10th Dan Shusheki Shihan Dr. Frank Woon-A- Tai visited Trinidad and Tobago 10 -13 April 2025, as part of his Caribbean tour. His visit included classes for kyu ranks, dan ranks, and grading.

There was a session for an enthusiastic bunch of about 80 Kyu ranks, ranging from white to 1st kyu brown belts. The class focused on basic drills that highlighted different methods of power generation, and the application of ki to techniques.

The general Dan class included about 30 junior and senior black belts who learnt the Taikyaku kata and to whom the principles of bunkai (the analysis of kata) were explained. This led to group-training of Heian Shodan bunkai, and demonstrations for bunkais for Heian Nidan and Sandan. The more advanced dan class then continued along a similar trend where the principles of oyo (application of kata techniques) were explained, followed by an exciting training session of oyo, utilising selected techniques of Heian Shodan to Sandan.

During his visit, Shusheki Shihan Frank also graded approximately 100 students from 10th kyu to Yondan level.

On his last day, master Woon-A-Tai was invited to sit in on a session of the Instructor D level programme developed and conducted by Fuko Shusheki Shihan Dexter Shim and Shihan Frieda Shim. His exposure to the Modules on “How Your Personality Type Influences Your Teaching Style”, and snippets of the Module on Communication piqued his interest, prompting his request for a presentation of the course for approval as a prerequisite to IKD Level 1 Instructor Course, at the Shihan-kai meeting at Shoto Camp in Ontario, Canada which will be held 13 – 15 June 2025.

Overall, it was a fun and informative visit. It was a pleasure to host Shusheki Shihan Frank, and we always welcome him to our TKA family.