The Malta Taekwondo Federation have just marked the 25th anniversary since the first club was officially opened in Birżebbuġa by Chris Vella.

Taekwondo was originally introduced to our shores a year earlier by Ghelan Rageb, a Tunisian national living in Malta.

At first, training was held at two locations, in Tigne and a private gym in Pietà. Following the closing down of the Tigne premises, the club in Birżebbuġa was opened.

The federation came to life eight years later in 1994 and in 1995 the local body became a member of the World Taekwondo Federation.

Over the years, the Maltese federation continued to grow and currently the federation boasts four affiliated clubs and around 180 practitioners of this Korean martial art, with ages ranging from as young as five years to over 50.

Recently, the federation held an activity at the same location where the first taekwondo club was incepted in the late 1980s.

Mementoes were presented to all former and current federation heads as well as to Rageb, the founder of the sport on our shores.

Stephen Camilleri and Charles Grima were also presented a memento for their contribution towards the development of the sport here.

Birżebbuġa club members, to-gether with the national team, produced a display on the various applications of the sport.