British Taekwondo Today June 2019

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JUNE 2019 YEAR OF THE PIG

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THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Bradly Sinden

A taegerific event for all to see at the Manchester Arena

stockport dan grading

Candidates put on the mats in a 5 hour examination

ik pil kang poomsae seminar harrogate A popular master teaching the intricacies of Poomsae from all aspects of performance

from self protection to photography

profile on self protection expert Martin Brown who has other skills up his sleeve

Wuxi grand slam tournament 1

International GB Referee Paul Timms on the event in China

Worlds Number 1

The Korean Martial Art of Taekwondo & Olympic Combat Sport practiced within the British Isles

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www.kicombattaekwondo.com BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 0161 456 1976

TAEKWONDO TODAY

JUNE 2019 YEAR OF THE PIG

email: bttoday@outlook.com

BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 07598 413664

Foreword

TAEKWONDO TODAY Taekwondo Today

Bringing you all the official information about Taekwondo in the United Kingdom Aquinas College Heaviley The Torkington Centre Hazel Grove Werneth Young Peoples Centre Bredbury/Romiley Stockport Birmingham University Tel:0161 456 1976 Mob: 07598 413664

www.kicombattaekwondo.com

STEVE BLOMELEY 6th Dan Editor-in-Chief Contributors: Phill Payne Steve Blomeley Denny Jones Derek Sumner Paul Timms Fabian Burkhart Glenda Trimble Martin Brown Ian Caldwell

Testimonial “What a great opportunity and spectacle it was to be at The World Taekwondo Championships in Manchester.

The first time Great Britain has hosted this prestigious event” Steve Blomeley

Practise “Taekwondo Today” The Korean Martial Art & Olympic Sport in Great Britain

• Local Clubs • Training Tips • Instructor Profiles

Foreword from the Editor.

April 2019

Welcome to the June edition of British Taekwondo Today which saw us having a very busy period with plenty of events happening around the country and of course the World Championships here in our home city Manchester. This issue features a lot of The Taegers our adorable mascots because they were very active over the 5 day inaugural event which was held at the Manchester Arena. Security was obviously very high and we paid our respects at the small memorial which at the moment is in the corner of the Oxford Road Train station. The opening page about the World Championships “From A Taegers Perspective” has 22 bees on it to commemorate those victims from the awful event there the other year. We took all the mascot gear up before the event and had it checked in ready for the big Ki-ck off.

It was a fantastic event and looked great visually with the way the arena had been laid out which gave us plenty of opportune moments to grab photographs for this edition. Speaking of things looking good visually I caught up with a friend and renowned Self Protection expert who has turned his attention to a new venture, namely photography. He’d just finished a shoot with martial artist Mounia Moula who’s currently filming on the new James Bond film set and took time out to meet up with him. Take a peek we think the shots and effects are stunning. There’s been plenty of other stuff going on too around the country with seminars, Dan gradings and tournaments such as the Grand Slam opener in Wuxi, China. International Referee Paul Timms was at that one and you can read his take on it inside.

It has also been the 75th anniversary of D-Day and out of respect to the fallen, the veterans and current Taekwondo practitioners who are currently serving or have served we’ve included an old article from a couple of years ago. Lest We Forget. Please try to continue to support the magazine and try to advertise if you are a club or business to help me continue my passion of martial arts and productive artwork. Please share the link far and wide as the objective is to keep everyone informed and to encourage more people into your clubs!

• Competition Dates • Results • Seminar Details • Seminar Reviews • Grading Dates • Grading Results • Student Profiles • Kids in Combat • Health Tips • Book Reviews • Product Reviews • Equipment Suppliers • Club Profiles

The Editor-in-Chief British Taekwondo Today

CONTENTS YIN Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page

3 Foreword 5-17 The World Taekwondo Championships 19 No Payne No Gain cont.

21 Clubs Page 23 Martin Brown Cont.

25 Ik-Pil Kang cont.

27 Calender of Events 29 Perfect Practical Poomsae 31 Technical Taekwondo Cont...

33-35 Taekwondo Dan Grading cont.

37-41 Taekwondo Grand Slam cont.

CONTENTS YANG

Page 4 -16 The World Taekwondo Championships Page 18 No Payne No Gain Page 20 Ki-dz Corner Page 22 Martin Brown Page 24 Ik-Pil Kang Poomsae Seminar Page 26 Control the Control Page 28 Taeger Time Test Page 30 Technical Taekwondo Page 32-34 Taekwondo Dan Grading Page 36-40 Taekwondo Grand Slam Qualification Tournament Page 42 British Army, Navy, Air force Tkd Page 44 What’s in a name? Page 46 Back the Brits Page 52 Livingwell and living Taekwondo

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email: bttoday@outlook.com BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 07598 413664

TAEKWONDO TODAY Article

The World Taekwondo Championship A Taegers Perspective – by Steve Blomeley

The words and numbers ‘The Manchester Arena 2019’ add up to 22 which everyone in this city knows is significant and on this page are 22 bees to remember them by. The Manchester Arena was the venue chosen to host such a prestigious tournament and of course the first time Great Britain had staged the inaugural event which would have the eyes of the world focused on it as the best WT players vied for the title of World Champion. Being the creator of the now famous Taegers of Taekwondo leading up to the start of the event everything had been put in place so that the cheeky big cats could bring their own little bit of uniqueness to the event and entertain the Ki-dz and adults around the concourse area. They didn’t disappoint and hundreds of people including dignitaries, players past and present, referees and officials clambered to have a selfie or photograph with them.

Of course the World Championships is a huge event spanning over 5 days of competitive fighting on the seven rings that were laid out. The event organisers did a fantastic job and visually it was very impressive. The Taegers team were looking forward to adding a bit of humour and antics to the crowd especially the hundreds of school children that were scheduled to visit over the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Ki Taekwondo’s very own newly promoted 4th Dan and local headmaster Ian Caldwell was very excited to bringing along two sets of classes from his school. Initially Chief Instructor and Creator of the Taegers along with one of his students Darren Kay took all the Taeger equipment up the day before the event and prepared everything as we knew we would be very busy with the expected amount of spectators at various periods throughout the long days. The first day only two of the Taeger team were operating as it was midweek and most of the others were either at work or school but Darren and Steve had a wonderful opportunity to watch the opening ceremony going out live on the BBC red button and having the mascots in the crowd.

The opening ceremony included speeches by representatives of World Taekwondo, local dignitaries and of course the athletes oath read out by very honoured local taekwondo practitioners. Of course Manchester is home to the National Academy for Taekwondo where our elite athletes practice and train for the purpose of achieving world ranking points and medals for the country. We Brits and the Taegers of course were hoping for huge success on home soil from the likes of Jade Jones, Bradly Sinden, Bianca Walkden, Damon Samsun, Lauren Williams, Mohamma Cho, Lutalo Muhammed etc. After the speeches there was what seemed like a never ending stream of placard carriers introducing each country and of course with it being a World Championship there was hundreds. After some entertaining dances from a local troop it was time for the World Taekwondo Demonstration team to bring the opening ceremony to a finale. We can honestly say using our favourite catch phrase ‘Taegerific’ the squad were just absolutely awesome. Myself and Darren being there on the Tuesday had the privilege of seeing them practice on the concourse the day before and were just mesmerised then...Seeing them in the performance was even better even through a mascots eyes!

They started their little show based on a wedding story which eventually breaks out into a conflict and mock battle where the demonstrators kick boards at incredible speed and height simulating a fight. The crowd were just in awe and if you are a Taekwondo practitioner you’re probably sat there going WOW! I wish I could do that or I wish I was 6 or 7 again just starting out in this dynamic Martial Art from Korea. They were performing breaking stunts blindfold, springing off the chests of people to incredible height smashing boards on poles which delighted the national teams, referees, officials dignitaries and Mancunian crowd. They of course had a Taegerific standing ovation at the end of their performance which left you spell bound. Tokyo Taeger even got picked out in the crowd by the camera man cheering them on. The following pages contain images that were taken over the 5 days as the Taegers of Taekwondo mingled with everybody around the arena plus helped the school children enjoy taster sessions of the art and Olympic sport of Taekwondo.

The Arena Manchester 2019 May

h t 9 1 15th -

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BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 07598 413664

TAEKWONDO TODAY Article

Tiger Tae, Taeger the Tiger, Tiger Kwon, Tiny Taeger, Grand Master Taeger, Tokyo Taeger, Queen B Taeger, Man Taeger - the family keeps growing!

The Taegers of Taekwondo

- By Steve Blomeley The Taegers of Taekwondo were at the World Taekwondo Championships to bring their sense of fun and antics to the event around and about the concourse and active zone of the Manchester Arena but of course they being British would be cheering on our National squad players as much as possible and where they were allowed. Unlike the Grand Prix events the cheeky big cats weren’t allowed down at ringside which is understandable but they were able to sit up in the seats at the top of the spectators arena but we knew the athletes knew we were there supporting them.

The steps down to seating in the Manchester Arena are quite steep and so we were extra careful moving around in the costumes.

