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A ray of hope flickers in the sky, a tiny star lights up way up high, all accross the lands dawns a brand new morn. This comes to pass when a child is born

Students, parents, friends.. Another year has gone by and what an amazing year Shaftes TKD has given us! Happiness, sadness, jor and laughter, haha! Sounds like Christmas, or is that just me? Mr Carr and I have so enjoyed all those little problems that we have enjoyed: "I don't feel well Mr Kelly.." ""MEDIC, MEDIC!" <-- that would be Mr Kelly shouting for Mr Prins to solve the problems of the injured students. What an amazing person Mr Prins is! He has the strength of a bull, but the nautre of a kind-hearted, helpful gentleman. All of TKD thanks you Mr Prins, for what you do. Mr Booth, heard you just received your buspass! Hahaha! You give so much to our TKD and we respect you fully. You are very strong, a powerful man. We are very happy to have you with us. Mr Carr and myself so respect your gentle nature and the power that your massive body shows. Stay with us, and we will guide you to a better TKD life. Mr Morris, you are an outstanding pupil. You give more than 100% every lesson, your demeanour is without exception. The strength of your TKD makes your body strong - Make your TKD stronger.

To our red belts: Almond -an amazing, naturally gifted young man, Prins - strong in body, a gent, Buckley - You've grown 10 foot in the last year. When you learn to use the body you've got, watch out world!! Megan Clay, megan blay, megan - You are so lazy! You just do enough to make it ok! Haha! But you don't understand that I and Mr Carr believe in you so much, that you can do so much more and give so much more if you believe in what you can do. Kelly - You give so much when you at TKD, you have inside you all the tenets of TKD. We love have you here but we would like to see you more!

Well that deals with the blacks and reds, now its just down to you lot! You lot, I mean, all the colour belts down to beginner. What do you think so far? Haha! The Shaftes TKD club is the best club that you lot can attend and Mr Carr and I think that you are amazing students. Thank you for training at our Dojang.

PARENTS! PARENTS! PARENTS! Obviously, its very nice of Mr Carr and myself let you watch your children training which talking and playing on your phones. Talking loudly in class to each other. Going in and out of doors all throughout the lesson and obviously acting like bloody children! It would be nice if some of you parents would join in more often. Mrs Morris - Fine looking woman! Looking good in jeans, thank you for being here. Mrs Clay - For a woman of 40, you look like you should be in VOGUE! Mr Almond - The tallest person ever in TKD, and fit as a brick, heard he looked nice in a blue santa suit, his wife is lovely too. Mr Birkett - Boss person, Just an absolute gent, he gives so much at TKD and we all love him! To all the Shaftes staff, we respect and admire you for what you have done for our TKD club, for the help you have given us and a big thank you to Mr Nugent and the shaftes chairman for all the equipment. We are very grateful! To that lovely who did the mural - AMAZING! To Debbie - who has the face and body of a fine woman that should adorn to the centre pages of COSMOPOLITAN! To Daz - A giant of a man, we love him so much! Jonno - Larger than life. Those amazing ladies who work in the canteen at night, we love them loads, they are so lovely!

To all the staff at Shaftes youth club, if we didn't mention your name, its okay because we love you loads too! I would like to take this opportunity to say, I have the deepest respect and admiration for my friend and colleague, Mr Carr, for what he has given to TKD, to his students and to this club. I absolutely love and respect him and think the future of TKD is better with him. He will become leader above leaders, master above all masters, but foremost he will be a friend. THANK YOU MICHAEL, LOVE MR. K. XX

Throughout my life at the Shaftes, I've seen so much, learnt so much, but the most aamzing thing I have leared is that someone I seldom see, but who is always there.. Barry, you have given so much to me and my club over the years we've been together. The way you smile, your laugh, your happy nautre - Sorry , was having a laugh myself!! Ha ha! But truthfully mate, you are in my heart and soul.. Thank you mate! What you have done for me and TKD is something I can never thank you enough for. Thank you for being you, love you loads mate. Xxx

Many thanks to Mr Jones who constructed a steel brick holder - As far as I am aware, we are the only club in the North-West who own such a holder. Senior grades may be expected to perform brick breaks at gradings in the future.

