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On February 10, 2008, a Tong-Il Moo-Do Belt Ceremony was held at the Multipurpose Hall of UTS-Asia in the Philippines. Fifty students were promoted: nine green belts were elevated to blue, nine yellow belts were upgraded to green, and thirty-two white belts advanced to yellow. Tong-Il Moo-Do classes are taken as physical education subjects in UTS-Asia and all fifty of these newly-promoted practitioners are students of Physical Education 1 and 3.
The Belt Ceremony began with a full bow followed by the sincere prayer of Werlo Partosa, a sophomore student promoted to blue belt. Guidance on the significance and value of the belt ceremony was delivered by Master Ann Montejo-Arevalo, Executive Vice President of TIMD Philippines and UTS-Asia Physical Education instructor. Master Ann then bestowed the new belts to the students, starting with the yellow belts and ending with the blue belts. One by one, as each old belt was surrendered and a new belt was worn, the students felt an inner sense of pride yet mindful of the greater responsibilities that is tied to their new belts.
After all the belts were conferred, messages of inspiration, encouragement and challenge were conveyed by three of TIMD Philippines’ great leaders: Master Venus Agustin, continental president of WTMF Asia; Dr. Celso Talaba, TIMD Philippines national adviser and president of UTS-Asia; and Master Edgar Tanate, president of TIMD Philippines and UTS-Asia Vice President for Administration.
“You must learn to control your desires.” Such was the message and challenge given by Master Venus to all the students. He talked about the value of self-discipline and how it leads to attaining goals. He testified on the importance of self-control and shared his experiences how he overcame many temptations and faced many challenges. He also stressed that the main cause of the downfall of some TIMD practitioners, particularly in keeping purity, is their failure to properly dominate their eyes (for men) and ears (for women). Master Venus ended by reminding everyone that TIMD practitioners should not only be excellent in technical skills but should be exemplary people in the aspects of character and leadership.
Prepared by:
(Ann, Rona & Mitch) of UTS-Asia. | 
