, returned with 4 golds, 3 silvers from my personal students including 2 golds from my daughter Christine Franks.
• 2016-Selected to referee for Ireland at Choi Jung Wha ITF World Championships in England.

• Attended and completed 5 IICs under General Choi, in
  • 1991 North Korea,
  • 1992 Moscow,
  • 1994 South Africa,
  • 1997 Prague
  • 1999 Trinity College Dublin.
• Completed 8 IICs with GTF from 2004 to 2011
• 2005 – Technical International Seminar in Johannesburg conducted by Master Xuan Ha, 8th Degree Master and Technical Director of GTF.
• 2012 – January IIC in Tralee
• 2012 – June IUC in Limerick.
• 2013 – IIC under Grand Master Choi Jung Hwa in Dublin.
• Completed IUC under Choi Jung Wha ITF in U.K England.
• 2018 – May IIC in City West Dublin

• The members of our clubs participate as many tournaments as possibly annually These tournaments include.
  • INTA tournaments & Championships
  • British Open Championship
• The students medal count is generally more that 80%
• For many years have we have organised annual tournaments & Championships
• The Crystal Classic Tournament we host for the last five years is an annual event on the INTA tournament calendar.
• Personal Participation in
  • 1991 Taekwon-Do Championships in Pyong Yang, North Korea
  • 1991 – Selected as Springbok to represent South Africa at the World
  • 1993 – Selected at Protea to represent South Africa at the World Taekwon-Do Championships in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
  • 1995 – Won the Australasian Championships for Sparring and Patterns in Melbourne
• Since 2000 have been to more than 14 international and world championships, taking anything from 8 to 25 participants to these tournaments with a high medal count.
• 2006 – Six of my Black Belt students became World Champions at the GTF Taekwon-Do World Championships in Italy
• 2009 – Eight of my Black Belt students became World Champions at the GTF Taekwon-Do World Championships in Malaysia
• 2018 – Nov coached my own club team to UK open in Scotland- returning with 3 Golds, 2 Silvers and 2 bronzes.
• 2019 – Nov Coached my own club team to UK Open in Crawley – returned home with 4 Golds, 3 silvers and 4 Bronze.

• While in South Africa I trained more than 45 black belts from 1^st to 4^th degree many of whom are still involved in the Taekwondo.
• Established the Global Taekwondo Federation of South Africa in 2004.
• Played a major role on request Grand Master Paul Weiler in the establishment of the South African Taekwondo Association in 2019
• Giving seminars on a regular basis in South Africa
• A working model has been developed to assist clubs in being successful. This includes the technical and operational side (Admin and Finance)