It was a pleasure to host a training session with Master Wood VII Dan for the second time this year - There was a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere throughout the day, and after a few introductions the black belt seminar was underway at 10am. The first half of the session took the form of a ''squad training'' session - intense bursts of fitness/conditioning excersizes blended with traditional Taekwon-Do movements including step sparring and kicking techniques. We had a chance to get our breath back as Master Wood discussed aspects of self defence and how to read your opponent/attacker - Everyone got hands on and tried the techniques, with correction where needed.

Following the success of last years Irish Taekwon-Do camp, a group of 18 enthusiastic TKD students arrived one by one at Crawfordsburn forest park in Belfast - Northern Ireland. There were attendees from England, Ireland and Scotland ranging from 14 years old to 60+, yellow belt to 8th Dan..

The group (front row - Linda, Jemma, Ellen, Denny, Ryan, Master Cutler, Jonny, Caroline, Liz, Pauline.. back row - Ronnie, Alex, Christian, Conor, MC, Zoe, Judy, Rab)

The group was divided into 2 teams - Baekje, and Silla - The camp got underway when Master Cutler set both groups the challenge of creating a fully functioning chair made from balloons, and quite unbelievably both teams finished the task with someone sitting on a chair like arrangement of balloons! By 5pm everyone had a dobok on and the training began.. The first session focused on the roots of good TKD - The stance, and core strength! We enjoyed (endured) the conditioning excersizes used to build strength in the lower body and practised moving between stances the correct way! By 7:30pm the group was sat together enjoying dinner, all entertainment was self provided - Ryan Belshaw played his guitar, Conor Killeen told some Irish limerics and Master Cutler set us some more challenges which have to be seen to be believed! Time for bed at midnight..

The day began at 6am with deep stretching excersizes, both static and ballistic.. After an hour Master Cutler turned the focus to relaxation and meditation - a subject which was completely new to most of the participants, but nevertheless an enlightening experience! After breakfast the side kick and turning kick were ripped apart and analised thoroughly, giving everybody a chance to improve their power and speed! The same was done with some pattern movements, rest assured that lots of notes were taken down as the day went by! The teams then went seperate ways - one stayed with Master Cutler for training, another was free to enjoy the zip wire onsight! Clearly, around 8 hours of training was not enough, Master Cutler kindly put us through "Saju Hell" - This is an extremely explosive excersize utilizing the movements of saju jirugi, makgi and tulgi and lasting nearly an hour.. Saju Hell, the clue is in the name!! Saturday night was BBQ night and of course "GATHERING OF THE IMMORTALS" .. A greek god themed party! The BBQ was manned by Alex Aquino and Ronnie Carruthers while everyone else dressed up in their togas (dressed to impress), the party went on into the night as everyone got stuck in with challenges!

We shadowed Master Cutlers daily routine once again at 6am, a 2 hour stretching and relaxation/meditation session - Today was focused on step sparring and reacting to an attacker as fast and accurately as possible, the theme of the day was 'if you want to do it right - repetition repetition repetition' .. The pattern movements and applications were mixed with the sparring, and Master Cutler used his human punchbag (Rab Dolan) to demonstrate defense against sticks and blunt objects! It was interesting to observe how effective the techniques could be, and how easy they were to perform. "Pain is an excellent teacher, but nobody wants to go to his class" - a quote appropriate to what followed, as we were introduced to the pressure points and vital spots on the body, simple self defense = highly effective.. Shortly after a long discussion about all things TKD, Master Cutler encouraged us to try and be the best we can be and constantly challenge ourselves - Denny Locker demonstrated a Reflex kick as an example of a challenging technique.. We had an hour of fun racing each other down a hill on a sledge with wheels (called grass sledging) and as night fell it was time for "Dynasty showtime" - Everyone had prepared a performance (TKD related) for the evenings entertainment, the acts were "United King-Do" "Won-Hyo disco" "Dosan Dosan" and "Hwarang in a bar", all were great entertainment and Master Cutler rounded off the entertainment off by demonstrating several amazing breaking techniques.

