It was in mid November in 2008, and I was sitting with my family and friend Master John Darcy, enjoying a meal with lots of A.I.M.A.A Ireland Instructors and students in Swords, Dublin. The reason I can recollect this night so vividly is that Master Darcy received the telephone call from Grandmaster Cho to tell him of his decision to visit Europe. At first we thought Master Darcy was pulling our leg, but then we realised that our dream of Grandmaster visiting us in Europe was about to become reality.

From that night on, our main goal on both sides of the water has been to ensure our President and Founder had a wonderful experience during his visit, and that A.I.M.A.A Instructors and students had a once in a lifetime opportunity to listen and train under their Grandmaster, on home turf!

On the 16th of September 2009, this became a reality for so many when A.I.M.A.A President and Founder, Grandmaster Hee Il Cho flew into Dublin, Ireland for the start of a seven day historical trip, which would also include a visit to Scotland. My wife and I, accompanied by my eldest son John and grandson, touched down in Ireland 1 hour after Grandmaster Cho, to start a seven day journey at the side of one the most unbelievable martial artist in the world.

My son and Grandson enjoy spending time with Grandmaster Cho, Mrs Cho and Master Darcy in Wicklow, Ireland.

Master Darcy had kindly invited Isobel and I as his personal guests at the exclusive Glenview hotel in Wicklow, this hotel was situated in the "Gardens of Ireland" in Wicklow, which is known worldwide for its beautiful scenery. As this hotel was ideally situated in a quiet location in the countryside, many A.I.M.A.A Instructors and students took the opportunity to also stay at the hotel, as everyone had been invited to stay beside Grandmaster Cho. This added to our enjoyment as on many occasions we would find ourselves sitting in the library room in the evening surrounded by Master Darcy, Mr Long, Mr Fernandes, Mr Fitzgerald, Miss Walsh, Mrs Fahey and countless other A.I.M.A.A Jersey and Irish students and Instructors. Our nights where spent talking, relaxing and remembering the old times! much to the joy of the younger generation within our midst.

On the day of our arrival we were greeted by Master Darcy, Grandmaster Cho and Mrs Cho, who we joined for breakfast. Our discussions quickly focused on the forthcoming seminars and testing that was soon to come. That evening we had a highly enjoyable and relaxing meal with Grandmaster Cho, Mrs Cho and Master Darcy within the restaurant in the hotel. My son John, grandson Jon and Mr Paul Healy and his wife Emma joined us on this occasion. The next day we had breakfast together and then headed for the spa for a relaxing afternoon. There were many countless times spent together with Grandmaster Cho and Master Darcy, especially driving about within the same vehicle!

Isobel and I enjoyed our meals in Wicklow, especially when we were joined by Mr Fitzgerald who is a gentleman in every sense of the word. Another enjoyable meal was after the International Testing in Dublin, which took place on Saturday the 19th of September. The testing was so atmospheric that you practically see the sparks in the air! as we watched the testing students pace up and down before line up! 

After the testing most of A.I.M.A.A Ireland Instructors came along to join Grandmaster Cho and the A.I.M.A.A Masters in a local Chinese restaurant in Dublin. The Scottish people were outweighed by the amount of Irish attending this meal, as there was only myself and my family, as well as Mrs Sutherland and Tammy. As that day drew to a close everyone was anticipating what dawn would bring, as this was the day of the International Seminar and a day that would become a special piece of history within A.I.M.A.A Ireland.

On the morning of the A.I.M.A.A Ireland seminar a buzz was in the air by all the A.I.M.A.A Instructors and students staying at the hotel. As everyone headed for an early breakfast we could see everyone was gearing up for an unbelievable experience! I remember being in the foyer of the hotel watching Grandmaster Cho stretch and limber up before his final journey to the event. Grandmaster wanted to capture that moment and took many photographs of us all together, in the sunshine before embarking on our journey and to an audience that was just unbelievable!

We approached the National Basket ball Arena about hour before the seminar was scheduled to begin, and was ushered into the Boardroom to wait and get ready, whilst the final preparations where being made in the arena. During this stage, Master Darcy presented Grandmaster a special award made especially for him. The presentation was straight from Master Darcy's heart to his Instructor, friend and mentor, and was a unique piece for his dojang in Hawaii. Before we knew it, that hour had faded and within minutes we were making our way to the main hall, and into an electrifying experience never seen before in A.I.M.A.A's history! The sound of over 1,000 people clapping, shouting and cheering when each Master made his way into the arena was astounding, however, when Grandmaster Cho entered the arena the sound was unbelievable and his welcome by all the Instructors, students and parents was full of love and admiration.

