Chairman - Dr. Christopher Vella

Christopher Vella holds 6th Dan in Taekwondo (World Taekwondo Federation – Olympic style) and 2nd Dan in Hapkido.  Professionally he works as a lawyer-linguist at the Court of Justice of the European Communities in Luxembourg. For ten years he acted as president of the Malta Taekwondo Federation, between 1995 and 2005. He also chaired the Legal Commission of the Malta Olympic Committee between 2000 and 2005.
His first martial art training dates back to 1980 when he practised judo at the age of 11. In 1986, when Taekwondo was introduced in Malta, he switched to Taekwondo and has since then practised and instructed the art and sport of Taekwondo.
In 1988 he was examined in the first ever Taekwondo black belt grading examination in Malta and he was awarded the highest points from all candidates who were being examined in that grading examination.  At that time he regularly participated in the kyorugi (fight) competitions organized by the national association.  For many consecutive competitions he placed first in his category.  During the same year he was also awarded a coaching certificate by the Association. He founded his own club during the same year.    
In 1995 he became the President of the Malta Taekwondo Federation, redrafted its statute and lead it to become a member of the Malta Olympic Committee (MOC), the European Taekwondo Union (ETU) and the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF). In July of 2004 he attended a taekwondo instructor’s course and examination at the Kukkiwon’s World Taekwondo Headquarters in Seoul, Korea. 
In July 2006 he moved to Germany and since then he practises and instructs Taekwondo at the Luxembourg Taekwondo Centre as well as the European School of Luxembourg. He regularly participates in international poomsae (technical) competition representing both his club in Luxembourg city and his country Malta. In December 2008 he represented Malta in the 3rd World Poomsae Championships held in Ankara, Turkey.
 
Apart from his competitive carreer, he also acts as technical director for the Maltese as well as the Luxembourgish federations. In this role he conducts preparatory training sessions and seminars for Dan promotion applicants. He chairs the technical boards conducting Dan promotion tests in both countries. In March 2009, the MTF awarded him with the title of Honorary President. 

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Director - Stephen Formosa

Stephen Formosa started practising Taekwondo at the age of 15 in 1990 under the guidance of Dr. Christopher Vella and Mr. Edwin Scicluna. Mr. Formosa obtained his brown belt under the hands of Master Choi during 1994. His 1st, 2nd and 3rd Dan grading examinations were carried under the direction of Master Seo Myung Soo who at that time was the ETU technical director. His 4th Dan was supervised by Dr. Christopher Vella who was the current technical director for the Malta Taekwondo Federation. He participated in various local competitions winning first places and represented Malta in European events both as a competitor and coach. In July 2005, he represented Malta in the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) that were held in Andorra.

Qualifications:

Kukkiwon Certificate No: 05089261
1st Dan - 5 October 1996
2nd Dan - 20 April 1999
3rd Dan - 05 December 2000
4th Dan - 20 June 2005

Medals Achieved:
National Championships – Kyorugi – Gold
National Championships – Poomsae – Gold

Foreign Seminars/Training/Competitions
Senior European TKD Championships - Helsinki (Finland) - October 1996 - player
1st Mediterranean TKD Cup - Rome - July 1997 - player
Jr. European TKD Championships(Coach)-Patra (Greece)-September 1997 - coach
Senior European TKD Championships - October 1998 - player
Luxembourg (Training Camp) - January 2002
Denmark (Training Camp) – April 2003
London (Training Camp) – April 2003
8th British Open (UTF) London (England) - July 2004 - player
GSSE - Andorra 2005 - player

Courses:
Coaching Course - 2000/2001 (Organised by the Malta Sports Council)
Sports Psychology - April/May/June 2006 (MCAST)
Instructor Course (Kyung Hee University - Korea) 17 September - 10 November 2006

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Director - Brian Saliba

In 1986 Brian Saliba was introduced to martial arts when he started practicing the art of Spirit Combat however, during  the summer of 1987 he met some new friends from his own hometown that changed the course of his martial arts experience.
Only a year before, Taekwondo had just been introduced in Malta and overhearing his friends talk about their experiences in this new martial art, he was interested to learn more about it.  Chris Vella, Stephen Camilleri and Charles Grima opened the first club in October 1987 and Brian Saliba was the first student to join in.
In 1988 he took part in the Malta Freestyle Open and lost in the final.  He then won it in 1989 and 1991 respectively. In 2004 the Malta Taekwondo Federation nominated Brian for the post of National Coach in preparation for the upcoming Andorra 2005 Games of the Small States of Europe.  Brian was instrumental in setting up a team to participate in such an historic event.
Another important event was when Brian participated in the WTF – KHU International Training Program held in Kyung Hee University, South Korea between September and October 2008.
Today Brian Saliba, 4th Dan retains the post of National Coach and he is focusing on building a new Junior National Team so that hopefully, they will take Taekwondo to higher levels and pass it on to the new generations to come.

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