The 4th and final day began with a 6am stretch, of course - Everyone was feeling sore from the intense training the day before, and the focus was brought to relaxation once more.. Several people were beginning to appreciate the effects of the meditation techniques and vowed to continue after the camp! Most people had afternoon flights, leaving the group with only a few hours of training time left - Master Cutler drilled us in self defense against bladed weapons and release from grabs to finish off the training before a colour belt grading - congratulations Judy (now Blue tag) and Linda (now Red belt) .. At 4pm we were packed up and leaving Crawfordsburn, heading home!

The camp was a fantastic experience, and I urge anybody who is serious about furthering their TKD knowledge and sharing what they already know to take part in next years camp! Big thanks from me to everyone who took part and kept me company this year.. Caroline - thank you for taking care of us and attending to our hearts desires.. Master Cutler - My notebook is almost full, thank you for showing me what is possible through TKD training, and inspiring me to reach the next level.

Mr Kelly took a select few ShaftesburyTKD members for a day out to Eastham ferry to do a spot of fishing, despite the rain a good time was had by all and the TKD squad got to experience the variety of wildlife around the river mersey

It was a glorious day on the Wirral, and as we welcomed Master Wood and his wife into the Shaftesbury youth club you could tell - it was going to be a good day!

Mr Kelly set off in the minibus at 4am to collect the squad, and by 5am we were on the motorway zooming towards Cardiff. The 11 competitors and 4 spectators from Shaftesbury arrived at 9am and managed to find a space in the already packed car park – the turnout was massive, around 400 competitors and probably more spectators meant the space in the hall was extremely limited! Patience was the unofficial tenet of the day, as more competitors meant more time spent waiting.. The 5 rings opened at 9:30am and the action began with all black belt categories – Mr Morris picked up a Bronze in patterns and sparring, Mr Carr grabbed a silver for patterns. The competition was intense, as the standard was as usual very high! The black belts finished at around 2pm, and the colour belts warmed up ready to get started.. James, William, Luke, Michael and Luke gave a solid performance in all categories – in many cases making it through one or two heats, William was awarded a bronze for sparring.

“Boards don’t hit back” .. maybe not, but they can certainly do your hand some damage! Matt Walls could be seen with an impressive bandage holding his broken hand together after attempting destruction – it didn’t stop him competing in patterns though, good effort Matt! The colour belt action progressed, and Ady Prins got bronze in patterns, Matty Millington and Adam French went into a sparring showdown for their category – Matty was successful in going on to get the Gold and Adam the Silver!

We left Penarth at around 9pm – Thanks to all those who competed! The people who make these kinds of events possible all deserve a mention: Masters, Instructors, Coaches, Umpires, Volunteers, Students, Competitors, Supporters and Drivers.. When these people come together it makes a fantastic TKD competition – Thank you, special thanks to Master Lawes for organising the day.

Father Christmas is very busy this year, but he found a little space in his diary to come and pay a visit to the junior class with presents for everybody!! Thanks Santa!

2011 is almost here, and it is nice to look back over the past 12 months and reminisce over the competitions, gradings, seminars.. good or bad, pass or fail, medal or no medal – there’s plenty of time to improve your TaeKwon-Do, but the most important thing is wanting to be part of.. SHAFTESBURY TAEKWON-DO CLUB.

The juniors shower their instructors with happiness, sadness, sickness, joy, tiredness, toilet visits, sore feet, memory loss, the list goes on – but each and every person on that front line beams a smile that says “THANK YOU MR CARR AND MR KELLY”

This year we have been lucky to have such a talented array of parents, some of them watch, some of them join in, some of them drive hundreds of miles to get to TaeKwon-Do events. I hope all of you juniors thank your parents each time they bring you to TaeKwon-Do, without them none of this would be possible.

It would be nice if I could mention each and every member of our club, but it wouldn’t fit on this piece of paper.

RED BELTS – You have surpassed the mere yellow belts, conquered the greens and left the blues in your dust.. 1^st Dan is where your real TaeKwon-Do journey begins, and with sufficient guidance and training, I have no doubt you will all be black belt holders within 18 months. Mr Prins, thank you for your continuous support, Good luck with the patterns!!

Megan, such lovely kicks, current British champion in patterns.. But you need to really want it 100%.

Luke Almond, always happy, a keen competitor, looking good in his new dobok!

Luke Buckley, seems to have been sleeping in a greenhouse recently, well done on your red belt.

