California Unified Taekwondo Association

Upcoming Events...

Team Competition in Mexico

The CUTA is sending 4 Olympic Division Team Members (Male) to compete in the Mexico Open International Taekwondo Championship, Mexico City on October 18, 2008. They will be lead by Team Chairman Grandmaster Young In Cheon and Head Coach Hyon Lee. We wish them the best of luck to bring home a victory.

CUTA Team Mexico

From left to right: Grandmaster Cheon, Chase Graham, Cory King, Aaron Robinson, Edward Hahn & Head Coach Hyon Lee

Official Election and Annual Meeting Notice

CUTA hereby officially announce that the Executive Officers Election in conjunction with the CUTA annual meeting will be held:

Date: Sunday February 8, 2009
Time: 3:00 PM
Place: The Dragon Restaurant
966 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90006
Banquet will be served after meeting

As per CUTA Bylaws, Article V Section 7, the State Board of Governors shall elect from among its members at the Annual Meeting every two years, the following officers, who shall be the officers of the Corporation:

President 1 (* Northern California)
Vice-Presidents 6 (3 South & 3 North)
Secretary General 1
Treasurer General 1

As per CUTA Bylaws, Article VII Section 7, The President shall be rotated a two year term from southern and the next two year term from northern. The President may be re-elected for one additional term.

* Northern California: This territory encompasses California zip code areas 93600-96599.
* Southern California: This territory encompasses California zip code areas 90000-93599.

For those who are intended to run for Executive Officer please review the following:

A letter of Intend must be submitted to the Secretary Generaląs office on or before October 12, 2008, 120 days before Election Day.
List of Candidates to be sent out 90 days before the Election Day.
All candidates will have 90 days to campaign for the intended position.
As per Bylaws Article VII Section 6, all candidates shall have been active, registered members of the Corporation for at least two (2) consecutive years immediately prior to the date of election.
Have established a Taekwondo Dojang or training facility (other than a private home) which is used primarily for the practice of Taekwondo
The President must be a holder of 2nd Dan or higher certified by the Kukkiwon and/or any recognized official Taekwondo organization, age 18 and older.

Voting Eligibility Requirement:

Must be Current CUTA Club Membership and have 5 current Individual Memberships. (please go to members to check your club registration status)
Have established a Taekwondo Dojang or training facility (other than a private home) which is used primarily for the practice of Taekwondo
Club and Individual Memberships must be registered on or before January 18, 2009.
Ballots will be mailed to all eligible clubs on January 23, 2009.
Votes may be casting in person or by mail. All mail-in ballots must be received no later than February 4, 2009. Mailed-In Ballot remains seal until date and time of election.
CUTA will ensure to run a fair and open election.

Thank you for participating in the 2008 CUTA State Championship
Held on Saturday August 23, 2008 at the Galen Center at USC

Click here to view the August 23, 2008 photo gallery.
Click here to download the competition results.

Northern Region CUTA Referee Certification Seminar

The CUTA is pleased to announce that there were 70 referees who have been successfully completed the Northern Region CUTA Referee Certification Seminar in Carmichael Sacramento on July 26, 2008. They have been certified and awarded the appropriate referee ranks according to their ability and refereeing history. (please refer to the list of Certified Referee Northern Region 2008). The CUTA would like to express special thanks to Grandmaster Clint Robinson, Vice-President of CUTA, for supporting this event by sending the most participants, and also to Master Jonathan Peschke for providing his dojang for the seminar. CUTA would also like to have a special recognition to Grandmaster Tom Vo, Referee Chairman CUTA, for doing an outstanding referee training. Every new referee went home with the basic knowledge of refereeing, referee ties, referee blazer (for C & above), and enthusiasm for officiating in future CUTA sanctioned championships.

California State Team Trials
For Filling-Up the Current Team Open Spots

CUTA is pleased to announce that most of the open spots have been filled at the Team Trials in Fresno on Saturday May 10, 2008. Special thanks to Master Derrik Carter who has provided his beautiful school for this event.

