#121: Ptolemaida: A Weekend of High-Level Taekwondo and International Exchange

From the 16th to the 19th of January, a strong Maltese contingent travelled to Greece to take part in the second edition of the International Training Seminar held in Ptolemaida. The seminar was hosted by sisters Toula and Vaso Christidou, together with myself, Gianluca Barbara, invited as a guest coach for the weekend.

This time, Iron Taekwondo League joined forces with fellow Maltese club Strive Taekwondo, managed by coach Mauro Busuttil, to lead an impressive delegation of 61 athletes, parents, and friends.

Attendees at the Second International Training Seminar

In Ptolemaida, the Maltese group trained alongside Greek athletes, but also shared the mat with participants from Albania, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia— creating a truly international and high-level training environment.

The camp officially kicked off on Friday evening with a session led by Toula Christidou, a former World Championship medallist. Her session set the tone for the weekend, focusing on technical precision, timing, and efficiency — key elements that define elite-level Taekwondo.

Maltese athletes sparring during the camp.

Saturday morning featured sessions delivered by Vaso Christidou, a former high-achieving Galeb athlete who has since specialised in high-performance training.

While Toula’s work centred on technical execution, Vaso’s sessions targeted mobility, explosive movement, and Taekwondo-specific athletic development, giving athletes a well-rounded and physically demanding training experience.

ITL athletes on the move.

On Saturday evening, I led a tactical session in which athletes paired up and worked through a variety of competition scenarios. The focus was on decision-making, adaptability, and tactical awareness — skills that often make the decisive difference in sparring at higher levels.

Sunday marked the most intense day of the camp, with a full sparring programme bringing all teams and athletes together on court. The volume and variety of sparring allowed athletes to test themselves against unfamiliar opponents, adapt to different styles, and apply the technical and tactical concepts developed throughout the weekend.

Athletes of all categories - including families - participated.

To close the camp, Sunday evening featured a recovery session that I led, using Taekwondo-oriented activities and games. This lighter session brought everyone together for some well-earned laughs, fun, and active recovery after a demanding weekend of training.

Beyond the scheduled sessions, the Maltese group made the most of the experience both under the roof of Hotel Ptolemaida and outdoors, bonding through football games and other activities that strengthened team spirit and camaraderie.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to coaches Vaso and Toula Christidou for the invitation and the excellent organisation of the seminar. We look forward to welcoming them to Malta for our own local training camp, the Iron Island Training Camp, which will be held at Hotel Salini.

Siblings Ella and Jean hit the mats all weekend!

The Maltese contingent received high praise from the Greek coaches throughout the weekend.

“It was truly our great pleasure to have you all with us once again,” remarked Vaso Christidou. “The quality and level of Maltese Taekwondo is clearly very high, and that comes through your hard work and commitment.”

Toula Christidou echoed these sentiments on social media, describing the group as:

“A team of warriors. Your team continues growing and the hard work truly shows.”

From left to right: Vaso and Toula Christidou, Mauro Busuttil and Gianluca Barbara.

Finally, I would also like to extend special thanks to coach Mauro Busuttil of Strive Taekwondo, whose invaluable support and collaboration played a key role in making this camp such a memorable and successful experience for everyone involved.