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| Kernow TAE Black Belt Biographies Meet the Instructor Team: (not pictured: Patricia Finney, Jon Burton) Chief Instructor - Liam Broderick, 4th Dan
Liam Broderick is a 4th degree black belt from
Newquay, who trained under his Instructor, Danny Broderick at Camborne since 1991. Danny is the longest running Tae Kwon-Do student in Cornwall, having started his training in 1974. He graded under Grandmaster Rhee Ki Ha through his coloured belts and under Grandmaster Hee Il Cho for 1st and 2nd Dan. Liam is very proud to have had such a great Instructor with so much knowledge of the true Art of Tae Kwon-Do. Liam has been a qualified Instructor and competition Umpire since 1994 and gained his referee's qualification in 2000.
Liam took his 1st degree black belt in Gravesend in 1996 and his 2nd, 3rd and 4th degrees were taken in Derby in 2001, 2003 and 2009 respectively. He is now working towards 5th Dan.
Liam has a first class honours degree in Environmental Management and works for the Environment Agency as an Ecologist, specialising in freshwater biology.
"I am a firm believer in staying true to the traditional ideals of the martial arts; respect, loyalty, humility and integrity, and in following a mostly traditional training method, with the students working to better themselves, but I also feel that we should embrace the modern elements of martial arts training such as sparring in competitions and fitness work, to give a true balance to modern Tae Kwon-Do. As I walk the path of Tae Kwon-Do, I continue to learn, to improve my techniques and increase the amount of knowledge that I can pass on to my students, in the hope that their abilities and knowledge will be greater than mine and the true essence of Tae Kwon-Do will be passed on from generation to generation" "I work hard to better myself as an Instructor. I study yoga to give my students the best flexibity and core strength possible. I continue to increase my knowledge as a Biologist and have a constantly improving understanding of nutrition, fitness and physiology. But, more importantly, I travel to learn more Tae Kwon-Do from Tae Kwon-Do experts, and in doing so I can increase the knowledge of my students"
"In Kernow Tae Kwon-Do Academy of Excellence, I have followed the examples of my Instructor and many other martial arts teachers, to create a safe, tolerant, friendly training environment, which is suitable for all students, irrespective of age, sex, lifestyle preference and technical ability. I think it is great to see family groups training together, with parents learning alongside their children and I will always strive to teach the full range of Tae Kwon-Do and ensure that all my students improve their self-defence abilities, increase their confidence, self-esteem and fitness and, most importantly, enjoy their training" Instructor - Patricia Finney, 3rd Dan - Kernow TAE Child Protection Officer
 Patricia Finney is a writer, mum and entrepreneur who has been studying martial arts ever since she left school and discovered that physical exercise doesn’t have to involve netball and rabid games teachers. She started with three years of Shotokan Karate while at University, then moved to WTF Taekwondo and studied at Jubilee Hall. She successfully graded to Green Belt while three months pregnants with her first child, Alex. After moving with her family to Cornwall, she started again and studied ITF Taekwondo with Andy Wilkins. She gained her Black Belt in 2000 and her 2nd Dan three years later. She gained her 3rd Dan grade in May 2011 after a hiatus while she lived in Spain for two and half years. She also studies Ki Aikido, in which her progress has been even slower. Mrs Finney is working on a book to be called A TAEKWONDO STUDENT’S HISTORY OF KOREA and would appreciate any input from other students about what should be in it.
Instructor - Mel Beattie, 2nd Dan - Kernow TAE Safety Officer and Child Protection Officer
  I was 4 months pregnant with my first child when I began my journey in Martial Arts, it was towards the end of 1999 when I joined a Freestyle club. I really got a taste for it and ended up competing in tournaments locally and in other parts of the country. Although I enjoyed the training that this club offered I began to crave a more traditional Martial Art.
