A.I.M.A.A MASTERS & MR LONG CONGRATULATE MR KEVIN Mc LEAR

ON RECEIVING "A.I.M.A.A SCOTLAND INSTRUCTOR OF THE YEAR"

The annual Student Awards for 2007 took place at the prestigious Banqueting Hall in Almada Street, Hamilton on Saturday the 29th of May 2008.

Master Kirkwood had asked his Instructor and Mentor Master John Darcy to attend the annual awards as well as hold a seminar for A.I.M.A.A Scotland. Also in attendance was his friend Master Peter Byrne. Both Masters flew in for the occasion to support Master Kirkwood and A.I.M.A.A Scotland. Master Kirkwood had also asked Mr Gerry Long who is a Senior Instructor in A.I.M.A.A Ireland to attend, as he has always shown support to him and A.I.M.A.A Scotland and it was his intention to award him at these awards.

Grandmaster Cho and Master Ameris had been in contact with Master Kirkwood and had sent over written letters sending their support to A.I.M.A.A Scotland and its student body. These letters where in the Award Night brochure for all the students to take home with them.

The night started with a special presentation complied by Grandmaster Cho for Master Kirkwood and AIMAA Scotland Instructors and Students. The presentation honoured Master Kirkwood and Mrs Kirkwood for their dedication to A.I.M.A.A and A.I.M.A.A Scotland. Grandmaster went on to give a warmth speech to those being honoured that evening.  The presentation also had a explosive video attached showing Grandmaster teaching his Jnr and Snr students in his Dojang in Hawaii. The video showed a martial artist in his prime at the age 67 years old. This video can now be viewed on You Tube and the A.I.M.A.A Scotland Bebo Site.

The demonstration started with the awesome pattern from Master Kirkwood's Black Belts "Team Fusion" who undertook a complex mixture of traditional patterns to music. This was followed by Master Kirkwood, and his younger students undertaking a street self defence scene. Student Jack Reid showed off his weapons skills in the "BO", while his father showed off his weapon skills in Nunchuka.

The demonstration had many highlights, from the creative group pattern "Celtic Connection" to the Technical Destruction by Instructor John Kirkwood Jnr.   However the highlight of the night was "The Old Men" scene, performed by Master Kirkwood and his Senior and Junior students. It was extremely funny and it had many people in tears.  Master Kirkwood's students had been in training for this award night for over three months, and had trained incredibly hard to ensure that their demonstration teams looked good, and boy ! they did not disappoint us on the night.

Mr Lawson and his students and Mr Belgacem and his students also undertook demonstrations, showing their skills in forms, self defence, pad work and the four zones which was developed by Master Ameris.  Senior students undertook destruction with the rest of the A.I.M.A.A demo team.

The demonstration was followed by the annual awards, which honoured students from Blantyre, Hamilton, Larkhall, Glasgow and Bellshill. Master Kirkwood also presented his Instructor and friend Master Darcy with an award for his support, friendships and dedication to himself and A.I.M.A.A Scotland. Master Kirkwood went on to present an award to Master Byrne and Mr Gerry Long for their support and friendship to himself and  A.I.M.A.A Scotland Instructors and students.

Master Kirkwood also presented Mr Kevin McLear with the "A.I.M.A.A Scotland Instructor of the Year" this was presented for his dedication to his club, A.I.M.A.A Scotland and Master Kirkwood. Mr Mc Lear has had a pretty tough year through illness, however he has shown great determination and diversity in his training and teaching through such a trying time in 2007.  Master Kirkwood also presented Mr Billy Reid with "Competitor of the Year", as a late starter to Tae Kwon Do "Billy" has won at many events in 2007, showing his determination to succeed.  Master Kirkwood's Black Belts Michael Maxwell, Paul Ackerly, Mark Russell and Kirsty Gough received "Outstanding Achievement" awards for their Black Belt grading in 2007.

Lastly Master Kirkwood was presented a special award from his students from Cho's TKD Blantyre. The students awarded their Instructor for his Instruction and dedication to them throughout 2007, and for his commitment to push them to excellence in everything they do. 

The night finished off with students and parents dancing the night away until 1am, with everyone enjoying themselves. Master Byrne took to the dance floor with students and Billy Reid, and enjoyed himself. 

Master Kirkwood and Mrs Kirkwood would like to thank the parents of Cho's TKD School at Blantyre for their support and with the set up on Saturday Morning. We would also like to thank them for supporting the students who are members of the Demo Team, by getting them to training sessions each week, and giving up valuable time.  Special thank you to Mr Mc Lear and Mr Lawson for attending the Demo training for many weeks with students.

The hunt is now on for the next set of excellent students, so keep up the good work, you never know you may get that special nomination letter in December.

STUDENT OF THE YEAR 2007  CHO'S TKD BLANTYRE
CHO' S BLANTYRE	MASTER JOHN KIRKWOOD	JACK REID
CHO'S BLANTYRE	MASTER JOHN KIRKWOOD	CECILA GOUGH
CHO'S BLANTYRE	MASTER JOHN KIRKWOOD	RHIANNON DUNN

STUDENT OF THE YEAR 2007 CHO'S HAMILTON & LARKHALL
CHO' S HAMILTON	MR KARIM BELGACEM	TOM GILLAN
CHO' S HAMILTON	MR KARIM BELGACEM	ANDY GILLAN
CHO' S LARKHALL	MR KARIM BELGACEM	AARON IRVING
CHO' S LARKHALL	MR KARIM BELGACEM	GEORGE MORRISON

STUDENT OF THE YEAR 2007   CHO'S TKD GLASGOW
CHO' S GLASGOW	MR JAMES LAWSON	LEE BYRNE

STUDENT OF THE YEAR 2007   CHO'S TKD BELLSHILL
CHO' S BELLSHILL	MR KEVIN MC LEAR	NICKOLAS MC INALLY

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS AWARDED BY MASTER KIRKWOOD 2007

PRESENTED TO MASTER JOHN DARCY BY MASTER KIRKWOOD FOR HIS FRIENDSHIP, SUPPORT OF MASTER KIRKWOOD AND A.I.M.A.A SCOTLAND

PRESENTED TO MASTER PETER BYRNE FOR HIS SUPPORT OF MASTER KIRKWOOD AND A.I.M.A.A SCOTLAND INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS

PRESENTED TO MR GERRY LONG FOR HIS FRIENDSHIP & SUPPORT OF MASTER KIRKWOOD AND A.I.M.A.A SCOTLAND INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE AWARD NIGHT

CLICK HERE FOR  VARIOUS VIDEO CLIPS OF THE DEMO TEAM