A team of four young Korean Taekwondo experts comprising two males and two females arrived in Ghana from the Republic of Korea on Thursday (January 9, 2020) to participate in a Ghana Taekwondo Federation (GTF) exercise to promote the adoption of Taekwondo as an extra Curriculum in schools.

The exercise, dubbed School-to-School Taekwondo Campaign (#S2STkdCamp20), will see the team, supported by a local team, touring mainly the Greater Accra Region and moving from school to school to showcase the qualities and benefits of Taekwondo for school children of all ages.

This drive by the GTF is to expand its practitioner base by selling the “Taekwondo idea” to especially international schools.

According to the Secretary General of the GTF Adnan Odartey Lamptey, who doubles as the Coordinator of the exercise,

"Ghana has been benefiting from the World Taekwondo Peace Corps (WTPC) programme for the past few years. Through the programme a team of four young Taekwondo practitioners with majors in Taekwondo is sent to Ghana to promote global peace through Taekwondo."

"All formerly 10 regions in Ghana have benefited from this programme. Public schools have been the target over these years." He added.

Taekwondo is a martial art and a sport that offer many benefits to children. It improves motor skills, helps to correct attention disorder, controls hyperactivity, sharpens the reflex, instills self-discipline and promotes overall fitness. Taekwondo is also a survival skill that endows children with leadership qualities.

The GTF has been concerned about the low adoption of Taekwondo in schools and also the use of unqualified instructors by some schools without recourse to the GTF which is representing the World Taekwondo (WT) in Ghana.

The GTF’s mandate is to regulate and manage Taekwondo in Ghana. As a combat sport, Taekwondo requires qualified instructors certified by the GTF through regular coaching courses.

The visits to the schools will be pre-arranged with the schools and will take between 15 to 30 minutes.

The team will carry out a brief presentation about Taekwondo and put up exciting Taekwondo demonstration.

Over fifty schools are targeted in this exercise which will commence on 15th January and end on 7th February, 2020.