After a few months out of training due to injury in 2003 I found the traditional martial art I was looking for and subsequently joined GTI Tae Kwon-Do in Cornwall at the beginning of September 2003 and never looked back. I particularly enjoyed learning patterns as I didn't learn anything like that at my previous club and I soon took my first grading and did very well despite suffering with terrible nerves! I gradually progressed up through my gradings, taking part in many tournaments along the way, even taking two gradings whilst pregnant with my second child! I took gold in patterns in the GTI Midlands and Cornish Championships in 2004 - the look on the other competitors faces was a picture when I rolled onto the mat with a huge pregnant belly! After I had my baby in November 2004 I was back in training the first week of January 2005 as Tae Kwon-Do had become a way of life for me and I could never imagine not training. My training really started picking up in 2006 as I worked towards my red tag. My Instructor, Liam Broderick was very encouraging, helping me get back to form after a knee operation. I whizzed through the next few gradings, again doing very well in them and then found myself preparing for my black belt grading. In the January of 2008 I really started concentrating on my fitness (I started going to my local gym 3 times a week) and my Instructor put me under a lot of pressure training to prepare for my grading. I travelled up to Derby in May with Mr Broderick and just went for it! The hard worked paid off and I was awarded my black belt the week after my grading and felt very proud to be part of such a wonderful supportive school.
During my years of training in TKD I have always been involved with the events organised by my instuctors past and present; Camborne demos, Truro carnival, beach cleaning and of course the social events. It's important to remember that my fellow students are also very good friends and we all need to let our hair down now and again! I took my umpires certificate in January 2008 under Master Harrison and put my new found skills into practice at the GTI Midlands in September. I was also promoted to Assistant Instructor in July which took me by surprise but was truly honoured and privileged to have been considered for this position. 2008 was packed full of highs and more highs for me - not only have I realised some of my goals this year but I have seen a fantastic standard from all the students in the school and all of us are a reflection of what a brilliant Instructor we have. I am very proud to say that both of my children are now following in my footsteps and are currently training hard for their next gradings. I continue to work hard on my fitness; my journey is after all only just beginning. I will continue supporting the school, work towards improving my TKD skills and share with others what I have learnt.
I have completed 3 years training as a Mental Health Nurse, qualifying in July 2010, I fit nursing shifts in around my regular work which is supporting learning disability students at Truro College. It can be very challenging working 2 jobs, parenting, running a house and training hard but it can be done - I am living proof of that!
Tae Kwon-Do is well and truly under my skin - it keeps me fit, focused and sane! Mel graded to 2nd Dan in October 2009. Her journey in Tae Kwon-Do continues...
Instructor - John Newman, 2nd Dan - Kernow TAE Competition Coach and Instructor of Seahawk Tae Kwon-Do Academy
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 expecting 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. John is Instructor at the GTI school Seahawk Tae Kwon-Do Academy based at RNAS Culdrose  Pete Yates, 1st Dan (left) and John Newman 2nd Dan (right) Instructor - Pete Yates, 1st Dan
I had tried Martial Arts briefly as a youngster when I was about 11 through Karate but only lasted about five lessons as the classes could not hold my attention. It was also the usual type of story of wanting to go out with my mates and not having a lot of time for sports and self-development. When I got to the age of 15 I started running, doing cross country and road running and found that I actually enjoyed physical exercise, in 1998 I ran the London Marathon and felt a huge sense of achievement.
When I was 18 I lost my father after his long fight with cancer and this hit me hard, unfortunately I found comfort in socialising a bit too much and not taking up any form of exercise. Eventually I got myself back on my feet and had my two daughters, in 2004 I moved to Cornwall from the outskirts of London and got back to my running on a regular basis inspired by the scenery as I went on my daily jogs. In 2005 I saw the birth of my little boy making my set complete.
When my eldest daughter reached the age of five I felt I needed to have an activity that we could both do together as working long hours meant I hardly got the chance to spend time with my children. I looked at a few activities but the one that stood out a mile was a Martial Art and to be more specific Tae Kwon-Do. In February 2007 my daughter and I attended our first lesson, at first I was a bit dubious because of the stories that some Martial Arts clubs can appear to be unwelcoming to newcomers, I was pleasantly surprised by the welcome that we got when we started training. I firmly believe that if it was not for this friendly nature of the club then my training in Tae Kwon-Do would have been significantly shorter than it has been.
