Members of the TTA London club at the February 2010 grading. Club instructor Mr Jake Bender is on the left and Grandmaster Loh is on the right.

Click on the picture to see a larger version.

TTA London members at the grading in November. Club instructor Mr Jake Bender is on the left and Grandmaster Loh is on the right. Click on the picture for a larger image.

An oppressively autumnal Sunday provided the backdrop for the annual individuals’ competition. A pleasingly exhausting weekend in Scotland’s biggest city offered everything a TKD event could – spectacle, debate, groupies and above all, fun.

TTA London was well represented with many members either competing or refereeing – several for the first time. The results were encouraging with medals won both in the patterns and sparring categories. Our fighting styles varied from elegant to robust but everyone who made the journey north showed composure and determination in the heat of battle. The experience demonstrated that there are few better places to hone one’s TKD skills than under competition conditions with the noise and pressure that the contest provides.

Those making their debuts in the ref jerseys had the excellent opportunity to put what they learnt on the refereeing course to practical use. The experience, in front of the onlooking Grandmaster and Master Loh, will prove invaluable and all showed knowledge and authority in the ring. There was a bit of everything to test them across the three fighting arenas and the internet forum remains hot with talk of that kick.

Our coach, organiser, taxi driver and spiritual leader, Mr Bender provided a great deal of useful support & advice before, after and during the competition. It will be vital again next year when the club will strive for even higher standards in the 2010 team competition.

Adam Williams

Referees
Simon Smith
Sarah Tryfan
Jemima Kingsley
Clare Everett
Chris Gilmartin
Adedayo Ajibade
Abi Barber

Poomse
Sarah Tryfan
Jemima Kingsley
Adedayo Ajibade
Chris Gilmartin – Gold
Abi Barber – Bronze

Sparring
Val Kostas – Silver
Richard Price – Bronze
Paul Spurgeon – Silver
Duncan MacLeod – Silver
Dillon Pola – Bronze
Adam Williams – Gold

Ten TTA London students and our instructor attended the TTA Nottingham Summer School this summer. For 6 days, 5 hours a day, we trained with 30 or so TTA students and instructors from other clubs around the UK.

The course is usually taught by Grandmaster Loh, but this year was taught by a young guest instructor from Korea, Master Moon. Master Moon is a recent Korean sparring champion, and the week naturally focussed exclusively on sparring techniques. From summoning up the stamina for hundreds of knee raises each morning to finding the concentration to repeat combinations of 6 or 7 different kicks in drills, we were given a good taste of the level of training in Korea, and why they win so many international medals!

The London club stayed together in an apartment block in central Nottingham (the broken lift became less and less amusing as the week went on). We ate together, watched DVDs of Rocky and Top Gun together in the evenings and shared around the ice packs and tiger balm.

Summer School was certainly a tremendous challenge, both physically and mentally. Here’s to next year!

By Sarah Garrett

After the August grading, most of the club went to Emma and Paul’s house for a BBQ and to say good bye to Emma, who is moving back to Scotland. We’ll miss Emma, but she will be training with TTA clubs in Scotland so we look forward to seeing her at competitions in future.

Also here are a few pictures from the Summer social, where we watched the tennis, had a picnic and threw a frisbee around.

Having successfully passed his recent Black Belt promotion test, club student Andy Hopper was presented with his 1st Dan certificate by Grandmaster Loh at the recent August grading. Regrettably for the club, Andy is now moving to Peterborough so will no longer be training with us, but I am very pleased to have seen Andy progress through to Black Belt whilst with us. He has been instrumental in inspiring good club spirit and looking after the club whilst I was away, and will be sorely missed. Andy was also presented with an embroidered black belt as a Thank You for his invaluable role within London TTA.

We all look forward to seeing Andy at future TTA events and who knows, one day with a fledgling TTA Peterborough in tow?!

Pilsung,

Jake Bender
TTA London Instructor

Pictured left to right:

Mr Jake Bender (2nd Dan, club instructor)
Clare (1st kup)
Jemima (1st kup)
Sheeza (7th kup)
Alex (9th kup)
Mariona (9th kup)
Andy (1st Dan)
Gwyneth (10th kup)
Sarah (2nd kup)
Hattie (2nd kup)
Val (4th kup)
Jessica (9th kup)
Emma (5th kup)
Paul (6th kup)
Hannah (2nd kup)
Chris (1st kup)
Simon (1st kup)
Adam (7th kup)
Esi (8th kup)
Matthew (7th kup)
Abi (4th kup)
Alex (1st Dan)
Emily (7th kup)
Dayo (4th kup)
Aliyah (10th kup)
Dillon (10th kup)
Romuald (8th kup)
Grandmaster Loh

The London TTA club with Grandmaster Loh after the May 2009 grading

The morning session saw three members of the team compete in the women’s individual competition and all come away with medals; a great start to the day. All members of the team then took to the floor in the afternoon for the team competitions. The standard was exceptionally high and everyone rose to the challenge and put in excellent performances. While the competitors enjoyed a rest, Jemima Kingsley and Emma Christie continued working hard as referees. Although this was their first experience of refereeing at a championship, both did a great job and performed with confidence under intense pressure.

As the team returned home and bruises were compared, there was time to reflect on the weekend. We talked about the fantastic turnout from all TTA clubs, the inspiring standard of competition and the incredible amount of support from spectators and fellow competitors. I think we were all agreed that it was great fun and an invaluable learning experience, with each of us identifying areas to work on in training.

Congratulations to all those who took part and created such a fantastic team spirit over the weekend:

• Mr Jake Bender, 2nd Dan, participated sparring
• Beth Dunn, 1st Dan, gold medal sparring
• Andy Hopper, 1st kup, participated sparring
• Chris Gilmartin, 1st kup, participated sparring
• Simon Smith, 1st kup, participated sparring
• Clare Everett, 1st kup, silver medal sparring
• Sarah Garrett, 3rd kup, silver medal sparring
• Chen Siew, 5th kup, participated sparring
• Paul Spurgeon, 6th kup, participated sparring

• Jemima Kingsley, 1st kup, referee
• Emma Christie, 6th kup, referee

By Clare Everett