Taekwondo Life Magazine's Podcast

Baby Assassins is Fast and Fun!   Baby Assassins is the latest release from Well Go USA Entertainment to come out of the Japanese market and it is both fast and fun.  This well paced and well Directed action comedy can not help but engage you from the opening scene. Synopsis Upon graduation, highly trained teenage assassins Chisato and Mahiro are informed by upper management that they will need to...

Taekwondo is a combat sport.   In that regards there always exists the potential for a head trauma that could result in a concussion.   Both USA Taekwondo and AAU Taekwondo have protocols in place to protect athletes who experience head trauma.   The question is:  How well does these organizations communicate with each other to protection of sparring athletes?  Marc Zirogiannis talks about the pro...

An update on some Taekwondo events occurring on or about the July 4th Weekend and beyond.  These include the weekend Kukkiwon Expo taking place in Washington DC.   The AAU Nationals are also taking place this weekend in Las Vegas.   The USAT Nationals will be taking place later this month in Salt Lake City, Utah. Additionally, LIVE MMA will take place in NYC on July 8, 2022.  To watch this event L...

Marc Zirogiannis takes a look at the, just announced, Taekwondo pathways to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics. World Taekwondo released a guidance document for Taekwondo nations and athletes. Much of the information is contained in the document and much of the information is the same as has been since the Sydney 2000 Olympics.   That document can be found here https://olympics.com/en/news/pathwa...

In this episode Marc Zirogiannis looks at the 2022 Grand Prix East USA Taekwondo event which took place this past weekend in Daytona Beach Florida. The Grand Prix East is the 3rd event in the Grand Prix series leading up to the 2022 Taekwondo Nationals, which will take place on Salt Lake City, Utah this year. These events are the first in the USA to implement the new World Taekwondo Sparring rules...

K arnage MMA PPV Live in NYC-July 8. The Main Card: Venum Blacc v Fair Play Under Cards: Robert McElroy v. CPU Kyle “The Viking” Jones v. Brian Tracy Jarrel Coates V. Dwight Cephas Korey Kenderr V. Kenny Fuego Bristow Welter Weights and Light HeavyWeight Bouts. Date:  July 8, 2022 Place: NYC-353 West Street, NY, NY 10014* Details:  Once tickets are bought we will send a code 48 hours prior to the...

Marc Zirogiannis provides a review of the new Jesse V. Johnson action film, White Elephant (2022). This is the last film of Bruce Willis The film is the long delayed brain child of former stunt man, writer, and Director Jesse V. Johnson . The plot is simple-“ When two cops witness an assassination attempt, a ruthless crime boss orders Gabriel Tancredi, an ex-Marine turned mob enforcer, to eliminat...

USATKD is proud to announce the 2-year appointment of our National Poomsae Coaching Staff: Head Coach Dan Chuang and National Coaches Jung Jin and Huy Nguyen. The coaches have worked together since 2016 and are excited to launch from the immense success of the 2022 World Poomsae Championships where Team USA captured 3 gold, 8 silver, and 15 bronze. With the goal of developing a team deep with tale...

IP MAN: THE AWAKENING , the Well Go USA Entertainment release debuting exclusively on the martial arts streaming service Hi-YAH! this Friday (May 20) before hitting Digital, Blu-ray™ and DVD June 21 from Well Go USA Entertainment. Marc Zirogiannis provides a review of the latest film in a series of International, Chinese exports about the legendary teacher of Bruce Lee. *Presented by Bet Online Vi...

World Taekwondo (WT) has revised the sport's rules to make it more interesting after receiving criticism during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games for "foot fencing". Foot fencing is where athletes keep one leg in the air and hop on the other foot in an attempt to score a kick with the lofted leg. It is technically legal but considered bad form. Marc Zirogiannis, host of Taekwondo Life Magazin...

The Goyang 2022 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships took place on April 21-24 as over 900 athletes and 224 officials from 63 countries retuned after a 4 year hiatus. Korea retained its dominance by garnering 20 Gold medals. Taipei took second (2nd) place. The United States, landing in third place (3rd) garnered a total of 28 medals and had their best showing since the event launched in 2006. It...

The Goyang 2022 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships is set to get underway on April 21-24 as a record 760 athletes and 224 officials from 63 countries will take part in the event after a four-year break. The 2020 World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships were cancelled due to the Global Pandemic. During that time Online Poomsae practice and competition became a huge part of Taekwondo practice. We di...

Marc Zirogiannis takes a look at the April/May 2022 issue of Taekwondo Life Magazine which is available now in digital and print. https://tkdlifemagazine.com/subscribe... The issue includes an in-depth interview with Amster Tony Byon. To see his full interview see: https://youtu.be/ze-aPy9OHJA The issue also includes content from the Kukkiwon, World Taekwondo, USA Taekwondo and the IOC. Dr. Casey...