After doing well in our first grading, my daughter and I were eager to continue to progress with the training, we also attended competitions and at yellow belt I became the GTI English point stop sparring champion for my belt level and weight class. The competitions also gave my training the competitive edge that I enjoyed when I was running and attended as many as I possibly could (this also gave me and my daughter some quality time away with each other). I continued entering competitions but started to concentrate more on doing well in the pattern division than with my sparring. This emphasis on patterns truly gripped me and made me want to strive more to do well in each and every grading, by the time I took my red belt grading I was literally flying and felt that the hard work over the previous years was finally linking together, I relished every lesson and trained harder than I have ever trained for anything before, working towards my Black Belt grading. At red belt I again became English point stop sparring champion for my belt and weight class and felt ready to make the leap up to Black Belt. At this stage I also enrolled on the GTI Instructors course and continued to add strings to my bow.
There was still lots more work to be done but with the help and support of the whole club the journey towards the first goal was made a lot easier. In October 2010 I took my 1st Dan Black Belt grading. It was a surreal experience to say the least, on the morning of the grading Mr Broderick, myself were driving through a densely populated town in Derby listening to George Fornby on the radio! On arriving at the Dojang where I was to take my grading I wanted to take as much in as I could and acclimatise myself to the new surroundings as quickly as possible, the mere fact of seeing other students who were taking their Black Belt grading having the same look of trepidation on their faces, as I know I had, actually made it a little less nerve racking (but only very little!).
After becoming a Black Belt I felt a huge weight of expectancy on my shoulders, as I’m sure all newly promoted Black Belts feel. I started to get the feeling that I was not worthy of wearing the Black Belt around my waist, it was only the realisation that gaining my Black Belt was just the start of my training and that I still had lots to learn which alleviated the pressure I was putting myself under. I started, along with the other instructors within the club, to teach more. This has now progressed to the point where we have a fantastic Instructor and a great Assistant Instructor team and benefit from the different teaching styles of all the Instructors. I have also, along with my fellow Instructor Mrs Beattie, started to run a fitness and sparring class to compliment other areas of students training, proving that the Instructor team is moving from strength to strength.
I am pleased to say that my two youngest children have followed my eldest daughter and I down the Tae Kwon-Do road. I am now working hard towards my 2nd Dan grading which I hope to take in May of this Year, hopefully alongside my eldest daughter who will be looking to take her 1st Dan grading.
Tae Kwon-Do is now not just an activity, it’s a way of life.
Instructor - Paul Kistle, 2nd Dan
 Mr Paul Kistle, Second Dan, started his training in September 1999 with Mr Danny Broderick at the class at Pool School. "I only started because one of the other students was working at the same firm as me and when I saw him practising his patterns, I took the mickey," says Mr Kistle, "He challenged me to have a go – so I did. I was playing five-a-side football in the hall opposite on the same day, so it was easy for me to come along. I was very stiff and inflexible at the time – though I was pretty fit from football and cross-country running – but I kept at it. I've never stopped training since then and I took my First Dan Black Belt in October 2006. My Second Dan followed in October 2010 and I qualified as an Instructor in 2011. I was 37 when I started which I think shows you're never to old to start Taekwondo. Every lesson with Mr Liam Broderick is a good one – even if I only learn one little thing from it or help someone. I had to stop playing football after I had a knee operation but I was back doing Taekwondo six weeks later. It's the best stress-relief in the world. If I ever start wondering why I'm still doing it or worry that I don't have the time, I just come to a lesson and feel better at once. And what Danny Broderick used to say is right, taekwondo does change you for the better."
Paul Kistle 2nd Dan (right) Instructor - Charlotte Brown, 2nd Dan
I first started Tae Kwon Do training when I was around 10 years old under TAGB, Newquay. I managed to grade to blue belt red tags however due to personal circumstances and teenage years I lost interest in training.
During 2005 and a difficult period in my life I decided to go back to training under Mr Liam Broderick, GTI, Truro. This was a very difficult transition for me as Mr Broderick encouraged me to return to training as a blue belt red tag (the same as I was 10 years previous). I found this extremely challenging as the only thing I could remember from 10 years previous was my first ever pattern meaning.
