My name is Vencislav Ignatova and I am the president of the biggest Taekwon-do Club in Bulgaria CENTRAL POLICE TAEKWON-DO CLUB (CPTK). We are based in Sofia but have our branches in other 3 big cities I Bulgaria.

I have worked for 3 years also as a Director of the School sport Directorate of the Ministry for Youth and Sport in Sofia, Bulgaria. However, I discovered that I could have more impact as a trainer and a club president, then as a sport administrator. This was a key lesson for me. 

My club is member of the Bulgarian sports association of the Ministry of Interior (SAMI) where we have introduced about 9 years ago the sport program YOUNG FRIENDS OF THE POLICE. Through it, the police were supposed to promote sports activities among children in order to create a sense of responsibility for the affairs of society and a lasting attitude to respect the life, health, property, and opinion of others, to promote active participation in the democratic life of adolescents and young people and strive for social inclusion. CPTK wanted to encourage the participation in sport and physical activity and bring the values of TAEKWON-DO and sport to the children and young people making them active citizens. At the same time the club management observes in the frame of 20 years since its establishment, that the more its athletes are engaging with sport, the more active citizens they become in their school and communities, the easier they find jobs and employment after school and the more inclusive societies they succeed to live in.

Something I consider one of our biggest achievements is the program we have created TAEKWON-DO FOR THE MIND: GET A BLACK BELT IN VALUES. The project was funded under the Erasmus+ SPORT Program in 2018. I am happy that the program is still working and unfolding and thanks to it our club members have tripled since 2019.

TAEKWON-DO FOR THE MIND encompasses an extracurricular physical activity program that simultaneously introduces elements of critical thinking to the children practicing this sport and develops additional knowledge and skills. When my colleagues and me elaborated TAEKWON-DO FOR THE MIND program we wanted it to include not only exercises and open learning resources (e.g., lectures, group games and lessons). We offered an innovative algorithm to track the progress of all participants and to master complex knowledge and skills newly acquired - not only in TAEKWON-DO but also in life. Part of this extracurricular program was a special Character Card Bonus System (CCBS) - children aged 7-11 years earn points each time they demonstrate qualities that are taught in TAEKWON-DO - such as respect, responsibility, self-control, discipline, mutual help. As a result of using the card the CPTK and its partners in the project from Slovenia and Greece doubled their members – only in the Sofia branch of the sport club the children in the age 7-11 have increased from 170 to nearly 400 in 18 months. 

The parents of the participating children were extremely content not only with the sport progress of the kids, but also with their discipline, improved daily routine and communication skills. They insisted to continue and even increase the trainings and spread the word about the CCBS. The parents also wanted their older children to join such a program.

That is why we developed the TAEKWON-DO FOR THE SOUL program for teenagers, it went online and got viral – especially during the pandemics, teenage TAEKWON-DO athletes have used the program to practice online.

Now we continue with developing different other modules of this program – like TAEKWON-DO FOR THE RIGHTS sport events. My colleagues and me discovered the huge power and potential TAEKWON-DO as a sport has for promoting lifelong civic participation. Recently we examined a study which found that in addition to the direct benefit that civic participation provides to the community, it also produces secondary health benefits for participants. Sports are excellent avenues for the learning of civic values that can invigorate our democracy. Simply by participating in sport, citizens can appreciate values that are critical to the success of the Union. One of the values needed for a thriving democracy is the ability to work for the common good. In order to do this, the us/them divide must be disrupted.

I consider this MY MISSION in life and work with all the 560 children in my clubs to succeed – not only on the tatami, but also in life.