On the 6th December, Ben Evans had the great opportunity to meet with the New Zealand Prime Minister Rt. Hon. John Key. It wasn''t the first time they had met as in 2013, the Prime Minister attended a special needs Taekwon-Do demonstration organised by Ben Evans.
The demonstration lasted a total of 15 minutes which Ben Evans managed to give a speech at the end about his goals and his objectives for the future of not only New Zealand Special Needs Taekwon-Do but within the International Taekwon-Do Federation.
The Prime Minister was very impressed with the demonstration and made a comment saying keep up the great work. Ben Evans showed him the Special Needs Taekwon-Do Book which he had designed to help educate the instructors internationally who were interested to join and set up in their country. The Prime Minister signed it and wrote inside the book "Great to be here today, keep up the great work"
The 2nd meeting was a great opportunity. Ben Evans gave an update on the progress which had been made for both New Zealand and ITF with regards to the presentation made in Canada at the 60th Birthday celebration and that the world championships would have a division which has never happened before at ITF World Championships.
Ben Evans thanked the Prime Minister for writing a support letter to read out at the 2014 Special Needs Taekwon-Do Championships.
The Prime Minister spoke that he recently just attended an end of year special needs Xmas party and donated many gifts to them.
Overall it was a great 2nd time meeting update which ended with smiles from both and with words wishing each other well moving forwards.
"2016 is going to be a great year for Special Needs Taekwon-Do internationally. I feel the interest is growing strong. I cannot wait until July where we will together, include and give great opportunity to all special needs students word wide to be a part of the developments in ITF. I am hoping that I can keep helping many people who want to be involved as it is an extremely positive movement to be a part of. Please let me know and I will do all I can to help you. I want to keep working hard for the ITF President GM Choi Jung Hwa and give all I can to support everyone in this fantastic path. I am doing this to make a difference in society for the weak who need better strength than ever. If you are interested, make a plan, and go for it!" Ben Evans, Special Needs Taekwon-Do Director.