Mickey Prins, has competed at all major tournaments this year, a definite improvement in attitude and effort this year!

The Jones’s, scoring very high on attendance, enthusiasm and high kicking on the flip board, thank you for the bracket to hold the punch bag!

Spences, Smith, Angel, Katie, Mr French-Wollen, Jack’s, William, Sam, the Uptons, Brandon – Thanks for being here!

Thanks must go to my team of Black belts, who pave the way for the future, represent us at events, dedicate their time to teaching and furthering the club.. MR BIRKETT, MR MORRIS, MR, MRS UPTON, MR BOOTH, MR STREETS

The highest compliment must go to my instructor, Mr JC Kelly, who after over 30 years of dedication to TKD, continues to inspire us every lesson.

We were very lucky to host a Seminar with Master Ian Lawes VII Dan, who has 40 years of TaeKwon-Do knowledge to his name. We welcomed Master Lawes and guests from Blue Dragon TKD (Mr A Walkinshaw and Miss L Walkinshaw) before getting the day started with a black belt seminar.

Master Lawes worked through how the feet should move in sparring and then gave us a variety of drills to improve our speed and agility, particularly when kicking. The drills were then applied as we practised on kick shields, after 45 minutes of getting a sweat on the focus was moved onto fundamental movements and Master Lawes managed to cover everybody's individual patterns before it was time to start the colour belt lesson.

We were introduced to a fun warm up with plenty of new ideas/challenges for the juniors to try, these worked very well and everybody was enjoying the approach Master Lawes was using. Next we split off into 3 groups to practise consecutive kicking, with the adult group trying out the hardest combinations. Since it was remembrance Sunday, Shaftesbury Youth Club had arranged a remembrance service, in true TaeKwon-Do spirit we paused the lesson and took ourselves outside to take part in the service, this was accepted very well by the veterans and organisers. The seminar was resumed soon after, and finished by covering individual patterns.

Shaftesbury TKD wishes to express our thanks to Master Lawes, and his wife, for travelling up to conduct the seminar. It was an excellent learning experience and overall a fantastic day for those who attended.

8 representatives of Shaftesbury TKD travelled to Reading for the Imperial British Championships, the event was attended by over 750 people including competitors from Nepal, South Africa, Italy and Spain - Many competitors were on the World and European championship line. Getting a medal here would be a massive achievement. After much dedication and fighting spirit, our club is proud to announce:

Megan Clay - Gold patterns

Phil Birkett - Bronze sparring

James Morris - Bronze sparring

Ady Prins - Bronze sparring

Matt Walls - Bronze sparring

Michael Prins - Runner up

William Burkhill - Runner up

Thank you to Mr Prins for the following report for Saturday:

"Well after months of training, organising hotels, travel and patient instruction from Mr Carr and Mr Kelly, the Championships are upon us.

Arriving at the Rivermead Leisure Centre Tracey, Michael and I encountered the mother of all queues to enter the event. Whilst outside we noted the coaches with a bundle of passes to compete and gain entry for their individuals, well this could get interesting as ours are not here till Sunday I thought. But then we were pleasantly distracted as William, his granddad Les and his father Phil turned up. Now this is one dedicated little warrior, he was literally buzzing with excitement.

Anyway, I bumped into Dr Hayley Parker, who advised me on how to gain our passes for the event. After thanking her we proceeded indoors.

Inside we were greeted by a tumultuous cacophony of sound, (which you would expect with hundreds of children milling around, and some big kids) after gaining a quick promotion (yes, I am the instructor for Shaftes TKD I lied, ahem) we had our passes. We then negotiated our way to some vacant seats and we then changed into our Dobok’s ready to compete.

The event started on time, and we waited patiently for the little ninjas, sorry William and Michael to compete in their patterns. In both rounds these lads epitomised all of the Tenets of TaeKwon-Do and maturity far beyond their years. Both of them performed to the best of their ability, but unfortunately, did not go further than the first round.

However, I was impressed by their efforts and how they analysed the other competitors in their respect categories, they both demonstrated integrity.

Soon it was my turn to perform my pattern, for anyone that knows me let’s just say that this discipline is not my strongest suit, so no surprise here when I did not go forward into round two, but I remembered all of the pattern and its nuances……..result!

