Ghana 2007 - Full Report

The Superstar ITF, Ghana, hosted the second intercontinental cup Africa vs. Europe and the 2nd inter-schools competition at the Ghana Lebanon Islamic Secondary School Circle (GLISS) from the 5th to the 7th of March.
The event was organised by Mr Mohammed Mahadi – President of ITF-Ghana, and the principle idea was to promote Taekwon-Do in Africa, and to join in Ghana’s 50th independence anniversary, which was on the 6th march 2007.

Present, were representatives from both the UK and Ireland. The European team included Mr Shane Fitzgibbon (IUTF), Mr Sean Kean (IUTF), Mr David Pixton (PUMA), Mr Kevin Guy (MWTA) and Mr Richard Belle (MWTA). There were seminars conducted by Master Wolf, Master Gayle, Mr and Mrs Dalton – who worked as a collective to make the time there as productive as possible. Assisting at the seminars were all the members of team Europe and also Miss Lucy Wolf.



On Thursday 1st of Mach, Master Wolf, Mrs Brenda Wolf, Kevin Guy, Richard Belle and myself, Lucy Wolf, set out on our journey to Ghana – West Africa. Everyone was looking forward to the weekends events, although not quite sure what to expect.
For the majority of the party, this was the first trip to Africa. I had already visited Ghana in 2006, when I assisted Master Nicholls and Master Gayle at a seminar. Having thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience last time, I was excited to be able to return.

Travelling with Ghana International Airlines was certainly an experience! The following week was Ghana’s Celebration of 50-years of Independence, so the whole flight was a party-like atmosphere!

Upon our arrival in Ghana we were met at the airport be Mr Mohammed Mahadi and two members of Team Africa, and escorted to our hotel to rest after a very long days travelling!


The next day, the group were taken to GLISS – the venue for the week’s events, where we met with Mr Ali Souali and some of the students for a tour of the school.

That evening Master Gayle and Mr David Pixton arrived, and it was an early night to rest in preparation for training the next day!


Saturday morning was our first day of training at GLISS, which had to be an early start in order to beat the traffic!

Each session that was held during our trip was a real group effort. Everyone pulled together to make our time in Ghana as constructive as possible.
While Master Gayle worked with Mr Mahadi on his patterns, Master Wolf took the session, assisted by myself, Mr Pixton, Mr Guy and Mr Belle.
The sessions took place on the basketball court at GLISS - it was sweltering, training out in the sun, but nonetheless everyone was extremely enthusiastic!
Generally the session was focussed on sparring techniques – with kicking drills, footwork and various combination punching techniques, finishing off with rounds of sparring, whereby Master Wolfs four assistants underwent several rounds with the all students coming up in groups. A lot of ground was covered in this area in the limited time available.
At the start of the session there were maybe 15 to 20 participants … some were watching and were unsure if they wanted to join in. However, more and more gradually trickled in and by the end of the session, in total there were 30 to 40 students, including some beginners! So Master Wolf’s session, although intense, obviously appealed to the students. Everyone did really well, and even the small children maintained their concentration levels throughout and thoroughly enjoyed it.

At the end of the session the equipment that we had brought over to donate to Mr Mahadi’s club was presented along with a brief demonstration of how this equipment may be used. Master Wolf, on behalf of the MWTA members, and Master Gayle, on behalf of the PUMA members, brought kicking shields, focus pads and sparring equipment … this was much appreciated by Mr Mahadi and all of the students there.

After all that hard work, we were back on the bus and taken to visit the ITF Ghana Headquarters and invited to Mr Mahadi’s family home for some traditional African cuisine. We also met with his family – his mother, brother and sister, and nieces and nephews.

Although Mr Mahadi had planned this to be the end of our day, we thought it would be nice to join him at the children’s class he was due to teach that evening at a different school/youth centre. As it transpired Master Gayle continued Mr Mahadi’s pattern tuition and myself, Mr Pixton and Mr Guy took the kids session. It was very enjoyable! Each of us took a segment of the class to add our own individual flavours! The class ended with Mr Guy’s team games … it was amazing how the kids went from being REALLY tired, to off the chart crazy with excitement … they had a great time!

So! After this extremely long day, we retired to the hotel to recover for the next day’s events.


Sunday was a nice, relaxing day at Cocoa Beach!
It was a great opportunity for everyone to get to know one another outside of Taekwon-Do, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable day!

That evening saw the arrival of Mr and Mrs Dalton and Mr Shane Fitzgibbon from Ireland (the IUTF) - Mr Sean Kean unfortunately missed the flight and so he joined us on the Tuesday.
We met up for a late dinner and a quick catch up!


The Monday and Tuesday (Tuesday the 6th being Ghana’s Celebration of 50-years Independence) were a real mixture of activities. We visited some local historical monuments, including a tour at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, and sampled some of the everyday culture by way of visiting the market place. The market was a surreal experience and it was one of those occasions where you really did have to be there … it was hard work but very enjoyable!
Both days included teaching and assisting – everyone was really eager to fit in as much tuition as possible while we were all there – overall it was very productive.


The Wednesday was he tournament day and the MWTA members last day in Ghana.
The tournament was again held on the basketball court at GLISS. It was another hot day, but there were canopies to shade the many spectators.

The Africa vs. Europe team event went really well and there were some very entertaining bouts! The final result was three wins to Europe, one win to Africa and one draw - with the European team emerging the victors. All of the bouts from this event can be viewed in the video section of the MWTA Gallery.
The European Team also entered the general team event in which teams from Ghana, Togo and Nigeria fought. Again with some really tough fights the European Team won. Overall, throughout, there was great sportsmanship and a really amazing atmosphere generated by the spectators!

Our flight was scheduled for that evening, and so after the competition the MWTA group had to depart, but not before lots of photographs, swapping of email addresses and some very difficult goodbyes. We were there for less than a week and it is amazing how such strong attachments can be formed in an extremely small space of time.

Mr and Mrs Dalton continued on to Togo to teach, while Master Gayle, Mr Pixton, Mr Fitzgibbon and Mr Kean stayed for a few more days in Ghana to continue teaching.



Footnote from Master Wolf: It was a pleasure working with all the people from the UK and Ireland, namely Master Gayle, Mr and Mrs Dalton, Miss Lucy Wolf, Mr Shane Fitzgibbon, Mr Sean Kean, Mr David Pixton, Mr Kevin Guy and Mr Richard Belle. Everybody worked really hard as a group and from my point of view it was a very uplifting experience and was well worthwhile. It was a pleasure meeting Mr Mohammed Mahadi and all of the Instructors and students from Ghana, Togo and Nigeria.

The whole experience was an amazing one, and the event as a whole was extremely successful and I personally cannot wait to go back … again!



Check our online Gallery for photographs and video footage of this event.


Lucy Wolf, V Degree



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