The Brit squad were made up of Aaliyah Powell, Jordyn Smith, Rebecca McGowan, Mason Yarrow, Josh Calland and Maddison Moore. Along with these were the big names we’ve all become accustomed to of Bianca Walkden, Jade Jones Damon Samsun, Bradly Sinden, Lutalo Muhammad, Lauren Williams and Mahama Cho. This event was the biggest International Taekwondo competition that Britain has hosted as the world’s best athletes come to Manchester to compete over 5 days for the World Championship crown and valuable ranking point for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The Taeger squad consisted of a team that rotated throughout the five days both during the morning, afternoon and evening sessions due to such factors of being at work, school and even teaching their Taekwondo classes. The Taegers need minders to ensure that they are safe moving around any obstacles plus there has been occasions when some people do get a little too giddy and think they can Ki-ck them but they don’t understand that the vision is quite restricted and therefore have no idea if someone aims a dollyo chagi at them etc. For those that don’t know the Taeger costumes were made by Master Steve Blomeley’s Mum who is now 85 years old and unfortunately not in the best of health. He’s spent quite a lot of his time recently caring for her at her

The World Championships - Manchester Arena - Manchester 2019

home in Stockport. I think everyone like what she created from the vision that the creator had from his cartoon drawings judging by the response they get for selfies and photographs. It may be quite possible that we get more pictures taken with the public than the athletes lol! which is great and helps to spread our beloved art of Taekwondo.

With the school children visiting over the first three days there were plenty of opportunities and antics for the Taegers to get up to mischief to the delight of the various classes in attendance. Various Instructors were present taking the Ki-dz through some questions and answers about Taekwondo plus demonstrating some basic blocking, kicking and striking techniques which at times Taeger the Tiger and Tiger Kwon the lady of the pack joined in with.

One session saw Taeger the Tiger mess up his sequence and miss his block which left him very disheartened but he soon cheered up when back in line and the children comforted him and told him he was doing great and that he would get it next time! Whether planned or impromptu the World Taekwondo demonstration squad did shorter demonstrations during the lunch breaks from the fighting which was fabulous again and the screams of delight for the children and The Taegers left them with a wonderful memory and impression to take back home with them. We all hope of course that many will want to go and try out Taekwondo at their nearest club.

The Taegers took some great footage on video whilst they sat in the audience clapping and cheering on the outstanding performers in the demonstration squad. There w a s one touching moment at an evening session where the demo squad came past the Taegers to watch some of the semi final matches and all waved to them I think appreciating the little bit of fun we brought to the championship. The format of the competition was that the players fought right up to the semi finals in the evening but then if they won and made the final of the World Championships they would then wait until the evening of the next day to play that match which was going out live on the BBC red button, which was also an opportunity for the Taegers to get a cameo shot on the television cheering on the fighters. We did notice the camera man zoom in on us quite a few times so we hope we may catch some footage somewhere in the future via social media. After a long day 1 Darren Kay and Master Blomeley headed home for some food and a rest ready to do it all again the next day. They love it really!

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BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 0161 456 1976

Article

TAEKWONDO TODAY

The Taegers of Taekwondo The World Championships - Manchester Arena - Manchester 2019

So with Day 2 underway Master Blomeley and Darren Kay of Ki taekwondo were back on the concourse ready to do some Taegering and entertain the Ki-dz coming in from the schools. There was also some very important fighters to cheer on as well for Great Britain. Bradley Sinden and Bianca walkden were just a couple of the GB stars on the mat that day and the Taegers took opportunities when they could to get in the crowd and help cheer them on. As the day wore on things seemed to be going to plan for the GB players as they progressed into the next rounds to everyone and the Taegers delight.

Meanwhile Tiger Kwon got involved with a special needs group visiting and helped out with a question and answer session run by the British Taekwondo coaches who were there to give taster sessions for the children.

Later on when there was a larger class visiting the concourse active zone area both Tokyo Taeger and Tiger Kwon lined up with all the school children and were called out by the instructors again to help out with their taster sessions and of course got up to a few antics much to the childrens delight. Tokyo Taeger was being very mischievous and nudging students whilst they were trying to balance in a stance or on one leg which had plenty of them giggling. By now more and more classes were arriving from different schools and the childrens faces were a picture of happy beaming smiling faces when they saw the two Taegers coming towards them as they lined up waiting to be guided to their different destination zones. Tokyo and Tiger Kwon took great delight in running along the lines and high fiving or fist bumping them all including the various school teachers.

Because this was Thursday The Taegers had to leave pretty early in the day as it was their own training time at Ki Taekwondo Stockport where they had a Tiny Taegers Childrens class to teach plus senior training later that evening also. They were a little bit gutted to be going because it meant they missed both Bianca Walkden and Bradley Sindens semi finals. Bradley was due to fight Dae Hoon Lee the legend and the Taegers would have loved to be there cheering him on in that match but it was not to be. They left to head back through the rush hour traffic hopng that both got through to the final of their respective weight divisions because that meant they would be played the following evening. After the mad dash home both Darren and Master Blomeley just got to the class on time to teach the little ones who were all excited and wanting to know how the competition was going especially as a few of them were to be acting as The Taegers on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So after the morning and afternoon session at the Manchester Arena plus two classes at Ki Taekwondo Hazel Grove Stockports dojang it was time to rest up again ready to go for the Friday Session and Taeger favourite Jade Jones was fighting!

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BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 0161 456 1976

Article

TAEKWONDO TODAY

The Taegers of Taekwondo The World Championships - Manchester Arena - Manchester 2019

Day 3 Friday was going to be the busiest of the days concerning the school children visiting and I think the estimate was that around 700-800 Ki-dz were arriving in sections over the normal school time hours, so one Taeger was going to be extremely busy. It was also a difficult time to be able to get a group of Taegers together because of work commitments and our own children being at school but by the late afternoon and early evening a couple of the children had arrived to help Master Blomeley out as he’d been Taegering all by himself up to that point although time went very quickly with the amount of activities going on.

During the day it was also going to a bit special as one local headmaster is a Ki Taekwondo 4th Dan and he was accompanying his primary school Ki-dz that day.

The Taegers were not quite sure who was more excited?

The headmaster or the Ki-dz lol but they certainly made it fun for them and perhaps a few of them were a little puzzled when Taeger the Tiger was introduced as their headmasters Instructor ha ha ha! The Taegers had also had to give up their den(secret room) because it was needed to be able to put more than one taster session on at a time because of the sheer volume of little Taegers running around the concourse eagerly awaiting what was in store for them. The Taegers improvised and one was soon out and about joining in with the activities at the active zone run by British Taekwondo. Rhiannon took plenty of footage to put on the BT website and social media pages. The Ladybarn Primary School were taken into the arena to watch the matches going on and they all had their goodies such as flags or fold up clackers to cheer their favourite Taekwondo players on.

The Instructors giving out the taster sessions made sure they all knew how the scoring system worked and what points the players got for what kicks or punches or what penalties they accrued for fouls etc.

Tokyo Taeger made a point of getting into the crowd and sitting with the different school children from various local Manchester schools including Ladybarn where Ian Caldwell is the headmaster. Tokyo had a special memento photograph with the headmaster for their own scrapbook to look back on from the prestigious event at the Manchester Arena which will be great for the children because the plan is that they will be doing Taekwondo as part of their curriculum in the very near future. How many schools can say they have a 4th Degree World Taekwondo Black Belt as their headmaster? It will be great for the Ki Taekwondo group too as it is another club coming under their banner who are full members of British Taekwondo the National Governing Body for Taekwondo in Great Britain. The Taegers are bound to make a visit to that school at some point we think which would be a great treat and encouragement for the Ki-dz!

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BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 0161 456 1976

Article

TAEKWONDO TODAY

The Taegers of Taekwondo The World Championships - Manchester Arena - Manchester 2019

Well what a treat we had in store for the Friday evening session as not only did Great Britain have two players in World Championship Finals but crowd favourite Jade Jones had also made the semi final of her weight division and the World Championship crown is the one honour the welsh lass hadn’t achieved. Could The Taegers be on the verge of something extra special? Whenever The Taegers have been at an event in Great Britain such as the Grand Prix’s Jade has always reached the final.

What a night we had to look forward to. Mark Yell had been looking after Master Blomeley whilst he acted as a Taeger and during the break between the afternoon and evening session they headed to the Printworks Manchester to get some food plus meet up with one of Ki Taekwondo’s youngsters who was taking over another of the Taeger mascots for the evening.

After being replenished they headed back into the Arena through their designated security entrance and The Taegers had promised a couple of the security girls that they would come out and have a photograph with them in the mascots. It wasn’t long before they were in the cheeky big cats and out on the foyer greeting the members of the public as they came through the man entrance for the evenings semi finals and the finals from the previous days matches. The Taegers were kept on their toes (or paws) as hundreds of people wanted selfie’s with them or photo shots in some Taekwondo pose or other, even players of present and past were getting in on the action as too were a few of the international referees. There’s a great picture with Taekwondo legend Pascal who lifted his leg way above the white Taegers head. It’s quite amusing at times being a Taeger with people clamouring to get in the picture and what’s funny is everyone says smile and when you’re in the mascot even though you know they can’t see you, you smile anyway!

