USTMA Holds 19th Kick Cancer Out of the World Taekwondo Benefit Tournament
Record Number of Top Athletes from Virginia, Maryland and Ohio Compete
October 18, 2011—Leesburg, VA The United States Taekwondo Martial Arts Academy (USTMA) held its 19th annual taekwondo tournament called “Kick Cancer Out of the World” on Saturday, October 8th at the Douglass Community Center. Close to 200 athletes ranging in age from 3 to 47 competed in the traditional taekwondo events of poomsae (forms), board breaking (gyuckpa) and the Olympic sport of sparring (gyuroogi).
Established in 1992, the Kick Cancer Out of the World tournament is the vision and creation of 8th degree Grandmaster Eunggil Choi who wanted to provide a tournament with a purpose. In tribute to his father who taught him taekwondo in his native Korea but lost his life to cancer, Grandmaster Choi set out to use taekwondo to teach his students and the community about the power of fitness to prevent disease. Choi’s “Kick Cancer Out of the World” taekwondo benefit tournament is just one event held each fall to raise money for cancer research, treatment and prevention. All proceeds from athlete registrations, spectator registrations and food sales are donated to American Cancer Society and Blue Ridge Hospice. To date, Grandmaster Choi’s taekwondo academy named the U.S. Taekwondo Martial Arts Academy, or USTMA for short, has raised over $300,000 for cancer-focused organizations. Grandmaster Choi was awarded the 2010 Fundraiser of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Virginia chapter for his work.
“It is my greatest commitment to raise money to help others to stay healthy,” stated Grandmaster Eunggil Choi, visionary and founder of USTMA. “For nineteen years I’ve worked to put on events that will raise awareness and money for the cure for cancer. I want the world to know that together, nothing is impossible.”
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The tournament included athletes from USTMA’s Super Juniors competition team which includes youth athletes aged 4 through 8, as well as the elite C-Crew competition team that includes athletes aged 8 to 40. USTMA’s competition teams were founded and are overseen by Head Coach Master John Choi and his coaching staff which includes Assistant Coaches Sean O’Brien, Alessandra Rieder, Justin McCarthy, and training coach Nate James.
Nearly 30 athletes from USTMA competed in the tournament; many of the athletes winning the tournament while holding Virginia State Champion titles and Junior Olympics accolades. Raymart Hilado, a senior at Heritage High School, added the title of Grand Champion for sparring to his long list of athletic achievements and was a highlight of the day due to his popularity as a teammate and mentor to other student athletes.
Left: Raymart Hilado holds up his trophy following winning Grand Champion in Sparring for the 19th Annual Kick Cancer Out of the World tournament
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Athletes from all over the Washington metro area came to compete in the tournament along with one school that travelled from Ohio. Athletes from Grant’s Family Martial Arts, Phan University, Yoo’s Martial Arts, Park’s Taekwondo Academy, US Taekwondo College, US Tigers, Lee’s Taekwondo Martial Arts, and KTMA among others came to compete for both trophies and bragging rights.
“I was exceptionally pleased at both the level of competition and how our athletes performed,” commented Head Coach, 5th degree Master John Choi. “Our teams were very strong and showed off the depth we have as a team—from young athletes that are just starting out in their competitive career to athletes like Raymart who are seasoned veterans. We consider Kick Cancer Out of the World to be the start of our competitive taekwondo tournament season; based on what I saw, we are off to a record-breaking season.”