by David Bryan 5th Dan

A contingent of senior instructors from the BUTF that included Master R.M.K. Choy 7th degree, Mr Wolf 6th degree, Ms Au 6th degree, Mr Sangha 5th degree , Mr Manning 5th degree , and Mr Bryan 5th degree went to Canadian City of Toronto, to attend the ITF 42nd birthday celebrations.

The proceedings went over a period of three days , with the first day, Friday 11th April a banquet being held , on Saturday was a training seminar , and Sunday a constitutional meeting . 

The banquet was held in the evening and it was our first meeting with senior instructors from Canada , Malaysia , New Zealand , Poland , Japan , Greece , USA , Argentina Haiti and Germany just to name a few of the countries in attendance .

On General Choi’s arrival the celebrations began with toast to General Choi and the ITF. General Choi along with Grand Master Rhee (9th degree ) , Grand Master Sheriff ( 9th degree ) , and Master Choi Jung Hwa 8th Degree went to each individual table to meet those in attendance . The banquet consisted of a five course Italian meal along with live music and a speech by the Mayor . The climax of the evening was the cutting of the birthday cake .

The following day was the training seminar with Mr Manning and Mr Bryan in uniform representing the BUTF .  Grand Master Sheriff initially took the instructors through their patterns starting at Chon-ji . On General Choi’s arrival in uniform along with Grand Master Rhee and Master Choi Jung Hwa, General Choi took over the proceedings and gave individual instruction through the patterns whilst we observed the incorporation of sign wave in the movements and other technical changes.

A video was being made of the training seminar and the patterns for the ITF, unfortunately the BUTF was not aware about this until to late and volunteers had already been selected to perform . The standard of the performances on the day was varied but BUTF practitioners can take pride in that Master Choy’s teaching is very close to the expectation of General Choi .

The final day was a constitutional meeting and the following items were discussed :-

• Martial Arts v Sport
• Human Weapon Magazine
• Organisations Rejoining the ITF
• Tournaments
• ITF - Status Cards
• World Championships
• New Organisations 
• Official ITF Tie 
• Headquarters for Asian Continental Federation

Overall, members of BUTF who went to Canada found the experience interesting in their own individual ways and can only hope that the ITF continues to develop and make progress.