When I returned to training I thought all the lower grades were looking at me expecting me to know what I was doing and I found this extremely frustrating as I had to re-learn 4 years worth of previous training. After making good progress I fell pregnant and at 6 weeks into my pregnancy I gave up Tae Kwon Do as struggled with tiredness and did not want to risk any harm to my baby during training. I became lazy and used every excuse with ‘I am eating for two’! When my son was 6 months old I decided that the weight had to come off – and what made me so happy prior to my pregnancy..... ‘Tae Kwon Do’! So again I returned and again I re-learnt with the added frustration of not remembering anything for a second time. I poured blood, sweat and tears (sometimes literally) into re-learning all my patterns, set sparring, self defence, line work, breaking and theory however I persevered as I felt Tae Kwon do had given me a great deal of happiness with the progress I had made.
My proude.jpg) st moment in Tae Kwon Do was when I graded to red belt with ‘A’ level pass. I had worked extremely hard to achieve that goal and I pushed the tenets of Tae Kwon Do to their maximum – Perseverance does pay off in the long run!
I continued to train and grade and eventually took my Black Belt 1st Dan grading in October 2009. The grading was extremely tough however I had put in the preparation work and was promoted to 1st Dan.
Tae Kwon Do is now a big part of my life. I juggle fitting it around working 2 jobs, studying for an accountancy course, being a mum and looking after my family although however demanding life gets I would hope I never make the mistake of giving it up again.
Since then I have attended an Instructors course and I am taking assessed classes to improve my confidence and my teaching ability with the hope to obtain my instructors certificate later this year.
I have also been to National competitions and helped with officiating as well as taking part. I am hoping to undertake and umpires course in Oct 2011 and eventually gain my umpires certificate. 
My most recent achievement was becoming English, Black Belt Ladies, Destruction champion in Feb 2011. The destruction section started late and I was breaking boards at 7pm in the evening after a long day. The techniques were nothing like anything I had tried before.... ‘jumping sidekicks and back kicks from parallel ready stance, no measures’ etc. With encouragement from my Instructor I managed to break the majority of the boards and won my section.
My main focus recently has been preparation for my 2nd Dan grading in May 2011. I have been working hard on fitness to help prepare me for the demands of the grading. Have I put in enough work and will I be promoted... Charlotte gained her 2nd Dan on 8th May 2011.
Instructor - Andrew Robinson, 2nd Dan
.jpg) My interest in martial arts started through the media. I loved films like The Matrix, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. I used to be very unconfident and doubted my ability to stand up for myself and others. When I watched these films I often wished I was able to do the things the martial artists were doing however I never had the drive to go and learn a martial art. Eventually I was literally forced to go to the opening night of Truro Taekwondo Academy in 2004.
When I started Taekwondo in 2004 I never expected to get as far as I’ve done and I never expected to change. I thought that taekwondo was all about the physical with impressive techniques that I would never be able to perform. My confidence was extremely low especially when trying to communicate with new people or talk to groups. I had a very unhealthy lifestyle eating very little in the way of nutritious foods and had no real fitness. .jpg)
Taekwondo has greatly improved my quality of life. Regular training and gradings made me realise that as well as needing to train hard in Taekwondo I needed to increase my fitness outside of training by going to the gym. In doing so my fitness is much better than before. Working hard also made me look at my eating habits which allowed me to realise I did not eat healthily at all. I therefore changed my diet because of Taekwondo. Throughout my time doing Taekwondo I have helped out at many public events. Doing Taekwondo publicly and putting myself under similar situations in which confidence has been put to the test has increased my confidence. This has helped me both in and out of Taekwondo. This confidence has given me the ability to stand up against injustice to myself and others whereas before I probably would have sat back and done nothing. The confidence has been beneficial both in the workplace and in a social context. Because of Taekwondo I now have more friends through work and training. Taekwondo has also given me a moral code to live by which has made me feel, and I expect others feel, that I am a better person. I try and implement courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self control and indomitable spirit into my everyday life.
