By Bosabum Alice Vrinat, Chairperson of the Belgian Inclusion Committee
Although Adapted and Harmony Taekwon-Do are two different programs in our Federation, they can both be seen as essential programs meant to adapt Taekwon-Do to the practitioner’s needs thus becoming a tool in their emotional, physical and mental health. The practitioner remains at the center of every consideration.
Recently these programs have been introduced in Belgium in order to raise awareness and develop collaborations in the different fields involved.
After the organization in Belgium of the International Adapted Course with Master Leonardo Oros Duek and Master John McIlvaney in June 2023, the Belgian Inclusion Committee started working on a booklet with the most common Adapted profiles in Taekwon-Do schools in order to provide a support to the national instructors, and begin a dialogue to share experiences and knowledge.
During the Belgian Day of Taekwon-Do of 4 June 2023, Sabum Benito Martinez, former President of the Belgian Inclusion Committee and member of the AETF Inclusion Committee, prepared a workshop on the topic of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) where he gave a general presentation describing the possible situations encountered as an instructor, while Master Eddy Van Damme shared a text about his personal experience as an autistic person. The presentations were followed by exchanges and a very active questions and answers session.
On May 26th 2024, during the 2024 edition of the same event, the topic was the teaching and benefits of Taekwon-Do for people with hypo or hyperactivity. Sabum Benito Martinez explained the characteristics that could help identify these persons to provide them with adapted teachings practices, and shared his personal experience with a student diagnosed with hypoactivity. There was a lot of participation from Taekwon-Do practitioners, especially from persons with ADHD who shared their personal experiences.
On 14 May 2024, I gave 5 Taekwon-Do workshops during the Braille Day in Brussels. During this event, 98 visually impaired kids (6 to 12 years old) from 8 Belgian schools participated. They could practice judo with Olympian Champion Charline Van Snick, but also football, rugby, climbing, archery, … Each group had 2 or 3 accompanying persons with them, which help understood each child’s particular condition. Along with visual impairment, it was important to adapt the teaching to the children uniqueness since they presented different levels of ASD, ADHD (hyper and hypo), maturation delay, obesity, muscular dystrophy… It was a true testimony of indomitable spirit and perseverance among these children, and really incredible to witness so much enthusiasm and resilience, and to be able to learn from the children and the specialists who supervised them.
Bosabum Sophie Ardenoy (member of the Belgian Umpire & Tournament Committee) and myself, participated on 1-2 June 2024 to the first International Umpire Adapted Course taking place online and hosted by GM Abelardo Rafael Benzaquen and Sabum Anabel Vicario. After the introductory speeches of GM Héctor Marano and Master Leonardo Oros Duek, the webinar addressed two specific profiles, the persons with Down Syndrome and ASD, as well as the crucial and different roles and responsibilities of the people making the dream of competing possible for students of Adapted Taekwon-Do, i.e. the instructors, but also the coaches, umpires, therapeutical team, family, teammates and the Inclusion Committee. The new rules of ITF competition related to the Adapted field were presented and explained, for instance the disciplines of Ability Demonstration and Sparring Without Contact, as well as the adaptations of the existing ones (Pattern and Pre-Arranged Sparring). The importance of the wellbeing of the competitor before, during and after the competition was made very clear, meaning the competitor needs to be prepared (first and foremost by the instructor) and ready to take part as well as be able to enjoy an inclusive event that is meant to be responsible, safe and allowing them to have the same opportunities as the conventional competitors. The level of expertise of both GM Abelardo Rafael Benzaquen and Sabum Anabel Vicario was truly impressive and it was remarkable to be part of such a safe environment, where participants were as much part of the learning process as the hosts, and where the qualities of humanity, empathy and justice were so present. In summary the webinar was truly at the level of the professionalism of our Federation’s ambitions. The new rules for ITF Adapted Competition were for the first time ever applied during the IX Championship of Central and South America (24-30 June 2024).
Most recently, on Saturday 8 June, I represented Master Virginia Dionisi’s school “ITF Brussels” during the Salon Sport Seniors, where I could give initiations and present Taekwon-Do ITF to a wide audience, as well as introduce the two new lessons of Harmony and Adapted Taekwon-Do, which I will be launching in September 2024 in Brussels.