The first day of the trip was dedicated to the awards ceremony and to the interviews of the awardees. Then Roberto Orlando participated in masterclasses of different styles including taekkyon (traditional Korean martial art), kun lbokator (traditional Cambodian martial art) and Turkish and Korean archery.
On day two, the focus was on the forum and presentation of kuresi (Kazakhstan), bukh (Mongolia) and ssireum (Korea), while the participants had the honour of meeting with Mr Kim Gyujig, Secretary General of the International Centre of Martial Arts for youth development and engagement under the auspices of UNESCO.
The third day of the event offered an opportunity to Roberto to present the JFPSA activities and to participate in a panel discussion about solidarity, vision and action for sustainable development through martial arts, before an excursion to the city of Chungju. On the last day, the participants visited a traditional Korean archery range.
Roberto presented the Judo for Peace programme to the Korean Judo Association (KJA) and to Mr Dongyoung Kang, Secretary General, and Mr Minsu Kim, from the KJA International Department.
Last but not least, Roberto Orlando visited a Korean dojo as well as the department of judo at the University of Yong In, together with Ki-Young Jeon Ki, world and Olympic champion and IJF Head Referee Director, who had just arrived back from the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam.
Having the opportunity to interact with martial artists from around the world and to present the activities that have been carried out successfully for many years in South Africa with the strong support of the International Judo Federation, was a great moment. Seeds of further development were planted that will benefit many people within the programme in years to come.