On top of all these benefits, Taekwondo has given me a large social network of friends not just in Cornwall but around the UK. We are always doing things together and most of my best friends come from Taekwondo. If I had to say anything to someone looking into Truro Taekwondo Academy it would be to give it a go. The first months free so there is nothing to lose! Andrew gained his 2nd Dan on 8th May 2011. Honourary Senior Instructor - Danny Broderick, 5th Dan
I began my training in Tae Kwon-Do in 1974 under Flight Lieutenant Brookes at RAF St Mawgan, just outside of Newquay, Cornwall. Tae Kwon-Do found its way into the RAF in the Far East and Flt Lt Brookes had begun his Tae Kwon-Do training in Singapore. The first permanent Tae Kwon-Do schools in the UK were at the RAF bases of Kinloss in Scotland, Locking near Weston-Super-Mare and St Mawgan. As St Mawgan was right on my doorstep, I count myself very lucky to have discovered Tae Kwon-Do so early in its development. Tae Kwon-Do then was very strict, disciplined and hard and the standard was extremely high.  The second school to appear in Cornwall was at Carn Brae in Camborne. The Instructor was a Malaysian 3rd Dan called T K Loh, now a 9th Dan Grandmaster based in Scotland. This awesome Tae Kwon-Do technician taught me the true dynamism of the Art and it was in honour of him and what he gave me that I looked to open my own school in Camborne. The pivotal moment in my training occurred towards the end of the 70s when I met Major General Choi Hong Hi, 9th Degree, the founding Father of Tae Kwon-Do at a Grandmasters Demonstration in Edinburgh. I shook his hand and got his autograph. I will never forget that day as he inspired me to continue training in Tae Kwon-Do for all my life. I took my 1st Dan Black Belt in December 1988 under Master Hee Il Cho, 8th Dan (Senior Grading Examiner of the TAGB) and I opened Camborne Tae Kwon-Do in January 1991 in Pool School. The school grew at a phenomenal rate and it provided a community focus in one of the most deprived areas of the UK as Cornwall's mining industry took a nosedive. I took my 2nd Dan under Master Cho in April 1992, and my 3rd and 4th Dan Gradings in the GTI, under Frank Murphy, 6th Dan and Master Ted Hopwood, 7th Dan respectively. I was present at the meetings that led to the formation of the GTI in 1993 but later that year my local Area Co-ordinator decided to go independent so from 1993 to 1996 I taught a mix of ITF and WTF style under the guidance of Grandmaster Yung Ho Jun from Florida. In 1996 I took the difficult decision to break from my Instructor and return to the GTI and I was welcomed with open arms. I worked hard to give back to the GTI, organising a summer camp in the Isles of Scilly for which I gained Instructor of the Year in 1997. I went on to organise two more summer camps in Cornwall and many of the GTI students watched the total eclipse of the sun on top of Carn Brae in 1999. In 2004 I was diagnosed with testicular cancer and underwent radiotherapy treatment that luckily led to a full recovery. Tae Kwon-Do, especially the support I gained from my GTI Instructor friends, was pivotal to getting me through this dark time. I became regional co-ordinator for the GTI in the southwest in 2005 and served on the GTI Committee until I went into semi-retirement in 2009. This did not mean leaving Tae Kwon-Do as I helped to establish a Royal Navy Tae Kwon-Do School at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall, and taught there for a number of years before fully retiring in 2010. In my 18 years as Instructor of Camborne Tae Kwon-Do, I produced over 30 black belts, many of whom went on to become successful Instructors in their own right. Although I'm now fully retired, I act as honourary senior instructor at the GTI schools in Camborne, RNAS Culdrose and Truro, assisting students going for black belt gradings, which is very rewarding. I would like to sincerely thank the GTI for awarding me my honourary 5th Dan and although I can no longer physically train, my heart and my loyalty remain with Cornwall Tae Kwon-Do and my GTI friends. Junior Black Belt - Ciaran Hicks, 1st Dan
Ciaran gained his black belt aged 12 on 8th May 2011.
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