Female Junior Division:	Middle	Olga Slabchak	B Team
Female Senior Division:	Fly	Rachel Marcial	A Team
	Fly	Amanda Palmer	B Team
	Welter	Tatyana Slabchak	A Team
	Light	Shilla Kang	B Team
Male Junior Division:	Fly	Jordan Compo	A Team
	Light Heavy	Nick Vasquez	B Team
Male Senior Division:	Fly	Calvin Vang	A Team
	Middle	Humberto Valenzuela	B Team

Congratulations to the CUTA Teams Victory
International Taekwondo Festival
Industry Hill Expo Center, California
May 24-25, 2008

Click to view photo gallery

Junior Team Female: 1st Place (Cash Prize $6000)
Junior Team Male: 4th Place (Cash Prize $1000)
Senior Team Female: 4th Place (Cash Prize $1000)

CUTA Teams for World TKD Festival 2008

state team 2008

Junior Team Female

Gigi	Gil
Deireanne	Morales
Gina	Williams
Madison	Motoyasu
Paige	Aguirre
Tatyana	Vallejo
Samantha	Braun
Olga	Slabchak
Kindra	Woo
Sandra	Mendoza

Junior Team Male

Jordan	Compo
Brian	Tran
Brandon	Padron
Owen	Mack
Devon	Guider
Cory	King
Nick	Vasquez
Jose	Garcia

Senior Team Female

Sunmi	Kim	Fin/Fly -108.03
Jessie	Bates	Bantam/Feather +108.03-125.66
Shilla (Gina)	Kang	Light/Welter +125.66-147.71
Tatyana	Slabchak	Middle/Heavy +147.71

Senior A Team Male

Calvin	Vang	Fin/Fly -127.87
Sven	Lorrimer	Bantam/Feather +127.87-149.91
Arron	Robinson	Light/Welter +149.91-176.37
Humberto	Valenzuela	Middle/Heavy +176.37

Senior B Team Male

Luis	Reyes	Fin/Fly -127.87
Johnny	Chen	Bantam/Feather +127.87-149.91
Jesse	Hall	Light/Welter +149.91-176.37
Ilseob	Kang	Middle/Heavy +176.37

Congratulation CUTA!
We have successfully completed the 1st USA Taekwondo California State Taekwondo Championship last Saturday 3/8/08. Even with more than 500 competitors but under our professionaltournament team we managed to finish the last bout about a little after 6:00 PM. The Competition Poomsae went well even it took longer time than traditional Poomsae to finish. Special thanks to Master Randy Chambliss who managed this Competition Poomsae professionally and efficiently.

The only issue we had on Saturday was the venue having a Women Basketball Playoff at 7:30 PM and we were asked to finish the entire tournament by 5:30 PM. We received this notice only three days before the tournament. The college claimed that this was something happened unexpectedly and the basketball team coach has the right to cancel our event. Instead of canceling the event and get involved with a big legal battle with the college and the competitors, we decided to go on and immediately called out several serious meetings with set up crew, referees and ring crews. We finally finished the tournament a little after 6, but we have to shorten the times and rounds for the last few black belt matches. I believe complains in this regards will arise, but we have no other choices. We are planning to file complain to the Mayor of Norwalk and the Chancellor of Cerritos College.

The CUTA would like to recognize and thank a number of individuals who have devoted their times and talent to make this championship possible and successful. Many thanks to:
Mr. Marco Mack, who has worked with me in very beginning of the planning stage, which included visit the venue, layout the floor plan for competition rings, weigh-in, set-up the venue after weigh-in, managing the work flow on day of tournament and also worked as an EMT for the Tournament Medical Committee. Grandmaster Young In Cheon and his daughter Ann Cheon, Master Danny Gonzalez, Master Paul Rawate, & Master Ron Cabebe, who have worked so hard to make the weigh-in run quickly and smoothly and the work flow on day of tournament. Master Randy Chambliss who managed the Competition Poomsae professionally and efficiently. Master Perry Okimoto, who has set-up the tournament site and managing the work flow on tournament day, also tournament poster and medal designer. Mr. Edmond Tso & Mr. Marvin Wickham, who have managed the ring crews for the entire tournament. Mr. Stephen To who has helped in security area. Grandmaster Tom Vo, Referee Chairman, and his entire referee team, who have officiated the competition fairly and professionally. All dedicated volunteers. Special thanks to our AMS programmer, Mr. Calvin Beech, who has always made the number matching system works so effectively for smooth run tournaments for the last 15 years.

In conclusion, we have made every attempt to make this event as fair and enjoyable for all participants as possible and it is my sincere hope that we have exceeded your expectations.

Master Yushen Lai
Secretary General CUTA
Tournament Producer

Download Competition Results List
For any errors please send an email only.

