The 170th International Instructors Course took place in Vienna, Austria, over the weekend of 17th – 19th November 2023. The event was the largest ever IIC in Europe with 500 participants taking part from all over the world. Taekwon-Do UK was very proud to have 11 black belts in attendance; Master Archer, Master Ridley, Master Miley, Mr Crisp, Mr Dhillon, Mr Emm, Mr Smith, Mr Wright, Mr Lewis, Mr Robinson and myself.

We travelled from all over England to Vienna very early in the morning of 17th November ready for the course but first up we had the banquet on the Friday evening. It’s always so nice to get some time to socialise with each other, catch up with friends from around the world and make some new ones! There was a lovely buffet of some traditional Austrian cuisine provided and a great time was had by all, despite us being a little tired from the long day of travelling.

Refreshed and ready, the Saturday saw us all arriving at the venue and preparing for a full day of patterns, self-defence and sparring. The IIC was run by Grand Master Morano, Grand Master Lan and Master Jedut and it was a privilege as always to see the passion they have for the art and the level of technical knowledge is second to none. After some opening speeches from the Technical Committee and Grand Master Weiler, President of the ITF, we performed Chon-Ji as a group in unison and then got started on the IIC proper, covering all the colour belt patterns, 1st – 3rd Degree and 5th Degree patterns as well as self-defence and sparring drills.

During the Saturday session there was also the small matter of a Masters’ Grading with our own Mr Andrew Crisp VI, taking part. Mr Crisp had been working hard on his preparation for this extremely important grading and we were all behind him 100%.

After a very tiring day we were all glad to have some down time in the evening to prepare for the session the next day.

The Sunday saw us finishing off the patterns with 4th and 6th Degree patterns as well as time spent on step sparring and some more sparring drills before the all-important grading results were announced. As you will no doubt already be aware Mr Crisp was successful in his grading and was promoted to Master Crisp VII. We couldn’t have been happier for him and it was a genuine privilege and a joy to be there to witness the occasion.

It was a busy weekend but a great time was had by all. Vienna is a beautiful city, especially at this time of year with lots of Christmas markets and festive lights. I love the fact that I have been able to travel to some really lovely places in order to train with some incredible people and I can’t wait to see where my travels take me next!

A huge thanks must go to the organising committee from ITF Austria. Taekwon-Do UK know all to well the amount of work that goes into hosting events like this and this one in particular came with the added complication of a last-minute change of venue being needed. The event ran seamlessly despite this and that is testament to a lot of hard work from everyone involved.

If you are a black belt who has been thinking of attending an IIC I couldn’t recommend it enough. Keep an eye on the calendar and speak to your instructor and fellow black belts. These events are great fun attended with friends and colleagues from Taekwon-Do UK but you can never really attend one alone as you will be welcomed by your fellow martial artists from around the globe.

Jayne Heywood IV Degree

Publicity Officer for the Northern Area

IIC 170, Vienna 17-19 November 2023