I believe Grandmaster at this point saw how much he is loved and adored by so many, and yet although a large majority have only heard of him ,saw him in magazines or on websites, they truly adored him and were in awe of a man who inspires all us to fulfil our dreams and to live the best life possible. He guides us all through physical, mental and spiritual growth and watching him kicking, punching, stretching on that stage made me gasp, as this was a man 20 yrs older than me, and we were all trying our very best to keep up with him.

The seminar was amazing, and cannot be expressed in words alone. In all my years within martial arts I have never experienced an event like this, and I don't know if we will ever see one again in Europe to take its place. As the seminar came to and end and all the photographs, autographs had finished, Grandmaster Cho, Mrs Cho and the A.I.M.A.A Masters headed toward Wicklow, for a well earned rest and relaxing meal. We were joined by many A.I.M.A.A Ireland Instructors and students, as well as my son and grandson. On this occasion no members from A.I.M.A.A Scotland managed to attend the meal due to commitments.

As our last night came to close in Ireland, my family and I spent time relaxing with Miss Walsh, Mr Courtney, Mr John Darcy jnr and family, as well as Mr Fernandes and A.I.M.A.A Jersey students for some tea and reminiscing of the days events, in the Library room of the hotel.  We talked until the wee small hours before heading up to pack, as we where leaving at 6am for the airport.

We arrived into Prestwick airport on the 21st of September, just after 10am. My students where there to greet Grandmaster Cho, Mrs Cho and the A.I.M.A.A Jersey students and Instructors who had arrived with us, and to help transport the group to the hotel. Grandmaster Cho, Mrs Cho and Master Darcy travelled with me to the hotel in Bellshill, Glasgow. After Grandmaster and everyone had checked in, we headed to East Kilbride for breakfast at one of my Instructors local cafe "The Attic", which serves up homemade food in American size portions! Mrs Gough the owner, has been with me for over 10 years now and is a A.I.M.A.A Panther Instructor within Scotland.

After our delicious meal the group of A.I.M.A.A Jersey Instructors and students headed out shopping, whilst we headed back to the hotel. Grandmaster Cho and Master Darcy retired for some relaxation, as plans had been made for that evening.  As you can imagine we where constantly on the go, and after a quick change we headed back to the hotel to collect Grandmaster Cho, Mrs Cho and Master Darcy. During this time as we waited to leave for the meal, I presented Grandmaster Cho with a special gift of my appreciation and heartfelt thoughts on being a Master within A.I.M.A.A. Both my wife and I also presented Mrs Cho a special gift that will remind her of her time in Scotland, as this was her first time in our country.

Our evening was spent at one of my favourite restaurants in Glasgow "Yen", which is Japanese, Cantonese and Thai. Mr Lawson, who is the most senior instructor in A.I.M.A.A Scotland and close family friend, was asked to attend, however he was detained by a family matter and sent his apologies to Grandmaster Cho. However, we where joined by Mr Will Power and Miss Ryan who had just arrived into Scotland earlier, as well as my two sons for a fantastic meal and some relaxation. 

As usual, we talked of the forthcoming seminar and who would be in attendance and talked about the past few days in Ireland. As we made our way back to the hotel, the next day was on everybody's mind and what the seminar in Scotland would be like!  As the morning of the Scottish Seminar arrived I headed along with my students to pick up the many Instructors arriving from Ireland, as well as Master Byrne. We got everyone checked in and and settled. On returning to the hotel mid afternoon, with my wife and my son Ryan, we found many of the A.I.M.A.A Ireland Instructors and students relaxing with Grandmaster Cho, Mrs Cho and Master Darcy.

Isobel and I where greeted by Mr Long, Mr Healy, Master Byrne, Mrs Fahey, Miss Walsh, Mr Courtney, Mr Fitzgerald, Mr Ryan, Mr O'Conner to name a few. At this point I would like to personally thank Mr Gerry Long, Mr Paul Healy, Mr Michael Fitzgerald and Miss Quintella Walsh, for their help and support with the A.I.M.A.A Scotland seminar.  These Instructors are an excellent team of individuals who pull together to ensure a job is done. Mrs Kirkwood was very grateful for their help with the set up, as well as Miss Walsh's expertise in introducing Grandmaster Cho and the A.I.M.A.A Masters into our A.I.M.A.A Scotland Seminar.