CUTA has successfully hosted an 8 hours USAT Referee Certification Seminar on March 1, 2008 at CSU Dominguez Hills. Master Jim Evans, USAT Official Referee Instructor, has given outstanding training for 27 referees attended. Tiffany Choy; Wayne DuChateau; Danny Gonzalez; Vanessa Han; Heng Houth; Philip Houth; Joseph Kim; Shinae Kim; Victor Laguna; Dennis Lam; Nhuan Leo Le; Christina Lin; Gerardo Marcial; Christopher Medina; Xanthe Menor; Jessica Nguyen; Virgilio Ocampor Jr.; Jose M. Rios; Charles Robertson; Sandra Rodeback; Jerry Sanchez; Steve Simian; Wonjoon Sohn; Daniel Strasswyk; Clayton Tso; Edmond Tso; Steven Van Ooyen.

The First State Team Meeting & Training has successfully concluded. Special thanks to Grandmaster Young In Cheon, State Team Chairman, for providing his dojang and conducting the team meeting & training. Also many thanks to our Official State Team Sponsor, Golden Tiger-Kens Trading Inc., for providing team uniforms & warm-up suits. All members attended received their Team Uniforms and having the first Kyoroogi training from Coach Hyon Lee, Derrik Kwak & Larry Spears, and Poomsae training from Coach Tom Vo & Reggie Ubiadas. A complete training schedule for both south & north teams will be announced soon

Kukkiwon Poomsae Certification Seminar-2008 San Francisco. Sponsored by Kukkiwon; Organized by CUTA; Supported by Vision USA, was held on January 26-27, 2008 at the Cathedral Hill Hotel in San Francisco. Black Belts from across the country and from Canada received training from Kukkiwon Masters. Purpose of the seminar was to teach masters the official W.T.F. a nd Kukkiwon curriculum system in order to achieve master instructor qualification and evaluation for Kup and Dan grade instruction and promotion tests according to official Kukkiwon standards, based on the Taekwondo masters, and leadership-training programs designed for masters.

California State Team Trials - January 19, 2008
Congratulation to those athletes who have made to the A/B Team for Kyoroogi & Poomsae.

Please review the Team Member List Kyroogi and/or Poomsae and send your email to , if you discovered any error.

We are exciting to training with you and hope you will be bringing good results from any National or International Games that we sent you.

Sincerely,
Grandmaster Kwon Sung Choi
President CUTA

Thank you everyone for supporting the
Taekwondo Grand Showcase
kukkiwon demo team

featuring the Korean Kukkiwon Taekwondo Demo Team
held on October 8, 2007 at the Pacific Palms Resort in Industry Hills, CA.
Local demo teams and a sparring exhibition of the Northern California Team vs. Southern California Team
Go to the News page to view more photos and a video clip of the event

Kukkiwon Poomse Certification Seminar

Sponsored by Kukkiwon; Organized by CUTA; Supported by Ken's Trading Co. was held on July 28 - 29, 2007 at the Wilshire Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Black Belts from across the country and from Canada and Colombia received training from Kukkiwon Masters. Purpose of the seminar was to teach masters the official W.T.F. and Kukkiwon curriculum system in order to achieve master instructor qualification and evaluation for Kup and Dan grade instruction and promotion tests according to official Kukkiwon standards, based on the Taekwondo masters, and leadership-training programs designed for masters. read more news

CUTA officers and other CA leaders pictured with Dr. Chungwon Choue, President of the World Taekwondo Federation.
Mr. David Askinas, CEO of USAT and others prominent Grandmasters at the LA Airport Hilton Hotel, after the welcoming luncheon hosted by USAT on July 1, 2007.

Thank you and Congratulations to all the Competitors and Supporters for the 1st Annual California State Taekwondo Championship!
Tournament Winners List and Points Awarded
Go to the tournament page for a photo gallery and video from the June 23, 2007 event

The CUTA (California Unified Taekwondo Association) has been formed to reunite our state into one unified organization with common goals. Filed as a 501c3, the California Unified Taekwondo Association is a non-profit organization. The new state organization will be producing the California Southern and Northern State Championships, developing the California Team programs, and providing coaching and referee seminars. The California Unified Taekwondo Association is a way that Taekwondo practitioners throughout the state will be able to remain organized and connected as a community through the support of Taekwondo development activities including tournaments, seminars, clinics, state black and color belt teams in order to improve Taekwondo as an Olympic Sport. CUTA proudly supports USA Taekwondo sanctioned programs and events.

For more information, please contact Master Yushen Lai at:
310-212-6010 or