Spring Annual Retreat 2023
The 4th edition of the Spring Annual Retreat for this year took place during the weekend between 12-14 May 2023. As per previous years it was held at the Archbishop Seminary and this time was not short of a full packed program of activities.
It was nice to see some fresh faces, especially young ones, and this time our residents were surprised to learn that they had to sleep in common dormitories for males and females respectively. It was evident that the youngest ones were super excited, it being their first experience staying by themselves away from their family.
Day one kicked off with a sparring session conducted by coach Mauro Busuttil who started with some fun games that put everyone in the right mood. The day concluded with a pizza night and celebrating Mauro’s birthday.
Day 2 kicked off with breakfast. The first session of the day was conducted by Sabomnim Stephen Formosa who covered some simple self-defense drills. Following was another sparring session conducted by Mauro who continued to build up from the previous session held on Friday. After lunch Sabomnim Stephen conducted a presentation about physical and mental fitness, both general and contextual. The next item on the program was the belt and certificate ceremony for both Taekwondo and Hapkimudo members who successfully passed their grading examinations a few days before. It was the first time that a co-jointed presentation was held, therefore making it a memorable moment.
Soon after Sabomnim Emvin Mifsud conducted a Hapkimudo session which was then followed by a nutrition talk by Roderick Schembri who is a qualified and registered sports nutritionist.
Roderick managed to keep a complex topic simple, and he managed to captivate the audience irrespective of their age. This was evident by the numerous questions asked. The day concluded with a nice dinner and watching the Eurovision Song Festival.
Day 3 kicked off with breakfast and a briefing about competition rules followed by sparring bouts using the electronic point scoring system. This also gave the participants the opportunity to spar on a full court. We were glad to have with us a couple of athletes from Birzebbugia Taekwondo Club (BTC), whose head instructor Neville Desira assisted in controlling some of the bouts.
For next year’s edition we have extended our invitation to our Sicilian friend in Mazara del Vallo to come over and we are sure that next year will be the biggest ever.