On the weekend of April 13th and 14th, 2024, several major events took place in Asperen, Netherlands!

The eventful weekend kicked off on Saturday morning with the 4th World Martial Arts Seminar at the ‘de Wiel’ Sports Center. Participants and instructors, masters and grandmasters from all over the world gathered here to train together on 8 mats, demonstrate their skills, and pass on their teachings.

On the evening of April 13th, the Benefit Gala of the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame also took place. Here, international athletes and organizers from various martial arts were honored for their achievements and active support and promotion of martial arts.

The International Silla Gum Do Cooperation was heavily represented at these events. At the World Martial Arts Seminar, three sessions focusing on Silla Gum Do were offered by various masters and grandmasters from Austria and Germany.

At the Benefit Gala of the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame, several awards were given to our Hapkido and Silla Gum Do athletes. The honorees were:

-Grandmaster Franz-Josef Wolf (DE)
-Grandmaster Manfred Salmhofer (AT)
-Grandmaster Martin Zingel (NL)
-Grandmaster Günther Dieber (AT)
-Grandmaster Pierre van Bentum (NL)
-Grandmaster Volker Gößling
-Master Karla Kalkhoff (DE)
-Master Nadine Gößling (DE)
-Master Janine Poqué (DE)
-Gerlinde Petz (AT)
-Claudia Srekl (AT)
-Nils Schürer (DE)
-Thomas Weber (DE)
-Carolin Gößling (DE)
-Pascal Wickmann (DE)

The awards were related to various activities such as the founding and promotion of martial arts, active support and board work, as well as exceptional achievements, for example, at national and international championships.

During the event, Grandmaster and founder of Silla Gum Do, Franz-Josef Wolf, presented a demonstration of his skills on the stage. There, he performed particularly challenging and difficult cutting techniques with one and two sharp katanas live.

The following Sunday, the Open Dutch Championships took place. Silla Gum Do sword fighters competed in both the Dan class (black belts) and the student class – with success!

In the Dan class, 4 out of 5 placed sword fighters were from Silla Gum Do. In the student classes, which were separated into men’s and women’s divisions, all participants were from Silla Gum Do.

At the conclusion of the Open Dutch Championships, there were also honorary awards from the Dutch Hapkido Association (NHB). For active support and long-term collaboration:

The entire weekend was a great success. On June 1st and 2nd, this year’s Hapkido European Championships will take place in Germany, where we from Silla Gum Do will once again be well represented in the sword category.