The evening session had everything from tension, excitement, controversy, joy, agony, drama and that wasn’t from the mascots! By now Shaun Peter another Taeger helper had arrived and along with Master Blomeley (aka Taeger the Tiger), Charlotte Taylor (aka Tiger Kwon) Mark Yell and Matt they witnessed Jade Jones win her semi final to get into the next evenings final but also Bianca Walkden and Bradley Sinden both get crowned World Champions in front of a packed Arena audience.

Earlier in the day too the World Taekwondo demo team from the opening ceremony put on an afternoon mini display on the raised main ring no 1 for the hundreds of school children in attendance. The Ki-dz absolutely loved the demonstration and were in awe just like the Taegers on the opening night at the spectacular feats the Korean practitioners perform breaking wood at incredible heights or super fast simulated fights!

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BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 0161 456 1976

Article

TAEKWONDO TODAY

The Taegers of Taekwondo The World Championships - Manchester Arena - Manchester 2019

Day 4 of the World Taekwondo Championships was on Saturday the 18th May and after the buzz and Taegertastic results from the night before by the GB athletes gaining two world crowns plus our double Olympic champion reaching this evenings final plus it was time for the mens -80kg competition to get underway it was going to be rather exciting. The Taegers the day before spent a little time sat with crowd pleaser Aaron Cook and also Richard Halsall who’s the head of the Manx Tigers group from the Isle of Man cheering on Bianca. Now it was her boyfriends turn to be on the mat on this day with another crowd favourite and GB athlete Damon Samsun. The Taegers presented Bianca with one of their Queen B Taeger cups as a little gesture as she’s so supportive of what we do although we nearly weren’t allowed to bring it in at the security checks as it was considered glass? but after an explanation that it was a gift for our World Champion they understood and let us through with it.

Jade came out in the first round and imposed herself on her opponent picking up some valuable points to give her a reasonable lead much to the delight of the home crowd. It wasn’t in the bag yet though and her adversary managed to claw back some points in the second round stalking her on the mat for the duration. You could sense the drama and concern coming from the Brit supporters who perhaps were getting slightly anxious as the third and final round progressed but then in true Jones style she produced some more great scoring opportunities to hang on and finally take that Taegerific World title at last. We still haven’t come up with A Taeger character yet for Jade but we are sure something will come up in the near future and looking forward to Tokyo 2020 where we hope she can cement her legend status and take a 3rd successive Olympic title. It would be awesome if The Taegers could get to Japan to cheer her on as we’ve said before everytime we’ve been there she’s always made the final!

Both Aaron and Damon were going well in their matches reaching the last 8 but then both fell just short with Damon losing narrowly right at the end by a last few seconds kick from his match plus Aaron came up against an incredible player who could utilise the current rules well and he progressed all the way to the final for the next evening. The Taegers were now in full force and full flow over the weekend as the rest of the Ki crew were now not in work or at school and so could get all the family out on the concourse much more.

They thoroughly enjoy doing their bit and adding that element of fun to major events like this especialy when the rest of the Taekwondo community can attend from various parts of the country due to it being the weekend.

The general public and fellow Taekwondoists took every opportunity to get photographed with them plus many of the National Teams were getting group shots too to post on their social media profiles such as Facebook and Instagram.

Earlier in the evening the mens -80kg semi finals had taken place and the victors would battle it out on the final day of the world championships plus GB’s own Aaliyah Powell had secured a bronze medal position resulting in Great Britain gaining 4 medals in total up to now.

Sunday would see the mens heavy weights come to the fore and another Taeger favourite Mohamma Cho from GB Taekwondo. we’d had a photograph earlier with the giant gentleman and wished him well for his upcoming matches. The Taegers had also bumped into Bradley Sinden on the concourse and grabbed the opportunity to pose with the first ever British Male World Taekwondo Champion with everyone holding their finger out in the NO1 gesture. We decided this should be the cover shot for the magazine as it is not everyday you can say we were stood with a GB world Champion and one who defeated the legend Dae Hoon Lee on the way to the final.

By the evening it was rocking as the little Welsh wonder was due out in her final and fingers, toes and Taeger paws were crossed that Jade could capture that elusive World title that has avoided her up till now. We got high up in the public gallery to watch her coming out to rapturous applause and could see her many supporters waving their flags to cheer her on. Her family were there in full force like The Taegers too. Whilst we were waiting for the matches to start an amusing moment was when all the World Taekwondo Demonstration team came past The Taegers and greeted them. It was such a shame that in teh excitement of Jade Jones final we couldn’t get a photograph with them before they had got into their seats. That would have been a great Taeger Tail or is that tale ha ha ha.

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email: bttoday@outlook.com BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 0161 456 1976

Article

The Taegerific Taegers

It wasn’t to be for Mohamma Cho as in the quarter finals with the match on ring 1 going to sudden death or golden point in what has become “Cho Time” he was just pipped to the post and the opponents score registered on the hogoo taking him into the semi finals

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TAEKWONDO TODAY

Taegerific support!

e

Tim o h C ith

ew m i T Taeger

The Taegers & Grandmaster Shin from Manchester

At the end of the final day on the Sunday everyone including the whole family of Taegers were looking forward to watching the closing ceremony and once again the World Taekwondo Demonstration Team were performing. Steve, Shaun, Arthur, Millie, Abigail , Matt, Mark & Charlotte were once again captivated by the sheer discipline and agility these guys have to perform the way they do! And then suddenly it was all over and home time!

Everybody loves The Taegers

The Taegers and British Taekwondo President Sarah Stevenson-Jennings MBE

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BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 07598 413664

!

A Club Growth Journal 10...

NoPayne

No Gain

By Phill Payne

y name is Phill Payne and I am M a British Taekwondo coach. I currently run two full time martial

arts centres while also helping other martial arts coaches develop their coaching, business and technology systems.

your club need a children’s Does martial arts programme? t is almost two decades since Icreated Melody Johnson (was Shuman) her Little Ninjas programme.

Approximately a year later (around 2001) Kimber Hill (now Tyee) released her Lil Dragons programme in to the martial arts world.

hese programmes were different f you have never delivered martial T to many others around at the time Iarts sessions to young children, as they were written specifically for the prospect of doing so can be children. The Lil Dragon brand is still popular with martial arts clubs world wide, though many tend to just use the branding and deliver their own programme based on their particular martial arts style. Although the Lil Dragons programme was never updated, Melody introduced a new martial arts programme for children called Skillz. This expanded on her idea of delivering content based on the child’s age of development. She ran the new programme internally for 2 years before making the system available publicly in 2007. In 2013 Melody moved her Skillz programme online via a membership based platform.

quite daunting but most skills can be developed with practice and the right mind set. Once you have a little experience under your belt, teaching this age group can be very rewarding.

So much development happens in a child’s life in these younger years that you have a massive opportunity to give them a great start.

group (3-6 years) is that the needs of a child is not the same as the needs of an adult or even a teenager. In fact, the number one rule repeated over and over again throughout coach education literature is ‘Children are not mini adults”.

Even though the Lil Dragon programme had been available for 7 years by the time I delivered our first session (in 2008), our club was still the first in the area to run age specific martial arts classes for young children (originally 4-6 years). To get tips on how to deliver this programme I used travel to Colchester (about 450 miles round trip) to see a female karate Instructor that was also an ex School teacher. Obviously this was quite time consuming but this was at a time that If you’re wondering how your club could benefit from introducing a programme for this age group, here are a dozen reasons:-

TAEKWONDO TODAY

4.

If the coaches do a great job delivering the programme, many parents will automatically enrol younger siblings as soon as they are old enough 5.

With a focus on fun and development, retention is great 6.

It introduces young they pick students to martial arts before up mainstream sports

7.

It establishes a foundation of basic martial arts skills that you can build on in subsequent programmes 8.

It creates extra income from a time slot not traditional used 9.

You will get an equipment additional second income from sales, gradings, child & parent training sessions

It allows clubs to isolate classes1. thisspecifically age group and deliver created for the participants

2.

The parents of this age refer more group talk to other parents and new customers that any other group

10. Coaches get the opportunity to have a big impact of the development of children at an age when they are most impressionable

social 11.

It helps build common skills that can help ease their

I

he difficulty instructors face T in delivering martial arts programmes for children of this age

Article

It provides you with a for your3. steady stream of new students other programmes

hy should martial arts clubs be W interesting in teaching classes for children? n speaking with coaches, clubs and governing bodies it is evident that the average age of participants in martial arts classes is trending downwards. In the 70s, 80s and even in to the 90s, it was unusual to find children under 10 years old taking part in martial arts classes. These days it is harder to find a club that does not have under 10 year olds in their classes.

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transition in to school life

I

mplementing a great children’s programme in your club can have significant benefits for the children, club and coach. I personally started delivering Lil Dragons style classes back in 2008. Little did I realise that over the next few years the programme would become the backbone of the club. We currently have just over 500 members between 2 clubs and although we do get enquiries for all ages from our web site, we only ever need to advertise the classes for children under 7. Over time these students graduate and move through to the next programme and some even progress to take on coaching roles themselves.

