Australian Taekwondo Academy

The Australian Taekwondo Academy is observing a major anniversary, having reached 50 years since its founding. Following a two-year tenure in Sydney and preceding periods in Vietnam and Korea, Grandmaster Sok Pong Kim relocated to Perth in 1975.

At its height in the early 1990s, the Academy had an impressive 50+ branch locations, hosted numerous tournaments, and the ATA brand became widespread throughout Western Australia. Grandmaster Sok Pong Kim passed away in 1999 and his funeral service was packed with ATA members past and current at the time showing the love of the ATA founder.

Many clubs have since transitioned to be independent; however, some remain committed to promoting the ATA brand, still using the logo/ badge and club name. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Academy, with some ATA clubs observing and celebrating the milestone year in their own way.

View photos below showing ATA clubs celebrating 50 years, flashback photos of Grandmaster Sok Pong Kim in action, 2 original members are still involved with the ATA brand and the commemorative key rings and medallions to mark the 50th anniversary milestone year.

Jacob Brady took part in the Under 21 Australian selections held in Canberra on 14th September, where was placed third in the male 80-87 kgs division. This is Jacob's first endeavour at selections at such a competitive level and this will give him valuable experience.

Our team had seven members participate in the 2025 WA State Championships held over the weekend, securing six gold medals and three silver medals. This includes four gold medals in poomsae and two gold medals in kyorugi sparring. Congratulations to our team players. You can view the photo collages below that captures the performances of each member.

Four recently promoted members received their certificates and belts. Elanie and Kylie received 2nd and 3rd dan black belts, Stefan received red belt and 5-year-old Djuan received his yellow belt. Read their stories in the photo captions below.

Kylie and Elanie underwent assessment for their next black belt dan promotion tests towards the end of last year. They demonstrated their proficiency in recognised poomsae, creative poomsae, 1-step sparring & precision kicks, self-defence, free sparring, gyokpa breaking, special skills & talent and theory plus essay.

It is a culmination of many years of training and practice, with both having taken extended breaks to start their families. It has been a testament to their patience, dedication, and perseverance. Now their children are also practicing taekwondo together.

See below photos showing their tests.

ATA members performed well to gain very good results from the 2024 WA State championships held recently. Our 5 poomsae entries all won gold while our kyorugi players gained 2 gold and 2 silvers. Overall a very good result.

In preparation for the upcoming WA Cup, Jacob, Neb, and Stefan engaged in a rigorous workout to refine their kyorugi sparring skills and match management strategies during training this week. The session also provided an opportunity for fellow class members to observe the three athletes in action.

We entered 3 players in the Perth Open tournament on Sunday 24th March. Asher Calicdan won 1st place (trophy) winning his match against twin brother Dan in the final of the male 12-14 years blue belt division. Jacob Brady stepped up to black belt for the first time and was up against an experienced black belt in the male open heavyweight final division. Jacob is developing and this match will be a good learning experience for the next competitions coming up in May, June and July. Both Dan and Jacob placed 2nd and received silver medals.

Jedi Calicdan passes 4th dan black belt. His dedication has been rewarded when he completed all round grading tests for poomsae, creative poomsae, step sparring, precision kicking, free sparring, self defence, gyokpa breaking, theory, special skills and 2 essays on taekwondo kyorugi sparring and a core martial art value. Congratulations Jedi and well deserved.

He started taekwondo with the ATA under Grandmaster Kim Seng back in 2004, paused to start a family and began working up north on a FIFO roster. He resumed training in 2022 year with his family and last year resumed his competition days, winning the Nationals in the 3rd dan black belt poomsae aged group division.

Scroll through the photos to see some of the tests Jedi went through. An earlier post showed video clips of his gyokpa breaking tests.