Mr Prins Competing in sparring

After a while the sparring aspect of the day was announced, to which the lads were anticipating all day, William started first with a sterling performance against his opponent kicking and punching for all his worth, this is one dynamo in the ring. At the end of the round William had given his all, but the judging went against him. He was obviously dejected but both Phil and Les consoled him. As this was his first major competition I personally thought he was brilliant in even entering the arena, as at his age I never competed, so hats off to him. As you will understand from this account Tracey, Michael and I were not there to support William as Michael was sparring in ring four and I was getting ready in ring two. That would be my only criticism but I think in realistic terms that Mr Skyrme could not have anticipated this type of outcome.

Tracey informed me that Michael had given an excellent account of himself despite being hit below the belt twice. The umpire interjecting on both occasions, so much so that the crowd began cheering for him, despite the new fan club Michael did not garner enough support from the judges and unfortunately lost that round.

I had asked Mr Walkinshaw from Blue Dragon TKD if he would be in my corner for my event, as it was I had more than one individual with me soon enough as my opponent landed a beautiful kick and it was lights out for yours truly – in other words, I had been KO’d! After a short respite of a few seconds I tried to get up but the umpire was having none of it, or the Red Cross people, judges, Mr Walkinshaw, Tracey and god knows who else. I got up after about 10 seconds I carried on for the reminder of the bout; I swear there were two opponents. At the end my opponent James went through, and at least one of him was apologising and asking how I was, I could not make out what the other version of him was saying. He went on to win so at least I got K.O’d by the winner. I was shocked, to gain a Bronze to say the least, maybe it was for best K.O?

Later on in the day everyone had decamped to the coffee bar. The special technique aspect had been called and was underway very quickly and the lads missed that event, but they had had enough we all felt. The only discipline was the breaking technique, this ran at the same time as the special technique and space was limited, however, one individual was leading and all the rest had not achieved a break in response to both of his clean breaks (hand and foot), I too joined that the rest as I bounced of the two boards. I was not disheartened as I felt the day had been very enjoyable and was anticipating the rest of our club’s attendances come Sunday.

The side stalls at the event were a good idea and I wish to thank Master Nicholls for going out of his way to have his picture taken with Michael that made his day, thank you. William had a cracking day and was eagerly awaiting the next event, he is definitely one to watch.

Finally, special thanks must go to the organisers and all of the umpires, judges and individuals who embodied the spirit of our art."

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Sunday written by Mr Carr

"The following day, another 6 competitors drove down to Reading with Mr Kelly in the minibus, the journey took just under 4 hours and we arrived very very short of time - Mr Morris had been called for patterns 5 minutes before we even arrived, luckily Master Nicholls spotted us looking worried and got him to the right ring just in time, thank you sir! The first Shaftes competitor to pick up a medal was Megal Clay, who was awarded Gold for her patterns category! Master Nicholls made a short speech welcoming us, and thanked the competitors, spectators, umpires and Masters for supporting the event, this was met with a round of applause and the competition atmosphere grew.

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The sparring begun shortly after, the judging was done using Imperial's electronic scoring displayed on huge Plasma screens. After several rounds in black belt sparring, Mr Morris and Mr Birkett picked up Bronze medals for welterweight and Hyperweight - well deserved!! Meanwhile, Mr Carr was having no success in patterns - more training needed! Our day was rounded off with an intense fight as Matt Walls picked up Bronze in colour belt sparring.

After the event, I truly believe competitions are about seeing things, learning and supporting. After all, only a few minutes are spent competing and the other 4-5 hours you are supporting your team and taking in everything going on around you."

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3RD - 5TH SEPTEMBER - GRANDMASTER RHEE SEMINAR

TaeKwon-Do was first introduced to the UK in 1967 by Grandmaster Rhee Ki Ha (5th Dan at the time) and he is listed as 'the Father of TaeKwon-Do in Great Britain and Ireland'. He is also known as the first person to be promoted to 9th Degree by General Choi.

Mr Carr getting his Encyclopedia signed by GMR

The 2 day black belt seminar with Grandmaster Rhee attracted well over 100 attendees from 1st Kup to 6th Dan, and he began by making us ask ourselves the question "why am I here?" then moved on to the importance of selecting the correct target and correct attacking/blocking tool, we paired up and tested which methods of blocking worked best, and which were impractical. The 3 hour session ended with the colour belt patterns up to Hwa-Rang.