When the children move is often12. up to the next programme, it possible to get the parents involved in the classes too

f you decide to go ahead and add Ischedule, a children’s programme to your you have two main options,

build one or buy one. While building one takes time, effort and knowledge, buying one obviously costs you more. I will go over these options a little more in the next article. For more information on running your martial arts club, feel free to like my page at https://www.facebook.com/ coachphillpayne/

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TAEKWONDO TODAY Kidz Korner

Kidz Korner

O

The Taegers of Taekwondo C Steve Blomeley 2018 TM

ep e k o t t o g e v ’ ou eger Y e im ng a Ta T e l i Sm head bei your

The Taegers of Taekwondo - Find us on Facebook

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TAEKWONDO TODAY CLUBS AND ASSOCIATIONS British Taekwondo Today Club/Association Page Please consider advertising in future issues of the magazineto help our vision of promoting Taekwondo in Great Britain

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PAGE 23 BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 07598 413664

TAEKWONDO TODAY Article

Despite a deep interest in self defence, self protection or Martial Arts what else do highly rated experts do with their time?

from protection through to photography, a fascinating transference of artistic skills and perception!

Just recently Mounia Moula a very hard core Parkour Martial Artist took a break from filming the new James Bond movie to do a shoot with him and they embarked on A fantastic road trip to Snowdonia where he says he made a shoot with one of the best models that he’s ever worked with. “She walks Martin was recently at the UK Martial Arts on water like a pro, and we made that effect Show at the Doncaster Dome and taught on the lake itself, old school effects, no image his last seminar with Peter Mogridge and manipulation whatsoever”. Just take a look at Redziu Equalizer before he focuses solely on one of the shots from that day here as Martin carrying a camera around with him all the kindly allowed British Taekwondo Today to time. Taekwondo’s Paul Oxtoby and Seelan produce it on this page for the article. Martin Rengansamay were also in attendance also did a very exclusive photoshoot with the showcasing their kicking skills at the legendary film director Dario Argento a short event. Martin said he also sorted out a few while ago. He’s the man who inspired people photoshoots with some of the practitioners at like Tarantino, John Carpenter and Martin of the UK Martial Arts show which I can’t wait to course... see the results of as he just seems to capture the essence and spirit of the subject amazingly and with no doctoring of the images.

Martin loves to take shots in some very rural locations which supply a fascinating backdrop and the subjects seem to trust him like any grandmaster that the journey he is going to

If you would like to contact Martin please visit his website:www.thebarefootphotographer.co.uk or email:info@thebarefootphotographer.co.uk Mounia Moula

to

take them on is going to produce some breathtaking results which are captured in space and time. He gives full credit to the people that have worked with him too as he compliments them on their spirit and tenacity to trek out to some of the locations and work in sometimes very different conditions than they are used too.

Arge n

protection trainer, photographer, writer and manages Global Protection Systems “I said everything I had to say about selfdefence in 34 issues of Martial Arts Illustrated.

I appeared on ABC, BBC and others to discuss terrorism and active shooter. I created and was in the most watched international selfprotection video of all time after the London Bridge terror attack. I did more than anyone else on the UK self-defence scene, in far more countries and on a larger scale. I’ve done what I wanted and much more, and it is the right time to move on. I’m very happy with what I did and have no wish to repeat a life cycle when there are so many other things to do before I die.”

Dari o

Ab

el

1

Martin a very well known self-protection expert and writer for the magazine Martial Arts Illustrated very recently informed everyone, as many were asking as to why he has left the self-protection industry to pursue another passion of his namely photography. I myself have always been involved in artwork creation hence why I like to try and keep my hand in doing the magazine but I think all would agree his work is just stunning and I for one eventually want to be a proud owner of a piece and have it adorn one of the walls in my home. To quote Martin on why he has changed direction from the international martial arts scene, who is in his own words always busy as an International

Martin Brown

ga n

H

aving been following my friend Martin Brown’s recent adventures into the art of photography which could seem like a complete paradox from the art of selfdefence/self-protection I have been amazed at some if not all of his work. This gave me the idea that perhaps an article on what teachers, experts or senior Martial Artists do as their daily job or career if they are not employed full time in the field of “Martial Arts” could be of interest to the readers. I know quite a few considerable Martial Artists, Self Defence and Self Protection experts and am always intrigued that quite a lot of them always seem to have another skill set up their sleeve.

Me

by Steve Blomeley.

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TAEKWONDO TODAY Article

g n a K l e i a P s m Ik r o a o P in m in Harrogate e S rnational Event

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The second session, which was for the higher grades only, focused more on kicks and higher-level hand techniques, as well how to turn correctly in between movements in Poomsae. This was all put into practice as the participants worked up through the higher Poomsae, from Taegeuk Yook-Jang to Poomsae Pyongwon; Grandmaster Kang ensured to explain the proper execution of the Poomsae, as well as how their sequences of movements can be applied in more practical situations.

tion of Official Taekwondo Poomsae II. Everyone had a thoroughly enjoyable time in Harrogate, Yorkshire as we are sure others did at the other seminars dotted around the country. It was a valuable day for the participants I am sure they as I will myself will strive to keep putting into practice what we had learnt duringour time with this popular Korean practitioner and we will have all taken something away from the seminar with Grandmaster Kang.

Despite the long and exhausting seminar, every participant learned something new, whether it was a new technique, a new Poomsae, or a new perspective on how Poomsae can be applied practically.

At the end of the day, everyone received a participation certificate from Grandmaster Kang, and had the chance to take a picture with him. If they so wished, they could also get a signed copy of Grandmaster Kang’s second-generation book on Poomsae, The Explana-

When we are back at our University club and practicing in the dojang I am sure many of the lessons will come to the fore for each of us that participated and we can also aid our club members to perform better patterns in a competitive format which we hope in turn will be rewarded with podium positions in local and regional competitions including the university circuit. So until next time Master Kang is here in the Uk endeavour to perfect your poomsae!

. trikes s d n g sa block aster Kan e k i l iques li, Grandm h form the n h c e zA hic se ic t f bas ter Kambi uences w ion of the o n o i q t as se cu cut in in e exe m-up by M ents and ng the exe their orig n, h t t d r n ar as vem ssio ly o rati urkha main n initial w basic mo demonst e, as well he first se ian B b a a t F n y a s ng - by After working o followed b n in Poom the end of k 1-5. er Ka t s , a d s o eu e i e star t f Poomsa r applicat s. Toward er in Taeg randm G o h t d i n i on eth tio is o the rw mina Taekw -Pil bas iques for life applica ere put tog e i S K e k alchn sw msa from master I e te form of re technique bers al Poo h d T n m n o . e i a e t r m a d G at he Intern three n one of in Harrog ible for t the learne R , y B a G l i l M a 5th of ted inars ccess 26th ticipa sae Sem irst one a g focused r e a h p t m y n f y l Poo versit unda , the er Ka On S gham Uni ternationa sessions randmast o G In n Birmi 5th GBR ed into tw in which id ’s , Kang r was div n grades a a n D semi up and K both

Inte

Photographs by Fabian Burkhardt

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TAEKWONDO TODAY Article

C T L ON RO ON RO

ATTACK

T H Eor

THE

ATTACK

Self Defence Techniques and Tips for the Beginning Student

By Master S. H. Blomeley Being grabbed by both an assailant’s hands on your lapels does give you many options, but your first priority should be to make sure you respond and cover your own face from the potential head butt or knee to the groin.

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Saturday 13th July Ultimate Taekwondo Dan Grading. All welcome.

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7th September 2019 Taekwondo Scotland Poomsae Championships

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6th October 2019 Manchester Open Poomsae Championships

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Take your time in learning this routine and practice diligently under the supervision of a qualified instructor. It is better to train slow and learn fast, than try to rush things and hope that you can be as fast in its execution as a seasoned practitioner.

Once you begin to understand certain principles, you will begin to see how each component fits like a jigsaw. It is through constant repetition that a technique will become ingrained and remember even the Black Belts have to constantly practice and revisit their techniques, as it is more than just thinking about things. The whole body has to learn the process, hence the Martial Art saying of MIND-BODY-SPIRIT. You have to have all three working in unison, to begin mastery of the art.

22nd June 2019 Ki Taekwondo Birmingham University kup grading 7th July 2019 Kinder Scout Open Championship - Derby

Figure 5/6: Once opponent is on the floor as you still have grip of his right wrist, with your left hand drop onto your right knee and slide your right arm behind his neck and loop over and under his left outstretched arm, putting him in an uncomfortable lock.

Figure 7: You can also then continue to trap his other outstretched right arm with your own legs, thus rendering him helpless. Do remember though, if there is more than one assailant you would be in a vulnerable position as they try to continue their attack.

1st June 2019 Bluewave Poomsae Championships 22nd June 2019 CMS Academy Levent Tuncat Seminar, London

Figure 2: Step back, raise hands above their arms in the double arc hand position to cover, swiftly bringing them down onto opponents forearms pulling them slightly down.

Figure 3/4: Execute a front kick either to the groin or with the ball of the foot to his abdomen. Your kicking leg lands on the outside of his right leg in this example, which enables you to turn whilst maintaining hold and begin to throw assailant over your outstretched leg, or if more proficient, a hip throw.

