Tauranga Open

21/06/2026

Tauranga Open 2027 will be Gen3 Daedo

25/05/2026

The Tauranga Open 2027 date has been set- (Saturday) April 3rd 2027.
The event will be hosted at the Mercury Bay Arena. As co-hosts of the event with I Love TKD we are very pleased with the new venue for 2027.
We are planning to go for G1 ranking of Kyorugi by 2031. With this in mind the first step was securing a top class venue for the next five years.
More details to follow.

13/04/2026

💙 I Love TKD WORKSHOPS SUCCESS – TAURANGA OPEN WEEKEND 💙

What an incredible weekend of learning, development, and growth for our Taekwondo community! 🙌

📅 Friday 3rd April we kicked things off with our Referee Workshops (Poomsae & Kyorugi) – led by our amazing presenters and International Referees Diego Chiriff and Aaron Dean 👏

These sessions were a huge success, and it truly showed on tournament day with referees confidently putting their skills into action. The standard across both rings was fantastic – something we are really proud of 💥

📅 Sunday 5th April we followed up with our Poomsae Workshop, which had an awesome turnout!

Athletes had the opportunity to dive deeper into:
✔️ Technique
✔️ Accuracy
✔️ Presentation
✔️ Constructive critique

It was great to see everyone so engaged, learning, and pushing themselves to improve 🥋

🙏 A MASSIVE THANK YOU
To our presenters – thank you for giving up your time, sharing your knowledge, and helping bring both referees and athletes together.

Your contribution plays a huge part in lifting the standard of our sport, and we truly appreciate everything you do 💙

👏 To everyone who attended – thank you for your commitment to improving and supporting the growth of Taekwondo in New Zealand.

We love seeing our community come together like this 💯

13/04/2026

💙 THANK YOU – TAURANGA OPEN 2026 💙

What an incredible day we had at the Tauranga Open! 🙌

A huge thank you to everyone who attended, supported, and competed – the energy, sportsmanship, and passion across both Poomsae and Kyorugi was next level. We saw some amazing matches, some super close battles, and it was awesome to see athletes stepping up into black belt divisions 💥

Special mention to our veterans – so good to see you out there giving it a go 👏

🙏 VOLUNTEERS – YOU ARE AMAZING
To every single volunteer – THANK YOU.
These events simply do not happen without you, and you helped the day run smoothly from start to finish. We appreciate you more than you know 💙

🏆 AWARDS 🏆

• Largest Club Entries: Dynamic Wellington
• Runner Up: ANK

• Best Club: Mozhdeh Martial Arts
• Best Volunteer: Ute Poelman
• Best Sportsmanship Club: Ngatiporou Taekwondo

• Best Improved Poomsae Referee: Rosemary Minto
• Best Improved Kyorugi Referee: Connor Minto

• Best Referee Teams:
Team 1 – Stuart Edgar
Team 2 – Lexi Evett

• Biggest Whoopsie (Referees Choice 😄): Ayman Ali

🥇 FIGHTER AWARDS 🥇

Mat 1
• Best Female Fighter: Mila Tucker Nathan (Mozhdeh Martial Arts)
• Best Male Fighter: Benji Snyman (Superior Taekwondo)

Mat 2
• Best Female Fighter: Amaia Downes (Mozhdeh Martial Arts)
• Best Male Fighter: Benji Amaya (Budo South)

🥋 POOMSAE AWARDS 🥋

Mat 1
• Best Female: Bernadette Morel (Sejong)
• Best Male: Lonnie Liu (Victoria University Taekwondo)

Mat 2
• Best Female: Jun Vercoutre (Dynamic Wellington)
• Best Male: Henry Jeong (ANK)

👏 A big thank you as well to all the coaches, referees, managers, and supporters who helped create such a positive and professional environment for our athletes.

🍔 Thanks to everyone who supported the café and I ❤️ TKD shop – it all helps us keep these events going!

📅 SAVE THE DATE
We’ve already secured the venue for Easter 2027 – so lock it in now… it’s going to be even bigger and better 👀

More details to come!

💙 Thank you again everyone – we truly appreciate your support and can’t wait to see you all at the next one!

Hayley

31/03/2026

🔥 Not long to go until the Tauranga Open! 🔥

Just a quick reminder for everyone 👇

📍 Weigh-in location has changed
Weigh-ins will now be held at Tauranga Boys’ College (not at Budo South Martial Arts, as the club has moved).

👉 This will also be the venue for the Friday & Sunday seminars, so please make sure you head there.

