4 Gold 2 Silver and 1 Bronze medals for the Surrey team at the Welsh Open championship 2011

On Sunday 25th of September the United Kingdom Taekwondo Association (UKTA), part of the International Taekwondo Federation, held its Welsh Open Championship in Cardiff. This is one of the 4 major tournaments held by the UKTA in the UK.

Taekwondo is a complete martial art and the competitions include several disciplines such as Patterns, Sparring, Special Techniques and Power-test. During patterns the competitors will perform a series of movements and techniques in a pre-defined format, rhythm and intensity, to show their ability. The Sparring competition consists of scoring points through full-contact hand and foot kicks to different parts of the opponent’s body in a controlled form of combat. Special techniques demonstrate extreme flexibilities in different forms of jumping kicks, while the power-test consists of breaking several layers of planks with hands and feet.

Four members of the Surrey Taekwon-Do School travelled to Cardiff to join the tournament in their categories …. With tremendous success!

Congratulations to the Surrey team who brought home 4 gold 2 silver and 1 bronze medals! The full results are:
Gold in 1st Dan - 13 to 17 year Sparring - 63 kg Cedric Cools
Silver in 1st Dan - 13 to 17 year Pattern Cedric Cools
Gold in 1st Dan - under 13 years Sparring Haytham Lebari
Bronze in 1st Dan – under 13 years Pattern Haytham Lebari
Gold in 4th Kup - Blue Belt under 13 years Sparring Bella Woodward
Gold in 8th Kup - Yellow Belt under 13 years Pattern Nina Navalta
Silver in 8th Kup – Yellow Belt under 13 years Sparring Nina Navalta
Cedric (aged 15) and Haytham (aged 12) have already been selected to join the England National Squad and are training with perseverance, dedication and indomitable spirit to prepare for the European Championship in 2012, which will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria 22-29th April. We wish them all the best and strength in their preparation!

Bella is only 10 years old and just got her Blue Belt grading, while Nina with her 9 years is one of the youngest members from the School to attend tournaments. Both did it very well so far and are very dedicated to Taekwondo.

Taekwondo teaches fitness, stretching, offensive and defensive techniques, semi-contact and full-contact sparring, breaking of boards and bricks, and a variety of patterns. The tenets of Taekwondo are Courtesy - Integrity - Perseverance – Self Control and Indomitable Spirit. Those principles are also undeniable values which help the students in their day-to-day life.

Surrey Taekwon-Do School is held in Dorking Sports Center, Guildford Spectrum, and Woking Leisure Center and is always recruiting new students.

For more information please see the website at www.surreytaekwondo.com, email surreytaekwondo@yahoo.com or call Richard Hamilton on 07818 224532.

Surrey Taekwon-Do Instructor Wins World Power Title!

Surrey's own Richard Hamilton has won the ITF Veteran's World Power Gold Medal in Belarus last week at the ITF World Championships.

The England team travelled to Minsk last week to attend the International Taekwon-Do Federation Junior and Veteran World Championships. There were over 50 countries in attendance including competitors from Japan, Australia, Canada, Italy, Czech Republic, Russia, Korea, and many other countries.

The England Team boasted 2 World Champions from Surrey. James Gridley won the World Sparring title for the under 18 year olds, and Richard Hamilton won the World Power title in the veterans class.
James had to fight his way through numerous competitors and suffered two black eyes and a concussion before going on to beat the Belu-russian in the final. The videos of the sparring are extremely exciting and can be provided by the club for private viewings with James' permission. James is the captain of the England Junior team, and has already had numerous bouts as a semi-professional so he's somebody to keep an eye out for at local venues.

Richard had over 30 people to compete with in the breaking. Numerous competitors over estimated their capabilities on brand new white plastic boards, but Richard gambled conservatively and produced the breaks to qualify with the top 10 competitors. A final break off reduced the field to 2 Greenland competitors and Richard and a draw was made as to the technique to be used for the world title. The back kick was drawn and Richard was the only competitor to break all of the boards so the title comes home to England, and Surrey!!!

Taekwon-Do is an Olympic sport, but is taught to various armed forces in the UK and worldwide, and is used by the police to deter criminals. TKD includes fitness, flexibility, sparring, breaking boards and bricks, self defence from grabs, sweeps, throws, and other attacks. Taekwon-Do was introduced in the UK in 1967 by Grand Master Rhee Kee Ha and and is a world wide martial art with schools in most every country.In Surrey, Taekwon-Do is available at the Woking Leisure Centre, Dorking Sports Centre, and Surrey Sports Park in Guildford. New students are encouraged to come along and try and are offered a free try before you buy lesson.

For more information, see the website at www.surreytaekwondo.com or contact Richard on the email address richard@surreytaekwondo.comor telephone 07818 224532.