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Note: This technique shows the ability of a person being able to defend against an opponent from a common assault. Always train or practice with a qualified Instructor.

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TAEKWONDO TODAY Article

T The

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aegers of aekwondo

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Article

TAEKWONDO TODAY

Made in Manchester

aeger Time Test!

by Master S. H. Blomeley ractical performance or technical performance! How does an individual interpret and Pcriteria perform their pattern? Are you doing it for self perfection or self protection? What’s the for passing your next kup grade exam or Dan grade promotion? Neither approach

is wrong and if a student can get a good grounding in both aspects of training in the forms, then you would be well served. Patterns or Poomsae as they are called in Korean are merely a Mnemonic, a memory aid of techniques, to serve you and deal with certain situations or common assaults. Students and instructors often neglect the core reason why they were created in the first place and merely pay lip service to them as they are required for advancement to the next belt. The weren’t created initially to be judged on athletic ability, perfect balance and wonderful aesthetics, they were designed to deliver devastating blows, kicks, locks or holds to subdue an attacker. True understanding of them takes that time period between the grades, to explore and practice the moves and techniques but not just in fresh air. They need to be drilled with the opposition in front of you to get the correct feel and syntax of the technique .e.g A judoka doesn’t just practice his throw against an imaginary opponent, he has to, at some point get the feel of manouvering and manipulating a human body that doesn’t want to comply. As stated above though, modern day Poomsae competition is fantastic and another avenue of self expression in the art of Taekwondo and self perfection in practice is something we should all strive for.

take an example from our kup grade patterns: Taegeuk 5 Oh jang - WIND. The Lintoet’s opening move which entails a long stance low block which is immediately drawn back a short stance executing a circular raised downward hammer fist strike. Self perfection

ractical combative approach of which there can be many interpretations could be as Phistorical follows, especially if you understand the rules of combat. One example taken from concepts is that your opponent is actually in front of you, not to your left side

and that they reach out and grab your weapon hand. Remember historically people carried swords etc on their left side. If you then reverse grip their outstretched arm, you can execute your low block to designated weak points on their outstretched arm bringing them down.

This is enabled by correct use of alignment and your long stance coupled with the right mind set in execution. As you now draw back up into your short stance maintaining a good grip on the assailants wrist, you will find you are in perfect striking distance for your hammer fist blow. These techniques are very relevant today for our serving police officers or military personnel.

O

The Taegers of Taekwondo C Steve Blomeley 2018 TM

or competition poomsae approach: Good charyot and joonbi performed with correct breathing, look left and move left foot into long walking stance as you perform low section block with the left hand on the inside of the right, near the shoulder as you do it. Draw left foot backwards into short walking stance, making sure feet are placed correctly whilst circling the left arm up and over your head, bringing it down using the bottom of your tightly clenched fist. The common thread of thought is that you are blocking someone kicking at you with a front kick and then draw away to land hammer fist on their head. Is this practical? Field test it and you may find that you discover it isn’t as you will be way out of range to reach your target of the head.

The Taegers of Taekwondo Find us on Facebook Not everything is as it seems in patterns! Can you figure out which Dan Poomsae, this rarely seen move in Taekwondo of escaping an arm bar is from? Click to view

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BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 0161 456 1976

Technical

Technical Taekwondo...

TAEKWONDO TODAY

Beginners Simple set 1 1: Attacker kihaps to signify ready 2: Attacker executes right leg side kick 3: Attacker executes left leg side kick 4: Attacker executes another right leg side kick 5: Defender execute bitchagi right leg counter kick 6: Defender executes another left leg bitchagi(kihap) Sequence finished - defender now becomes the attacker.

Three steps to learning the system - Two steps to bridging the gap

e touched on the fact that perhaps some of the old training methods have W been put to the side or waylaid in the favour of more sport orientated practices, but with a little thought you can incorporate both into your training

regime. Examples here are aimed at the complete beginners who have gained an understanding of the first basic kicks. f you are a traditionalist and still incorporate the three step semi free sparring Ithere methodology for lower kup grade examination criteria, you may discover that are infinite amount of methods you can utilise that will also benefit the

1 t e S e l Simp

modern player whilst at the same time fulfil grading requirements.

n the traditional sense three step sparring was used to help the student Ibasic familiarise themselves with punching, kicking, blocking and all the other movements. It helps the student develop the right aptitude for rapid and accurate counter attacks. This is where you can place an emphasis to help either your traditional side or help motivate the competitive player. In either case the student needs to move at the right time for evasion and also for counter attacking with correct timing at the opponents vital spots or scoring areas.

Beginners Simple set 2

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sed correctly the various three step semi free sparring drills are very effective in developing the students skills and can be an essential preparation for free fighting in either scenario of self defence or the ring. A coach or student can in the sporting arena. Throw on the hogu’s and you have a kicking combo that develop a prototype from which many adaptations can be built from covering you have to deal with where you could even utilise your blocking/defensive game many scenarios. Shown are a few examples of very basic traditional methods if you have your arm guards on. for the attacking student to concentrate on one particular attacking technique f you are struggling with a particular technique for grading or producing whilst the defender/counter attacker can focus on evasion, footwork and it on the mat, practice it diligently under the guidance of your Instructor or counter attacking skills. coach. He or she can then give you pointers or set specific goals to achieve, t its very basic level the students will face each other and begin whether it be technical or tactical. Come grading or with a kihap to signify they are ready. The attacking student will perform a examination time you will probable be flying through single designated kick three times at his opponent who will evade each one your repertoire with confidence and gaining good whilst countering with a single technique of his own, after the third kick has marks off the examiner. Flying through! Now there’s been executed. Getting to grips with the single technique? Then mix in the a thought? Add in the difficult jumping techniques or combinations for the lower grade students then the three step prearranged flying kicks and work out how to counter them! attacking and defending movements will begin to become ingrained when he students can also throw in the rotational performed in concert by the two participants. As this becomes accustomed to, bitchagis at an early stage perfecting their throw in a specific objective like footwork and the whole range of possibilities movement, line of sight and the correct timing widens, broadening their horizons. Now the game has changed and the tempo to be able to pull the technique off under combat stepped up, your entering more towards the free sparring methodology but conditions.

The defender of course can be learning with specific techniques. Attacker begins to focus on how to score more rapidly to adjust their own movement to be offline and be and efficiently whereas the defender is challenged to respond intelligently and in an advantageous position to counter kick and hit effectively. the chosen target correctly, with whichever technique aking each kup grade and their specific technical requirements for they have decided to practice with. examination can be worked upon plus at the same time if they are a player, they can also practice competition drills to enhance their performance on the mat. It doesn’t limit them to grade either as if they show the competency, the coach can always throw in a curve ball, keeping them on their toes and advancing them progressively to be able to cope with higher level practitioners

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A

1: Attacker executes right leg bitchagi 2: Attacker executes left leg bitchagi 3: Attacker executes left leg bitchagi 4: Attacker after shift back prepares yeop chagi counter 5: Defender executes Side Kick Counter (kihap) 6: Finish of sequence Sequence finished - defender now becomes attacker who can work on the same technique or introduce another that needs to be worked upon.

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2 t e S e l Simp

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TAEKWONDO TODAY Article Two old standing clubs in the North West of England were back on the grading floor together

Master Denny Jones and Master Steve Blomeley go back a long way in terms of training in Taekwondo and perhaps between them have a combined experience of around about 75-80 years within the martial art plus both have a similar philosophy absorbing what is useful and adapting and applying it into their own art without losing the focus of the basic core Taekwondo that is these days perhaps not as well known to a lot of the younger practitioners.

Many old school Taekwondoists are calling for us to go back to those days as they feel perhaps we are losing a big part of our art and its history due to modern competitive Taekwondo being at the fore due to Olympic recognition and very high profile prestigious tournaments.

Both can recall many of their Dan grading tests from back in the day which consisted of having to perform the majority of what they had been taught up to that given point in their Taekwondo journey. At times both were on the grading floor together when they were younger which would last for hours and only a few candidates testing whereas modern day can see hundreds gather for a promotional testing day. They were both brought up on an ethos of if you were promoted you really knew that you had been put through a rigorous, demanding mental and physical test and you really felt deep down inside

Streetwise

Ki

Streetwise

Ki

Taekwondo Dan Grading

By Glenda Trimble

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Ki Taekwondo & Streetwise Taekwondo at Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire, England

that you had definitely earned it! Their Dan gradings still reflect what they were brought up on and the candidates testing knew they would be called upon to perform the majority of their syllabus over the 5 hour allocated slot which also could have been carried over if they felt it necessary to make sure they had given the students every opportunity to showcase their skills and knowledge.

The candidates testing from the two groups ranged from students going for 1st poom (child Black Belt) to 4th Dan plus there were various helpers that attended from both Streetwise and Ki Taekwondo for step sparring, free sparring, self defence and Board holding for destruction. Simon Turton 5th Dan from Pilsung was also asked if he could attend by Master Blomeley as he felt he would be a good match on the floor as he’s a similar size and stature to Ian Caldwell from Stockport who was going for his 4th Dan promotion. Simon also helped the grading by conducting the warm up before the students actually sat their respective examinations. Both Master Jones and Master Blomeley would like to thank him for giving up his time to attend the grading which was at Ki Taekwondo’s Hazel Grove Dojang in Stockport.

