International Instructors

I started Tae Kwon -Do in 1974. ‘Enter the Dragon’ had just been released and there was great public interest in all martial arts because of Bruce Lee

I picked Tae Kwon – Do purely by chance as it was advertised in the local paper that week and I started training with Mr Clive Neal (2nd degree) who was one of the first civilians in the UK to get his black belt under FGM Rhee Ki Ha.  I took all my coloured belt gradings under FGM Rhee. I still remember taking my yellow tag as there were 400 white belts there.  When the split with the UKTA happened we joined the newly formed TAGB.

I took my first degree in 1984.  My instructor never pushed us to grade, we just enjoyed training. I eventually took my 2nd degree in 1992. Both gradings were under GM He Il Cho.  After several years at 2nd degree I left Tae Kwon-Do for several years and trained in other martial arts and obtained two other 3rd degrees.

When I decided to return to Tae Kwon -Do I joined a club in Solihull run by Mr Ian Hughes.

I took my 3rd degree in 2003 and my 4th degree in 2009 under GM Oldham. I then sustained a back injury that eventually needed surgery. The surgeon and doctors all told me that I would have to stop training due to my back condition.  I decided that was not going to happen and eventually after a lot of work and pain I took and passed my 5th degree in 2015.

Even after I took 10 years off TKD to learn other styles I still came back to TKD because it is in my opinion the best ‘all-rounder’ if trained in and applied correctly and the GTUK is the best martial arts association I have ever belonged to.  I have met many Grandmasters, Masters, Instructors, Black Belts and Students over the years ranging from the amazing to the ‘not so amazing’. These people came from all walks of life, but they all had one thing in common, they were all there, sweating, trying to beat their limitations and improve that little bit more. Whether they were a white belt trying to get their head around it all or a senior grade trying to master that one difficult movement, they are all part of the same like-minded group which, in my opinion, makes martial artists different from other people.

I would like to thank everyone that I have met along the journey for making it so interesting.

I often wonder how boring my life would have been if I hadn’t gone to that first class and how I would be a completely different person if I had given up at the first hardship. It has been the biggest single influence in my life and I intend to keep training until I physically can’t do it anymore.  I am nowhere near as good physically as I used to be but I still have the occasional good day and that usually makes up for the bad ones.

So if there is a summary to all this, it is ‘Don’t Give Up. It may be hard, but it is worth it.