Coach Peter Bardatsos and Master Joseph Lupo join Taekwondo Life Magazine for a look at their upcoming Legends Ultra II Seminar (April 29-30, 2022). This is an amazing opportunity for Ultra Sparring athletes to get train, bond, and prepare for the remainder of the 2022 Taekwondo competition season. To find out more please visit: https://form.jotform.com/UFTKD/legends-of-sports-taekwondo-Ultra2?fbc...

Master Tony Byon spoke with Taekwondo Life Magazine's Marc Zirogiannis in February, 2022 as a precursor to his Cover Story for the April/May 2022 issue of Taekwondo Life Magazine. Master Byon is a lifelong Taekwondo practitioner, a competitor, Coach, and Master. He is actively working with the Jamaican National Taekwondo Team as his prepares to qualify an athlete for the Paris 2024 Summer Games. M...

How To Improve Your Local Taekwondo Tournament (Part 2)- We take a look at the top five (5) of ten of the top things local Taekwondo Organizers can do to improve the tournament experience for spectators, athletes, and coaches. Part 1 can be found here: https://youtu.be/xYCfpjOpt5o Here are the Top 5: 5. Require Schools To Have Adequate Coaches Available. 4. Have a Pre-tournament Meeting with Maste...

How To Improve Your Local Taekwondo Tournament (Part 1)- We take a look at five out of ten of the top things local Taekwondo Organizers can do to improve the tournament experience for spectators, athletes, and coaches. Part 2 will reveal the Top 5. 10. Offer Real Food- 9. Pick an adequate venue - 8. Prepare preliminary division brackets ahead of tournament - 7. Have better board breaking rules.- 6...

March 8, 2022 marks the United Nations' 2022 International Women's Day. At Taekwondo Life Magazine and in the Taekwondo world we honor our prominent and exciting women all over the world. While there are so many women we could feature we have limited time so on the episode we are spotlighting just a few that represent a broad spectrum. All women inside and out of Taekwondo should be celebrated and...

Monday, February 28, 2022- The Official Statement of the IOC on Russian Athletes.  The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) discussed again today the dilemma the Olympic Movement is currently facing after the breach of the Olympic Truce by the Russian government and the government of Belarus through its support in this. *Presented by Bet Online. Use the Code BLEAV **...

The Taekwondo Photo Shared Around The World. As international unrest captivated the entire world this week one photograph transcended the violence and military engagement as Russia entered the Ukraine. That photo showed a Russian Taekwondo Athlete sitting with a Ukrainian Taekwondo athlete in the spirit of competition and harmony. This photograph depicts the best of Taekwondo and the best of all o...

Fistful of Vengeance (2022)-Movie Review. Fistful of Vengeance is a martial arts fantasy directed by Roel Reine' Starring Iko Uwais and Lewis Tan.  This Netflix original film picks up where the cancelled series, Wu Assassins, left off. I give it a rating of 3/5 stars. Marc Zirogiannis provides his review of the new Wu Assassins film for Netflix. He discusses the relationship of the movie to its so...

Tae Kwon Dog: The Power Within is a terrific Children's book (6-10 yr olds) which merges a love of the world's most practiced martial art and a love of mankind's best friend. Marc Zirogiannis, Editor-in-Chief, talks with the author about her Taekwondo background, how this project came about, and the lessons she hopes to teach with this project. The book is filled with beautiful illustrations by Su...

The International Olympic Committee once again approved Taekwondo as an addition to the Summer Games. Since its Demonstration in Seoul, Korea in 1988 Taekwondo practitioners have been able to look forward to being part of the International Festival of competition every 4 years. 2028 will be no exception. Now Taekwondo practitioners from 211 jurisdictions will converge on Los Angels for the Summer...

Grandmaster Suh Chong Kang Passes at 92 . On January 30, 2022, Grandmaster Suh Chong Kang, passed away this week at the age of 92. In 1949, Grandmaster Kang founded his own kwan, which he named Kuk Mu Kwan. Grandmaster Kang, a 2009 Taekwondo Hall of Fame Inductee, was a historic figure in the founding of modern Taekwondo and its introduction to the United States. Grandmaster Kang is survived by Gr...

The USAT Eastern Athlete Academy took place this past weekend in Gainesville Virginia at the Dojang of US Tigers. Sparring athletes, Poomsae athletes, Coaches, masters, and families traveled from all over the region to converge on Gainesville for 2+ days for training, working out, and learning under the tutelage of experienced and dedicated coaches. Simultaneously USAT certified Referees in Poomsa...