The day itself was a lovely sunny day which meant it was going to be pretty hot on the mat. It had already been predetermined that the grading was to

be conducted in agreed sections with the first one being basic techniques which everybody had to do regardless of grade. This we feel also helps a student ease into the exam although one student somehow managed to break his toe at the beginning of his test moving forward and backwards performing blocking and striking techniques in long stance. Full credit to him he shrugged it off and continued throughout the day in all the other sections which included one steps sparring, self defence, class sparring, sport competition sparring and destruction despite being in some pain.

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BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

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TAEKWONDO TODAY Article one old standing gentleman aged 75 giving it his best shot

Taekwondo Dan Grading Ki Taekwondo & Streetwise Taekwondo at Hazel Grove, Stockport, Cheshire, England Taekwondo is for all to practice.

One candidate 75 years young and who has been training for many years that I can remember with Instructor Master Jones finally took to the mat to test for his Black Belt which is a daunting task when you are young so there was full respect to John for even attempting to put himself through all the sections of the grading. We are happy to say that his perseverance in continuing to train over many setbacks in his life has rewarded him with the recognition of 1st Dan and all his colleagues back in Skelmersdale are very pleased for him who is probably one of the longest serving members of thier club.

After each group had performed their basic techniques from the exam paper it was then the poomsae section and for those not initiated Poomsae is a pattern or set sequence of movements of attack and defence against an imaginary opponent or in other words a dry run. Each belt or rank that you move up to in Taekwondo signifies another poomsae to be learnt getting more and more complex as they go on. Under stress in such things as a grading if you haven’t practiced enough or prepared well then there is a high chance of under performing perhaps even messing the sequences up! So there is a big emphasis and marking on this section as they have to be right. You don’t have to be performing to extremely high level competition standard but at the end of the day you have to have ingrained them in your psyche and know them off by heart.

After all at 18 years of age you may wish to go down the route of becoming an instructor or coach so must be proficient in knowledge of the Korean art.

After this all candidates had to perform 1 step sparring which is more geared towards self defence and something Streetwise concentrate a lot on and so the candidates had to perform for quite a lengthy period showcasing their knowledge and not being able to get away with one or two techniques. Also the self defence section had them escaping, releasing from various common assaults such as front and rear grabs, locks and holds. A big thank you again to the students from both groups who came along to support their colleagues in the exam and help out by getting on the floor with them to be the opponents as well so that it wasn’t just candidates there grading. It is also a good thing for the helpers because it keeps them on their toes if they have already been promoted at that level but also for those that are aiming to be taking their own test for Black belt or higher at some point in the future. Free sparring was a big part in the grading too and as had been pre agreed we saw the candidates performing what we call class sparring i.e very light but displaying good control but they also had to do a few rounds with full body armour on after this demonstrating that they understand and can play the sport side of Taekwondo highlighting their understanding of how to score etc.

Two candidates were going for the very respectful grade of 4th Dan and part of their examination included something that we used to have to do back in the day which was multiple opponents. It is not

PAGE 35

so much that you can spar but more that you begin to acknowledge and move in such ways to try to be able to strategically defend yourself as two or more gang up on you. The helpers have to be reasonably competent and have good control ensuring the safety of their colleague but still putting them under pressure.

The defender tries to align them so that he can deal with one at a time in a small window of opportunity. After this they had to perform knife defence applications in a fixed and free style mode from the inward, outward slash plus abdominal stabbing motion with the objective of getting control of the weapon. Of course we in our groups teach that if they can exit the area or situation that is the best course of action but for the sake of exam criteria and display of knowledge they perform these techniques. The higher grades had the pleasure and pressure of everybody watching this area of the testing.

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TAEKWONDO TODAY Article Wuxi, China. 26-28 April 2019

- by Paul Timms Well following my previous article on the WT Grand Prix Final, you may recall that I made the statement that it would be difficult to top.

Well the Grand Slam may just have done that.

The budget that the Wuxi/Chinese Taekwondo federation have invested in Taekwondo in the region, the Country and for the betterment of Taekwondo globally is staggering.

Wuxi is a city approximately 3 hours West by car from Shanghai. On arrival you notice immediately that China still has a major problem with pollution and I didn’t see the sun for a week despite being very warm and humid because of the smog trapped in the atmosphere, giving a sensation of mist or fog - but the country is famous for this and not a problem really, just eerie if you’ve not experienced it before.

The officials, athletes and referees are accommodated in a Holiday Inn Hotel, just a 3 minute walk from the venue. Very nice, very comfortable and very clean. The food was very good throughout and not what I had been told to expect at all. We were treated Royally throughout.

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World Taekwondo Grand Slam Qualification Tournament 1 The (Wuxi) Grand Slam is an incredible set up in an arena not unlike the NEC. Situated in Taihu new city on the edge of a giant lake, lake Taihu - there’s not an awful lot to see other than a lot of cranes and construction right now. But it is going to be very impressive in the very near future. You can reach the large city of Wuxi itself in about 15 mins by taxi.

The arena itself was built for a regional expo & the Wuxi Taekwondo federation have taken over a segment of that enormous building on the first floor. When you enter the venue you immediately notice how clean it is, marble flooring, smoked glass and quality fittings. You ascend to the first floor on a long sweeping escalator and are immediately met by security and an airport style security screening process (unless you’re wearing an IR uniform).You can then immediately see the main Field-of-Play on it’s raised platform - it certainly takes you aback, the sheer amount of LED lighting is quite phenomenal and even after having watched it for 2 previous seasons by live feed, it still didn’t prepare me for the real thing.

There is a purpose built media room which I swear would rival any news broadcasting studio anywhere in the World, fully equipped with state of the art equipment. The next thing you notice is the sheer amount of staff, security, cleaning, media and support.

It was an incredible experience - impressively well run, staffed, organised and managed, another I shall treasure and should I be invited back - I reckon mine will be the acceptance they receive first.

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TAEKWONDO TODAY Article Wuxi, China. 26-28 April 2019

World Taekwondo Grand Slam Qualification Tournament 1

1

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TAEKWONDO TODAY Article Wuxi, China. 26-28 April 2019

World Taekwondo Grand Slam Qualification Tournament 1

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JUNE 2019 YEAR OF THE PIG

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BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 07598 413664

TAEKWONDO TODAY Article

A

British

Eric flying high!

A

s it is the 75th Anniversary of D-Day I decided to re-run an article from a previous year as a couple of old Ki Taekwondo students are serving still as probably others are in other Taekwondo clubs like Pilsung that I know of and reminding us all of the sacrifices our armed forces make plus for some back then it was the ultimate price for our freedom. Never Forget!

How old were you when you started Taekwondo?

Tom: 7 years old Eric: 7 years old Was it something you wanted to do or did your parents bring you for thier own reasons?

Tom: I wanted to do it Eric: Something I wanted to do, with having Danii as a black belt already, but was encouraged to join also.

What did you like about the training that you got at that age?

Tom: The diversity, the rank structure and the intensity. It felt like being in a tribe Eric: The fitness, it helped keep the puppy fat at bay through school and made me confident that I could handle myself out and about - which gave me more independence earlier than maybe I would have had without tkd.

Did you used to compete in competitions?

Tom: Occasionally, yes I did.

Eric: No, probably the thing I regret looking back to the training

rmy, Navy & irforce TKD. ‘British Taekwondo Today’ Editor managed to catch up with a couple of Taekwondoists currently serving in our Armed Forces and asked them a few questions about Martial Arts in the Military and what they’re up to...

Do you think the type of training and the military style structure to it shaped your decision to enter into miltary service as your career?

naturally for me, and never had a problem with authority because of the grounding I had gained already from tkd

Tom: It made being in military training easier. This was due to knowing your rank and receiving orders. Also increased fitness level

Editor: Ha ha Tom a man of few words! lol Tom: Ha ha Do you need longer detailed answers?

Editor: No mate

don’t worry it’s all good lol.

Eric: It’s difficult to say if it made me want to enter the armed forces. That was something I’d always wanted to do, but it certainly gave me the disciplined nature that is part of everyday life in the military and I don’t think I would have been successful in applying without the attitude I had nurtured at tkd

How do you think Taekwondo training helped you as you entered service?

Tom: It prepared me mentally and physically for what was to come Eric: I think attitude more than anything, because there was a few years between finishing tkd and applying for the RAF. The fitness side doesn’t really come into it for me, but certainly the discipline I learnt and the respect for seniors - really helped me as I applied and started training.

Did you find it easier to adjust to to the strict discipline imposed on new recruits with your unit?

Tom: Yes! Eric: Definitely, it came

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Have you managed to continue to do some form of martial art training at your bases? If so What?

sort of thing happen, and I’m sure you’d give the PTI’s a run for their money!

Tom: Yes. I have competed in 3 interservice Taekwondo championships and won them all. And I now train BJJ as well.

