「2024 Family Martial Arts Camp」

- Get closer with your family with martial arts -

□ Project Overview

 ○ Host/ Organizer: UNESCO International Centre of Martial Arts, World Martial Arts Union

 ○ Period: 13th Jul (Sat) ~ 28th Jul (Sun) 2024

   - 1st Session: Jul 13th (Sat) ~ 14th (Sun) /  2nd Session: Jul 20th (Sat) ~ 21st (Sun) / 3rd Session: Jul 27th (Sat) ~ 28th (Sun)>

 ○ Target: 90 families (about 300 people) / 30 families (about 100 people) per session

 ○ Programs: Experience Martial Arts, Martial Arts Family Sports Day, Martial Arts Night (Recreation), Experience and Explore Local

                     Culture, How to Keep Safety in Everyday Life

□ Project Introduction

 ○ Family Martial Arts Camp, which was first held in 2022, now marks its 3rd year with the goal of uniting families through martial arts. The number of    applicants has been increasing every year, and this year, the competition rate was 10:1, indicating the great interest for the programs. The admission for 2 days is free and we offer diverse experiential programs not only the ones registered as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, such as taekkyeon, wrestling, archery, and so many more that can be enjoyed by all ages. This year in the 3rd session, 35 people from 4 foreign countries which are Vietnam, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and Iran joined as well, through each country’s martial arts association. In the camp, everyone united through martial arts despite their differences in nationalities and ages.

□ Program Types 

(1) Experience Martial Arts

(2) Martial Arts Family Sports Day

(3) Martial Arts Night (Recreation)

(4) Experience and Explore Local Culture

(5) How to Keep Safety in Everyday Life

□ Interview with the Participants

Q1. Can you introduce yourself briefly please?

I am from Vietnam. My son is only 1 year old now, so I couldn’t bring him, unfortunately.

Q2. What made you to participate in the camp?

First of all, I wanted to experience Korean culture, and I also wanted to try various martial arts for my physical health, so that’s why my family decided to participate.

Q3. Were the programs suitable for all ages?

Yes, they were. My nephews are 6, 7, and 11 years old, and they enjoyed all the activities.

Q4. What were your favorite programs?

Definitely taekkyeon and archery were the most fun. It’s not easy to experience them in Vietnam.

Q5. What do you think are the values martial arts can offer in solving modern social problems or promoting family harmony?

The first benefit of martial arts in promoting family harmony is that it helps us to stay healthy. Also, spending time practicing martial arts and doing activities together can help build family bonds.

Q6. Any suggestions on where we can make further improvements on the programs?

It seemed that for some programs, our kids needed break before moving on to the next program, so that they can take some rest and recharge themselves. 

Q1. Can you introduce yourself briefly please?

Hello, our family is from Hongseong, South CungCheong Province. The girls’ names are Jien Park and Soen Park.

Q2. What made you to participate in the camp?

Our girls are both elementary school students and they are quite interested in martial arts but don’t get to experience a lot, and we always wanted to visit Chungju as a trip, so we thought that it would be a great experience for our family. The competition for the application was quite fierce, so this was our third time to apply, but we were lucky to get accepted.

Q3. What were your favorite programs?

The multicultural martial arts experience program that we tried together with foreign friends and martial arts family sports session were the two most memorable programs.

Q4. What do you think are the positive values martial arts can offer to the modern society?

Our children are living in a rapidly changing world prevailed by digital culture, and I believe martial arts can give them an opportunity to cultivate their spirit. Also, as we experienced in the camp, especially in the programs such as taekkyeon or multicultural martial arts, martial arts, although some people mistake it that it’s merely about teaching fighting skills, is actually all about promoting inner growth and being considerate for others, which are all positive values for our kids. Also, it was great that the kids put away their mobile phones and focused on martial arts activities throughout the whole period.

Q5. Any suggestions on where we can make further improvements on the programs?

Each program was informative and fun, but maybe because the schedule was quite tight packed with many programs, we sometimes ended up missing out meals, and there weren’t enough snacks when we got hungry. I think it would be better to place some snacks so that we could grab them in between our programs.

Q1. Can you introduce yourself briefly please?

My family is from Yongsan, Seoul. My name is Jungsun Hwang, and my son’s name is Taeun Hwang.

Q2. What made you participate in the camp?

My wife found it from the internet and we decided to apply for it.

Q3. What were your favorite programs?

Taekkyeon was the best, and the best part was that I fully focused on playing the sports together with my son without being concerned about special constraints at all. I’m glad I became closer to my 9-year-old son through theses camp activities.

Q4. What do you think are the positive values martial arts can offer to the modern society?

I learnt takkwondo in the past, and I remember that back then I also learnt manners and humbleness, and I believe these are the values we need in the modern society. I heard that taekwondo is quite popular in the US these days, and I think these values emphasized by Korean traditional martial arts such as learning how to be humble and respect others should be more widely promoted.

Q5. Any suggestions on where we can make further improvements on the programs?

This is something I talked about with my family, and everything was really perfect. Every single program was fun and we had great experiences. Thank you.