Grandmaster Meditates at the AIMAA Scotland seminar

Our seminar in Scotland was phenomenal and we had 200 on the floor with about 100 spectators watching, although not as many in numbers as in Ireland, we still made just as much noise! In Scotland we were joined by A.I.M.A.A Huddersfield, under the guidance of Mr Miah. A.I.M.A.A Ireland Instructors and students. GTUK Instructors from England, who ranked 6th and 5th Degree. The ITF from Aberdeen, as well as some TAGB from England. We were also joined by WMST from England and the STA from Greenock. It was thrilling and exhausting to see the seminar in Scotland unfold, as we bounded from stretching, kicking, punching and various combinations. It was illuminating to see so many happy faces on the floor, as they watched this living legend on the stage in front of them, bounding effortlessly from move to move.

I spoke to many parents and students after the seminar, and everyone was in total disbelief that Grandmaster Cho was about to turn 70 yrs old!

Grandmaster Cho and AIMAA Masters pictured with Master Kirkwood parents and son's John & Ryan.

As our seminar closed and we made our way to get changed, I acknowledged that A.I.M.A.A Scotland had done a good job in supporting and ensuring Grandmaster Cho had a wonderful time in our country. Our last night together with all of A.I.M.A.A was spent in a local Italian restaurant in Hamilton. Andiamo's delivers wonderful food, and we had just over 70 Black Belts from A.I.M.A.A Scotland, A.I.M.A.A Ireland, A.I.M.A.A Huddersfield, ITF and the GTUK join us on that evening.

As I sat with my friend Master Darcy, Grandmaster Cho, Mrs Cho, Master Byrne, Mr Fitzgerald, Mr Long and my sons and wife, I realised that this would soon be over, and within a short matter of time, everyone would be gone. As everyone's last night in Scotland drew to an end, we found ourselves sitting in the foyer of the hotel with a large group of Irish Instructors, chatting and joking. On our last day we arrived early at the hotel to have breakfast with Grandmaster Cho, Mrs Cho and Master Darcy.

We relaxed with Master Byrne, Mr Fitzgerald, Mr Long, and Mr Healy, as by this time most had left for Ireland and Jersey on earlier flights. We decided to head to East Kilbride shopping with the Instructors, whilst Master Darcy and Grandmaster Cho went for a spa. On our return to the hotel, we all relaxed in the hotel foyer.

However, it was decided that we would all go for a last  Chinese meal locally and a local Chinese restaurant was contacted booked. Everyone headed to the restaurant, including Mr & Mrs Belgacem who had arrived at the hotel earlier on. We had a lovely meal before departing for the airport at about 6.30pm, at this point Mr & Mrs Belgacem said their farewells to Grandmaster Cho and Mrs Cho, as well as Master Darcy, as the rest of the group where leaving for the airport.

Master Darcy pictured with my grandson Jon.  Miss Walsh, Mr Healy and Mr Kirkwood Jnr clowning around at Prestwick airport.

Within a matter of a few hours Grandmaster Cho, Mrs Cho, Master Darcy and all our friends from A.I.M.A.A Ireland had left Scotland on their journey home and a big void was felt by everyone on their departure.

On behalf of my wife and family and A.I.M.A.A Scotland I wish to thank Grandmaster Cho and Mrs Cho for taking the time to visit out country. To Grandmaster Cho, thank you Sir for giving all of us a gift that cannot be matched. Your visit has touched so many, in so little time and we thank you for this.

Both I and Isobel wish to thank Master John Darcy for inviting us to Ireland as his guests, and for his continued support and friendship. Master Darcy has become my close family friend and someone I know I can turn to for advice and support. Also to all our A.I.M.A.A Ireland friends, who have become a second family to us.

We also wish to thank personally some of our own Instructors and students, such as Mrs Gough, Mrs Sutherland for undertaking pick ups and drop offs from airports, and for ensuring our guests were looked after. A special thank you to Mr Mc Lear for covering not only my school, but Mr Kirkwood's whilst we were in Ireland as well as to all the other A.I.M.A.A Scotland Instructors for supporting Grandmaster Cho during his visit to Scotland.

Lastly to every student in A.I.M.A.A Scotland who supported Grandmaster Cho. You have made your Instructor proud, as you have your association and country, thank you for your continued support of A.I.M.A.A.

Master John Kirkwood, Director A.I.M.A.A Scotland.