Editor: Not so sure there Eric, I’m getting on a bit now lol.

Eric: I’ve not unfortunately, with being in a training environment for such a long time, I’ve not had chance. But it’s something I will look to do in the future.

What is your current role in the army at the moment and do you apply anything that you picked up in Martial Art training?

Tom: Royal Marine Commando, Cpl, Physical Training Instructor, Exercise Rehabilitation Instructor. Yes I apply.

Courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit In everything I do or teach Eric: I’m currently training to be a pilot in the Royal Air Force, so I can’t say I’m doing any hand-to-hand combat as such, as in other services!

It’s great to see you back at the club when you’re home visiting. Perhaps one day we can come and visit you guys and put you through your paces whereever you are?

Tom: Definitely any time mate, Yes of course when can you make it?

Eric: Definitely, if you ever wanted to run a class or day of training on a station, let me know! There are loads of things in place to let that

Eric: I doubt it!

What do you think of the news that British Taekwondo and the Army Martial Arts Association are now working together to offer servicemen lots of opportunities and benefits regarding Taekwondo?

Tom: It’s definitely beneficial to army recruitment and may come in handy as the Royal Navy beat them almost every year. It’s great to see the British Taekwondo team doing well in the Olympics and world champs, and the sport is heading in the right

direction.

Editor: We’ll have to see if we can change that eh’ Tom lol.

Eric: That’s brilliant, fitness is a huge part of military life, as is self defence.

Combining the two and offering them to service men is a great way to build the fitness, attitude and discipline in a way not usually seen in the armed forces.

Usually teaching discipline involves shouting and room inspections; but tkd can teach that in a totally different environment, which can only be a good thing. Not to mention the self defence skills that are learnt too.

Editor: Fantastic catching up with you guys and hope to see you both soon.

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JUNE 2019 YEAR OF THE PIG

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BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 07598 413664

TAEKWONDO TODAY Article

What’s in a name?

The reasoning and meaning behind our club identities!

They all have a meaning don’t they?

Go to any regular Taekwondo competition in Great Britain and at the coaches meeting you’ll hear the regular groups called out to collect their competition sheets with their players numbers and matches listed on them. So what’s in the name? Who, what and why are they called what they are? What inspired the founders of the clubs, associations or groups to name them as they did?

Obviously some clubs names are pretty self explanatory or in other words their name depict what area they come from within Great Britain but others can be a little obscure or they have Korean terminology perhaps relating to some oriental philosophy that inspires the leadership of the group and its students. Some may depict an animal that signifies strength or it’s well known prowess for fighting skill and power. Others embody the spirit of the Martial Art or perhaps even an object that is revered in human terms such as a diamond which has great value to people displaying wealth. An odd few may have the name of its founder who is very respected in the Taekwondo world through their achievements over the years in competition or the service they have given to Taekwondo throughout the world or Martial Art community, but they in comparison are few and far between the general consensus and are not on any ego trips.

In Great Britain we have groups such as Horizon or Quest and you can see the thinking behind their name tag. I made a point of trying to find out and get into the psyche of the senior grades by asking them how they arrived at their monicker. Master Denny Jones calls his group Streetwise and they have a big emphasis on being able to deal with various scenarios that can happen outside in the public domain. Grand Master Shin’s group is called United Taekwondo Association and pride themselves on the unification of the clubs under their umbrella growing from one of the original Korean Masters to teach in this country. We have Kathy Hooks group Ultimate Taekwondo who’s ethos is to strive to be the best that they can be in their personal and competitive Taekwondo. Koryo Taekwondo who have main clubs in the North East derive thier name from the first Black Belt pattern of the same name and representing the Korean people. My own group is called Ki Taekwondo taken from my study into the hidden meaning contained in the poomsae or patterns from the use of the meridians of the body called Chi in Chinese or Ki in Korean. Keumgang is the Korean 2nd Dan pattern meaning Diamond with a philosophy of too hard to be broken.

You have NTC or National Taekwondo Club headed by Mark Mores affectionately known as little Mark in the Nottingham area along with Kang Han headed by Master Ian Lennox in the same county. You have a few Welsh groups who’s name always includes something to do with Cymru or Dragons which they are very proud of and of course we all know our double Olympic Champion and now World Champion Jade Jones hails from that part of the world. We have many that have the name of the Tiger somewhere in the title and of course is a favourite animal of many practitioners groups such

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as RTA Tigers, Tiger Taekwondo Academy and Tiger Cub Taekwondo. Other big cats feature in the names of Taekwondo clubs such as Jaguar or Panther again depicting their prowess as hunters.CMS academy stands for combined Martial Systems as they have an emphasis on learning many forms of Martial Arts not just Taekwondo and as mentioned before many club names derive from the area or county the clubs stronghold is in such as London Taekwondo Academy or Wessex Taekwondo.

Gurumu Taekwondo based in London and a very successful group have an ethos or mission to provide high quality service within martial arts instruction for safer environment for people of any age or sex in a fusion of physical strength, spiritual purification and harmony which will mark a good martial artist performance. A few of the stars of Taekwondo don’t run designated classes but do teach on the seminar circuit passing on their experience to the Taekwondo community. They go under their own banner utilising their name such as the likes of Aaron Cook and Bianca Walkden affectionately known as Queen B and no one can argue their prowess or achievements at the highest level of the sport.

Those displayed here are just but a few of the many groups practicing Taekwondo in the country but all generally have a reason behind their naming and the students who belong to them are very proud of their identity within the Martial Art world of Taekwondo.

It is rare that a club or association goes under the banner of an individuals name for obvious reasons as Martial Arts in their full entirety are aimed at developing a person not over inflating an ego unless of course as stipulated they have achieved a status through their incredible achievements in Taekwondo either via the sporting arena or their embodiment of teaching and spreading the art of Taekwondo and have a world wide renowned reputation. The clubs and their members try to embody the spirit of the Martial Art in their community which is one of great teaching and learning thus benefiting the area as a whole. So next time you’re at a competition and meet somebody new it could be a good conversation starter What’s your clubs name and why?

JUNE 2019 YEAR OF THE PIG

email: bttoday@outlook.com BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 0161 456 1976

Article

TAEKWONDO TODAY

PAGE 47 www.kicombattaekwondo.com BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 07598 413664

Kick

Kick

with

B TT News and Events in the UK.

B TT News and Events in the UK.

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nlucky but well done to our final GB athlete, Mahama Cho️ who unfortunately got knocked out on golden point in the quarter finals at the 2019 Manchester World Championships

B

ritish Taekwondo President, Sarah Stevenson MBE, hosted a gender equality forum during the World Championships alongside GB Taekwondo & UK Sport Taekwondo continues to strive for full equality on and off the mat. Today was a significant step towards that worthy goal Special guest speaker Dame Katherine Grainger DBE (Chair of UK Sport) highlighted gender issues in sport and shared her knowledge and experience with the group

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ritish Taekwondo would like to say a huge thank you to their 5️ BT instructors who volunteered their time to teach Taekwondo Taster Sessions at the 2019 Manchester World

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eays Taekwondo summer kup grading is next Saturday 15th in Portland The Islanders club Eastweare road DT5 1ES Portland Dorset

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on’t miss the Manchester Open poomsae Championships 2019 in the heart of the country , and the home of GB Taekwondo

Manchester , for all grades Dan , Para and freestyle the second Manchester Open !

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aekwondo Europe proudly announces dates for European Cadet and Junior Championships 2019 In the past few weeks, Taekwondo Europe and the Royal Spanish Taekwondo Federation reached an agreement on the hosting of the European Cadet Championships and European Junior Championships 2019.

Marina d’Or, also known as Taekwondo City, will host both events. The Cadet event will kick off 1 – 3 October and the Junior event will follow with event dates 4 – 6 October 2019

U

ltimate Taekwondo Dan Grading run by Kathy Hook will be on.

Saturday 13th July All welcome. She is also having a Joint training session at Ultimate tkd.

Sun 14th July All welcome.

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e would like to invite you to the 1st Kinder Scout Open Championships 07 July 2019 High quality medals, great venue. Online Registration is now open.

Poomsae Registration: www.poomsae-reg.com Kyorugi Registration: www.ma-regonline.com

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ust to inform people that the North East Open on the 30th of June has now been cancelled and will be rescheduled for the beginning of 2020.

Apologies to the teams that were coming.

29 June London 07 July Derby 21 July Barnsley Please contact Rick Simpson if you are available to officiate at any of these competition events.

distance. Please message Darren Naraine if available with your BT Membership number

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aeger cups still available from last years Grand Prix.

B

radley Sinden becomes the first male World Champion for Great Britain at the World Championships which were held in Manchester May 15th - 19th. Fantastic achievement for the young man who went straight back into training for the Rome Grand Prix and his eyes firmly fixed on Tokyo’s Olympic Games 2020.

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hat’s your club history? What’s in a name? Do you know why your group is called what it is? If not find out of your Instructor the philosophy behind their title or in more obvious cases it will be the area the club comes from.

