It was at the age of 6 that I had my first introduction to martial arts. My parents were keen for me to learn how to defend myself from an early age, particularly as I was quite small as a child. My dad took me along to a local (Swindon) Wado-Ryu style karate club under Sensei Nick Randall. It was also around the same time that I began gymnastics after being spotted by a scout at a school competition.
These two activities complimented each other for a number of years, and by the age of 9 I had reached 1st Kyu (Kup) in karate (1 grade below black belt), and had experienced a good deal of competition success in gymnastics – my best result being 6th place in national competition.
However, training at least 5 times per week was becoming too much for my young body, both physically and emotionally, and within a few weeks of each other I gave both activities up.
Although I remained very active, it wasn’t until I started secondary school that I became involved in competitive sports again. It wasn’t too long before a P.E. teacher noticed my ability, and before I knew it I was competing for the school in cross-country running, and very soon after for the county of Wiltshire.
The following summer I made the natural transition to athletics, with the coaches quickly realising that as well as running, I could also jump, throw, and do just about anything else where they required an event to be filled to earn the team more points. One day it was suggested that, with my gymnastic background, I give the pole-vault a try. I ended up competing for the county in several events, and was pushing for national team selection in pole-vault.
Although I was thoroughly enjoying athletics and cross-country running, I felt something was missing from these sports compared with the karate that I’d done previously. My dad happened to be working with someone who said that he ran a karate club and that I’d be welcome to give it a try – that someone was Sensei Alan Brown, one of the most humble and talented martial artists I have met, and for whom I have a great deal of respect.
I was now 12 years old, and although I had previously done some karate, this was a different style, and it was felt best that I started back at the beginning. Shotokan is a very strong style of karate, and my club (Wroughton Shotokan Karate Club) was a member of the KUGB, the largest single style organisation in the country. This gave me access to training with some of the very best karate practitioners, many of whom had emigrated from Japan. It was at the age of 16 that I achieved my Shodan (black belt 1st Dan) in December 1994, under a panel of examiners headed up by Sensei K. Enoeda. Sensei Enoeda was considered by many to be one of Japan’s finest competitors and instructors, and I feel extremely honoured to have graded and trained under such an inspirational man. Enoeda Sensei sadly passed away in 2003.
I had a great deal of competition success, my most memorable moment being crowned South of England Junior Male Kumite (sparring) Champion. Junior male brown and black belt division was always a very hotly contested category, being for 16-21 year olds - and I had only just turned 16.
Unfortunately during training one evening I tore my hamstring. This proved to be quite devastating for me because every time I attempted to resume training (usually a bit too early!) I would re-tear it. Over a period of around 18 months I put on 6 stone in weight, prompting the onset of diabetes, and I ceased training completely.
Fast forward to 2006, now living in Cornwall, 28 years old and weighing between 19 and 20 stone, and although I was playing rugby for Truro, I missed the continual self-improvement that you strive for in martial arts (I could never really be bothered with rugby training, as the only aim was to win the game). I desperately wanted to get back into some form of martial arts training. At first I attempted to go back to karate, but I couldn’t find a suitable club. Therefore I needed to broaden my horizons and I tried Jui-Jitsu and Thai Boxing, but decided they just weren’t for me. I then found Tae-Kwon-Do.
I must point out that I wasn’t expect
ing very much of Tae-Kwon-Do. Where I came from in Swindon, the local club had a bad reputation. It was considered to be a weak martial art, and the club in general was considered to be very ill-disciplined. I am very please to say that what I discovered in Cornwall GTI was completely to the contrary.
Tae-Kwon-Do (as taught by Cornwall GTI) truly teaches us to find balance and harmony in our lives. To me, this is the essence of martial arts, and the tenets guide us in this quest. I commenced my training at both Camborne and Truro in January 2006, enrolling with Camborne simply because I was living closer to that school at the time. I trained as much as I could (usually about 4 times per week), and took my first grading a month after starting. At the following grading, I was permitted to attempt grading to green belt because of my black belt in karate, which I did, and have continued to progressively move up the ranks.
Due to work relocation to Exeter in July 2008, I was only able to attend training in Truro once or twice per week, and I therefore switched my membership to Truro Tae-Kwon-Do Academy. Even though it has been tough, especially doing 200 mile round trips to attend training, there was never any question regarding discontinuing Tae-Kwon-Do, and my loyalty to Truro, Camborne and the GTI mean that I have never considered switching to a different association.
I’m very pleased to say that my hard work paid off in May 2009, when I successfully graded to 1st Dan in Derby under the GTI grading panel.
I thoroughly enjoy competing, and my best results include the Midlands Open 2008, where I won 3 gold medals in the red belt division for patterns, continuous sparring and point-stop sparring, and my most recent achievement of 2009 British Champion of Destruction (board breaking).
I am now taking my Tae Kwon-Do journey to the next level by opening Exeter Tae Kwon-Do Academy. It has always been my ambition to teach, and this is a realisation of that dream. I hope to pass on my knowledge and promote this wonderful martial art to the best of my abilities, and inspire all those around me on their Tae Kwon-Do journeys.
Even though I am now starting my own club, I still train in Cornwall every week to continually develop my own skills. I’m hopeful of successfully grading to 2nd Dan in October 2010, and I also plan to carry on competing for a number of years.