Day 2 began at 10am with a quick warm up we recapped pattern movements - we paired up again and tested some of the movements to refine our understanding of how they work. GMR spoke about how it is important to develop our sparring methods, and we were banned from using '1 point' attacks/counters, forcing us to display a more exciting and challenging method of sparring. The afternoon session began after lunch and the other Masters in attendance split us into groups according to grade, in order to cover our specific patterns, breaking techniques and special techniques.

27TH - 30TH AUGUST - IRELAND SUMMER CAMP

Mr Carr and Mr James Kinnear of BDTKD both travelled to the ITF TaeKwon-Do camp held in Ireland by Master Paul Cutler VIII - Here is our diary of a brilliant weekend.

Mr Carr with Master Cutler picture taken by Liz Dobson:

"This image captures a lot of things that are symbolic in TaeKwon-Do. What is not obvious however is that practitioners of the art view themselves to be part of a large family. Here we see someone from Nepal (with his back to the camera) with Mike Carr (III degree) and Master Culter."

5am seemed like a good time to get up and head towards the airport for our 7am flight, but low and behold thanks to the closure of the Birkenhead Tunnel we missed our flight and had to go on a later flight, nevertheless we arrived at Belfast Intl airport at approximately 10am - leaving us plenty of time for a full English Breakfast before finishing our journey to Crawfordsburn Forest park, where the camp would be held.

We got aquainted with our rooms and got a good bit of socialising done, then it was straight into TKD training - Master Cutler welcomed the 35+ attendees, including 3 guys all the way from Nepal! The training session covered the movements of the legs in stances, the importance of core strength and how to develop it, and really REALLY testing if you know your pattern by performing it backwards. At 8 oclock the session ended and we all enjoyed a chippy tea after a toast to General Choi - this was followed by an evening of breaking which went on until midnight.

Mr Kinnear being corrected by Master Cutler on the beach

The following day we were up at 6am for a 1.5 hour stretching session - Master Cutler described how relaxing these stretching sessions can be, and how important regular stretching can be. The morning routine was followed by a 3rd and 4th Dan patterns seminar, the practicality of the movements was discussed in depth and the difference between a choreographed set of movements and an ITF pattern became clear. We were then split into 3 different groups for some abseiling in the rain - great fun! At 4pm we became one group again to discuss the pressure points and vital spots, more importantly how to use them to disarm an attacker peacefully. That evening we enjoyed a BBQ and got our finest grass skirts on for a Hawaiian themed evening! Everybody was dressed to impress, but the board holder was once again too tempting and breaking continued way into the early hours.

MC and laura - "Friends that kick together, stick together" - Master Cutler

Another day, another 1.5 hour stretching session at 6:30am. We were put through our paces on the assault course, complete with rope swing over pond and monkey bars. Leg conditioning was the order of the day as Master Cutler worked through various kicking excersizes to improve strength, focus and balance - the next session was purely question and answer time, we discussed the important ettiquette and protocol we should follow in TaeKwon-Do. After another BBQ dinner it was time for our "TaeKwon-Do got talent" where each of the 3 teams put on a rendition of their favourite film with a TKD twist - we watched the Silla, Koguryo and Baekje teams show off their moves as they went over 'The Tuxedo' 'Topgun' and 'Blues Brothers'.

After our morning stretch we headed down to the sandy beach to practise patterns and step sparring, it was fantastic practising in the natural environment performing patterns in unison. After a quick photo shoot it was time to go home - back to Belfast Intl airport.

Mr Carr and Mr Kinnear would like to extend their thanks to everybody who made our time at the camp so memorable, particularly Master Cutler - whose modesty, humility and awesome knowledge made a weekend in Ireland unforgettable.

10TH APRIL 2010 - INTERCLUB COMPETITION

Approximately 75 competitors and 100+ spectators gathered in Pensby Sports Complex for a friendly interclub competition. The competitors travelled from Wirral, Formby, Manchester and Huddersfield to take part in Patterns, Sparring, special techniques and destruction.

The officials worked hard to maintain a professional and enjoyable competition layout.