C

heck out Martin Browns fantastic photography work his new venture. The editor he Taegers of is friends with the well Taekwondo were known self protection once again cheering on and writer for Martial the GB stars at a major Arts Illustrated and he’s event and entertaining just recently done a the public with their shoot with Mounia Moula antics around the foyer who took time out from of the Manchester Arena. her filming on the new Everyone was as per usual James Bond movie set. wanting to get a selfie There’s some stunning or photograph with the images captured in some cheeky big cats fantastic backdrops

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n Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 June CMS Academy, London are hosting a training camp with the unsurpassed Levent Tuncat of Germany, coach David Kliba (one of the foremost coaches of Sweden and Denmark) as well as master Alejandro Sánchez, a former Argentine national team coach. App kindly invited. £40 for weekend or £25 single day.

B

T still need officials for the following events: 16 June London 23 June Doncaster

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oanne Louise LeachFlanagan and Clare Thelma Laybourne have recently been busy and Chief Referee Christopher Codling is Very proud of these two ladies who have been in Moscow at The 2020 PARA Olympic Referee Selection Camp. on selection to the next round

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ore referees and judges needed for the Kixstar Open at the K2 Centre in Crawley / Gatwick on SATURDAY 29th June. Some accommodation available for those travelling a

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ad kwondo has just recently sprung up where a lot of the old practitioners and Instructors are starting to get together to practice various aspects of Taekwondo and many are appreciating what the whole art has to offer once the youthfulness subsides and you realise you can’t quite move as fast as you used to or recovery time from a training session takes a little bit longer. Up to now sessions are going on in Doncaster via Seelan Rengansamay and Paul Oxtoby. Looks fun.

TAEKWONDO TODAY

BacktheBrits

BacktheBrits U

Article with

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G

randmaster Ik-Pil Kang has been in the country teaching seminars on poomsae which all the students who attended thoroughly enjoyed and took away plenty to practice on back in their own dojangs.

J

ade Jones and Bianca Walkden of GB Taekwondo took the title of World Champion as did Bradley Sinden to make it a triple success of gold medals for the National Squad.

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he opening display by the World Taekwondo Demonstration team was just amazing.

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aliyah Powell became the youngest Brit to medal at a World Championships reaching the semi final and gaining a bronze. An outstanding achievement for the young lady taking one match on golden point.

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he 6th June 2019 was the 75th anniversary of D-Day and many of the Taekwondo clubs around the country have members who are currently serving or have served and paid their respects to the fallen and our veterans.

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i Taekwondo’s Chief Instructor has been delivering Taekwondo at the Manchester Regional Arena where the British Taekwondo Offices are again for children over their latest school break.

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aul Timms one of Great Britains International Referees recently was on duty at the Grand Slam tournament 1 held in Wuxi, China. Read his article in the magazine.

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I Taekwondo and Streetwise Taekwondo had their joint Dan Grading last month just a couple of days before the World Championships began and was a busy time organising for both events by Master Blomeley and Master Jones which they were involved in. The Black Belt Examination was held at the Hazel Grove, Stockport Dojang with a small group being put through their paces over 6 hours testing on all aspects of Taekwondo.

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aeger the Tiger and Tiger Kwon were very busy helping the Ki-dz who visited Manchester Arena over the first 3 days of the championships getting up to their cheeky antics and helping out with the taster sessions run by British Taekwondo.

Check them out on BT website or Ki Combat Taekwondo’s one too!

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ocal Headmaster Ian Caldwell from one of the Manchester Schools was delighted to take not 1 but 2 sets of children from his Ladybarn primary school to the World Championships.

Think he was just as excited as the children with him being a newly promoted 4th Dan at Ki Taekwondo in Stockport.

R

ead Phillip Payne’s article on Kidz programmes within martial arts schools it gives plenty of food for thought and you may be able to implement some ideas into your classes to help them grow.

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on’t forget help me, help you by advertising in the British Taekwondo Today online magazine. Producing artwork is my other passion and trade from leaving school and it would be great if you could to help me fund the immense time and effort it takes to produce which in turn I hope gets shared all over the country attracting new members or old existing ones back into your clubs. It’s not intended to be political just a good rods, good weather read for what is going on around the country within Taekwondo and it isn’t restricted to any particular group.

C

ongratulations to Sarah-Lois and Glen Culbert of the UTA. Wishing you both a long and happy life together.

A fantastic wedding was enjoyed by everyone in a beautiful part of Northern Ireland.

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assive thank you to all of the schools that attended the 2019 Manchester World Championships!

Special thanks go to: GB Taekwondo, MCRactive, UK Sport, ManchesterArena, CSE, The Sports Presentation Company, our BT Instructors & our ‘Dan Clan’ Volunteers for making the school sessions a huge success!

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JUNE 2019 YEAR OF THE PIG

TAEKWONDO TODAY Article “It was Epic”

A KEY EXPERIENCE

Ladybarn Primary School Dream it, achieve it!

A NEW SCHOOL TAEKWONDO CLUB Last month, I met with James Doherty from British Taekwondo to talk about my idea of putting Taekwondo into my school’s curriculum. As the conversation drew to a close, James mentioned about, potentially, bringing some of my students to the upcoming World Championships. As we hadn’t budgeted for this, I said I’d love to but may struggle to fund it. Undeterred, James found a way to make this happen, and I was able to bring 240 of my pupils to Manchester Arena to be part of this incredible event.

It was an amazing spectacle. The children, many of whom had never been to the Arena or seen competition Taekwondo before, were so excited to be there. Aside from watching the world-class sparring, there were so many other highlights: seeing the World Taekwondo Demonstration team phenomenal display; getting to try out Taekwondo with the excellent instructors from Aquila; having fun in the venue with Tiger Tae! and I think a few of the children think my Instructor is a White Tiger one of the mascots!

All the children had a brilliant time at the World Championships. In the words of one of the Year 2 children, ‘It was epic!’ So, we now have hundreds of children in the school who are excited to start training.

The first year group begins their Taekwondo classes in the school day this week, and giving the children the chance to see the best in the world compete was a great way to enthuse them about this.

So a huge thank you to James and the British Taekwondo board for giving the children this opportunity: an event they will always remember and, hopefully, the starting point for their own martial-arts adventure.

Ian Caldwell Head of School, Ladybarn Primary School.

4th Dan Ki Taekwondo.

www.kicombattaekwondo.com

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PAGE 49 BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 07598 413664

Taeger Time!

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JUNE 2019 YEAR OF THE PIG

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TAEKWONDO TODAY Article

Livingwell and Living Taekwondo...

The art of Taekwondo and the art of living well!

Livingwell today run by Master Derek Sumner had its annual Taekwondo seminar with invited guests, friends and club members. It marked the inclusion of force 5 south London becoming ‘ Livingwell force 5 ’ Students attending consisted of white belt beginners all the way up to master grades which was overseen by Kukkiwon Grand Master Ansar Mahmood. Potential Dan graders were successfully assessed and given the go-ahead to grade in a couple of months time. A taste of Korea was the essence of the day with Justine Saunders from Korea allowing children to dress in traditional Korean costume. Presentations were made to Master Derek Sumners Livingwell instructors which were - Master Mo , Master Billy , Master Taylor , Louise Matthew’s, Susan Parkins and Grand Master Ansar Mahmood.

Abbie Newton was congratulated with a gift for the future arrival of her baby (another livingwell generation). Grand Master Ansar Mahmood spoke of the longevity of friendship of himself and Master Derek Sumner who have shared some great moments together on the world stage thus remembering their great Grand Master Cha Sok Park. Ansar presented Master Derek “Along with that Sumner with a plaque from Pakistan and special taste of Korean a Kukkiwon 8th dan to hang in his culture” Livingwell Dojang. There was time for a nice photographic moment with the Masters 89 year old parents and our Korean friends to commemorate Master Derek Sumners Father who died in action fighting for the liberation of Korea. Martial Arts was the theme of the day and which was delivered to very happy passionate Taekwondo practitioners with achievements at the highest level of the sport.

Livingwells main hub at Gatwick which is in the South East of England was the venue for the seminar and over 75 students attended from all around the local area inside the Horley Sports and Leisure Centre, Anderson way, Horley RH6 8SP. All aspects of Taekwondo training was covered which included Patterns, selfdefence, breaking, weapons, one step sparring, free sparring along with that special taste of Korean culture alongside the special presentations. A great day was had by all at the event which ran from 9am until 12pm midday at a very reasonable cost of £10.00 for the hours of practice and number of quality Instructors giving their knowledge and experience to the students.

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PAGE 53 BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY

by Master S.H. Blomeley email: bttoday@outlook.com Tel: 07598 413664

lsles

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www.britishtaekwondo.org.uk Information contained in our published works have been obtained by BTT and or The Editor from sources believed to be reliable. However, neither BTT nor its authors guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein and neither BTT nor its authors shall be responsible for any errors, omissions, or claims for damages, including exemplary damages, arising out of use, inability to use, or with regard to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information contained in BTT publications. No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher or Editors for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of product liability, negligence, or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, product, instructions, or ideas contained in the published material. All rights reserved. No part of any BTT published work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. British Taekwondo Today Magazine copyright Steve Blomeley 2019.