🛍️ I ❤️ TKD Merchandise Shop
We’ll have our merchandise shop set up on the day with:
T-shirts, keyrings, books, sparring gear and more – come check it out!

☕ Café Available
We’ll also be running a café with:
Tea, coffee, toasted sandwiches, sausage sizzle, snacks, fruit and plenty of other goodies.

💛 Please support both the shop and café – it all helps make the event even better for everyone!

We can’t wait to see you all there – it’s going to be an awesome day! 🙌

26/03/2026

📣 TAURANGA OPEN – ENTRIES EXTENDED! ⏰

Hello Coaches and Instructors,

We are excited to announce the Tauranga Open, proudly hosted by Budo South Martial Arts and I ❤️ TKD, taking place on Saturday 4th April 2026.

👉 Entries have now been extended to:
🗓 Monday 30th March
⏰ 10:00pm

If you haven’t entered yet, there is still time — we would love to see your athletes there 👊

👉 For full tournament information and packages, please click the link below:
https://budosouth.co.nz/the-tauranga.../tournament-package/

📲 For updates, follow our page:
https://www.facebook.com/taurangaopen

It’s shaping up to be another fantastic event, with Australian referees joining forces with our talented NZ referees, along with our awesome team to make it a great day for everyone 🙌

🥋 WORKSHOPS – Friday 3rd April 2026 Still spaces available

Poomsae & Kyorugi
All referees, coaches, and athletes are welcome.

📍 Tauranga Boys’ College
• Poomsae: 9:30am – 12:30pm
• Kyorugi: 1:00pm – 4:00pm

💲 Cost:
$50 per person, per workshop
OR $60 per person for both

🥋 POST-TOURNAMENT POOMSAE WORKSHOP – Sunday 5th April

📍 Tauranga Boys’ College
🕘 9:00am – 12:00pm
❌ This workshop is now FULL

Taekwondo tournament to be held at Tauranga Boys' College over the weekend of April 4th, 2026.

18/02/2026

Hello Coaches and Instructors,

We are excited to announce the Tauranga Open, proudly hosted by Budo South Martial Arts and I ❤️ TKD, taking place on Saturday 4th April 2026.

👉 For full tournament information and packages, please click the link below:
https://budosouth.co.nz/the-tauranga-open/tournament-package/

For any updates on the Tauranga Open you will find them at our page

https://www.facebook.com/taurangaopen

It is going to be another great event, we have the Aussie referees coming over to work along side our talented NZ referees and our awesome team to make it a great day for everyone

WORKSHOPS Poomsae & Kyorugi – Friday 3rd April 2026
All Referee, Coaches, athletes are welcome to attend.

📍 Tauranga Boys’ College

• Poomsae Workshop – 9:30am – 12:30pm
• Kyorugi Workshop – 1:00pm – 4:00pm

💲 Cost: $50 per person, per workshop or $60 per person for both workshops on the 3rd

POST-TOURNAMENT POOMSAE WORKSHOP – Sunday 5th April 2026

This workshop is now Full

📍 Tauranga Boys’ College

9:00am – 12:00pm (full)

💲 Cost: $50 per person
We are honoured to have Master Diego Fernando Chiriff (Australia) presenting the Poomsae workshops.

✅ Registration will be available on the day for all workshops.
💳 Payment options: Cash or EFTPOS (debit card only – no PayWave).

We look forward to welcoming everyone to another fantastic event in Tauranga and continuing to grow and support Taekwondo together.

Any questions please email me @ [email protected]

Hayley and The Tauranga Open team

I ❤️ TKD is proudly supported by Kwon NZ & Australia

Taekwondo tournament to be held at Tauranga Boys' College over the weekend of April 4th, 2026.

19/01/2026

The Aussies are coming..
not these Aussies, but 5 Kyorugi referees from Australia will be joining us for the Tauranga Open. The referees are part of the AUS-NZL referee development initiative happening between our two countries, spearheaded by (our) Aaron Dean.
This benefit for the Tauranga Open is that the Kyorugi will be officiated at an international level.

19/01/2026

Medals have arrived... for the Tauranga Open and I Love TKD tournaments this year!

05/01/2026

Welcome to 2026
Here are two good videos outlining the 2026 Kyorugi (Sparring) Rule changes. I recommend you watch these and adapt your training now.

"Player Coach Speak" - Speaks like an athlete
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfpixugImdM
"Referee Speak""- Speaks like a Referee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYdGAaaTmfI

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