Thanks to Helen Bennett of Wirral UKTA for organising and hosting the competition.

Members of Shaftesbury TKD displayed excellent tenets and competition spirit.

Mr Winston Rose VI Dan and Matt Walls with 3 Gold medals

Adam French Silver Bronze

Elisha Jones Silver Bronze

Ryan Jones Silver

Josh Jones Bronze

William Burkhill Gold Bronze

Phillip Birkett Bronze

Matthew Barker Runner Up

Matthew Millington Gold Gold

Matthew Walls Gold Gold Gold

Luke Buckley Silver

Katie Reay Bronze

Jessica Saville Bronze

Kelly McNee Runner Up

Adrian Prins Silver Silver

Michael Prins Bronze Bronze

Sam McNee Gold Silver Silver

Megan Clay Silver

James Morris Silver Silver Gold

Tom Spence Gold Gold

Joe Spence Silver

Louis Streets Gold

Results: 21 Competitors, 9 Bronze, 12 Silver, 11 Gold

SUNDAY 27TH JUNE 2010 - COMPETITION TRAINING

Thank you to all those who attended the competition training today. The 2 hour session covered pattern movements and sparring.

SUNDAY 23RD MAY 2010 - GRADING WITH DR HAYLEY PARKER V DAN

Many thanks to Dr Hayley Parker V Dan who joined us for a 2 hour training session followed by a colour belt grading. Well done to all those who attended the lesson and participated in the grading, congratulations to the following students on succesfuly promotion:

Jessica Saville - Yellow Tag

Katie Reay - Yellow tag

Amy Jack - Yellow tag

Michael Smith - Yellow belt

Angel Huges - Yellow belt

William Birkhill - Yellow belt

Sam McNee - Yellow belt

Matthew Barker - Green tag

Matthew Millington - Green tag

Oliver Upton - Green tag

Sian Rossley - Green belt

Matt Walls - Blue tag (A pass)

Michael Prins - Blue tag

Ady Prins - Red tag (A pass)

Luke Buckley - Red tag

Luke Almond - Red belt (Highest promotion of the day)

SATURDAY 24TH APRIL 2010 - UK ITF SENIOR DEGREE GRADING

A senior degree grading took place on Saturday 24th April at the ITF Administration HQ in Yiewsley. Mr Carr and Mr Walkinshaw were one of the 18 candidates being tested for promotion who ranged from Black tag to 5th Degree.

By 10am we had arrived safe and sound and Mr Chand initiated a short warm up. The grading panel arrived soon afterwards, which was made up of 10 highly respected instructors from the Imperial TaeKwon-Do Association. Master Nicholls began the day by telling us what to expect and why gradings are important. The 5th Degrees were called to the floor first and the physical testing began.

Candidates and the panel

Every candidate performed all parts of the TaeKwon-Do syllabus including patterns, step sparring, free sparring, self defence and power breaking. One broken finger, a few splashes of blood and 4 hours later we were all invited onto the floor to receive our results. The panel was delighted to announce a 100% pass rate and congratulated us on our promotions. Mr Carr was announced as the "student of the day" by Master Nicholls - a very pleasing result.

Congratulations to all the candidates who were promoted on the day. Many thanks to the panel members who took the time to examine us. Further thanks to Mr Kelly who drove us to and from the event, offering support and advise. Even more further thanks to Mrs Upton, Oliver and Ebony for coming to watch!

Mr Carr Jumping turning kick

10TH APRIL 2010 - BLUE DRAGON FIGHT NIGHT

In celebration of the 5th birthday of Blue Dragon TaeKwon-Do, Mr Al Walkinshaw organised a full on fight night complete with fight names and walk on music.. The audience was treated to a display of 16 bouts, the fighters ranged from 9th Kup up to 4th Dan.

Mr Mark Skyrme VI acted as centre referee for every bout. The corner judges were able to score the fights "live" using the electronic scoring system, with the scores projected onto the huge cinema screen. Each fighter was announced as they entered to their choice of theme music, and were given a military escort onto the floodlit mats by Winsford Sea Cadets.

The medals were presented to the fighters by Master Trevor Nicholls VIII, and Master Paul Liversidge VIII.

