Virginia is Home to Champion Tae Kwon Do Master Ismail Top
The Turkish Times-Virginia is home to a Turkish national Tae Kwon Do champion Ismail Top, who despite his young age, has managed to establish quite a few impressive track record.

Top, who holds a black belt, has since 1992 won 30 first place Istanbul championships, 2 first place Turkish national championships and 2 first place international championships. He most recently has won First Place in the Virginia State Tae Kwon Do Championship, and Fifth Place in the World Tae Kwon Do championship held in Ireland.

Ismail Top was a member (51 kg) of Turkish national Tae Kwon Do team that competed in Chunchon Korea in 2000 where 1,500 martial arts masters from 49 countries experts chopped their way to the medals. Turkish team ranked third by winning 6 gold and 4 bronze medals.

Ismail was also a member of the Turkish junior national Tae Kwon Do team that competed in Junior World Championship held in Ireland, in year 2000.

The high point of young Ismail's sports career came again in 2000 when Turkey ranked 2nd in World Tae Kwon Do Championship held in Spain. In this international event where 22 nations competed, Ismail Top won the Gold Medal in 51 kg category.

Currently Ismail Top is a student at Virginia Internati-onal University and United Martial Arts Academy, both at Fairfax, VA.