Well done to all of the following:

Bout 1: GOLD Sam McNee (Shaftesbury TKD) v SILVER Connor Rathbone (BDTKD)
Bout 2: GOLD Beck Robertson (BDTKD Northwich) v SILVER Craig Jones (BDTKD Winsford)
Bout 3: GOLD Rhys Morgan (BDTKD) v SILVER Deacon Jardine (Crewe GTI)
Bout 4: GOLD Emily Oakes (BDTKD) v SILVER George Roe (BDTKD)
Bout 5: GOLD Harry Lowe (BDTKD) v SILVER Michael Prins (Shaftesbury TKD)
Bout 6: GOLD Leah Banks (BDTKD Winsford) v SILVER Nicole Kettle (BDTKD Northwich)
Bout 7: GOLD Lyndsay Walkinshaw (BDTKD) v SILVER Kelly McNee (Shaftesbury TKD)
Bout 8: GOLD Shaun Jardine (Crewe GTI) v SILVER Dave Salmon (BDTKD)
Bout 9: GOLD Andy Cooper (BDTKD) v SILVER Paul Chrimes (BDTKD)
Bout 10: GOLD Chris Devine (QMU TKD Imperial Scotland) v SILVER Scott Moulton (CREWE GTI)
Bout 11: GOLD Dave Holstead (Crewe GTI) v SILVER Blair Long (East Northants TAGB)
Bout 12: GOLD Keyno (Imperial Region 1) v SILVER Ady Prins (Shaftesbury TKD)
Bout 13: GOLD Lynsey Hope (QMU TKD Imperial Scotland) v SILVER Laura Renshaw (BDTKD)
Bout 14: GOLD James Kinnear (BDTKD Northwich) v SILVER Gavin Dineley (BDTKD Winsford)
Bout 15: GOLD Des Harkin (Ayrshire TKD Imperial Scotland) v SILVER Geoff Bulfin (BDTKD)
Bout 16: GOLD Matthew Brunger (Imperial Region 1) v SILVER Peter Scott (QMU TKD Imperial Scotland)

Fighter of the night - Emily Oakes (BDTKD)

The fighters

Sam McNee with Master Nicholls

Full credits to bkephoto.co.uk

24TH FEBRUARY 2010 - COLOUR BELT GRADING

Congratulations to the following on their recent promotions:

William Burkhill - promoted to Yellow tag

Ellesia French-Wollen - promoted to Yellow tag

Sam McNee - promoted to Yellow tag

Matthew Barker - promoted to Yellow belt

Matthew Millington - promoted to Yellow belt

Ryan Jones - promoted to Blue tag

Kelly McNee - promoted to Blue belt

The grading was held in Winsford leisure centre with Blue Dragon TKD - Thanks for the invitation!

Well done to everyone involved, thanks to Mr Kelly and parents for moral support!!

21ST FEBRUARY 2010 - IMPERIAL ITF WELSH CHAMPIONSHIPS

The competitors: P Birkett, M Clay, M Walls, M Carr, A French-Wollen, K McNee, A Prins, L Almond, M Prins

At 4am 15 competitors and spectators set off from the Shaftes with Mr French-Wollen at the helm who drove us through the snowy conditions safely.. 4.5 hours later we arrived at Penarth Leisure centre, Cardiff - the venue for the championships. We set about finding some good seats and got comfy - ready for the 9:30am start.

When the clock struck 9 the venue was packed with competitors, officials and spectators - the 6 competition areas had been marked out and everyone was either warming up or looking nervous! The event organiser, Master Ian Lawes VII, called the first categories and the competition was well underway by 10am. There were plenty of familiar faces, including Master Nicholls, Mr Skyrme, the Imperial directors/executives, Mr Walkinshaw Tommy Hayes and Alex Heslop.

One by one competitors were called up, some got golds, silvers, bronzes - but everybody took away the experience and a new set of goals to achieve. Your instructors are very proud of you!!

Congratulations to all of you:

Luke Almond - Runner up

Phil Birkett - 1st Dan junior hyperweight sparring SILVER, power breaking GOLD.

Michael Carr - 2nd Dan patterns SILVER

Megan Clay - Blue/Red belt junior sparring SILVER

Adam French-Wollen - Yellow-Red belt adult sparring BRONZE

Kelly McNee - Runner up

James Morris - 1st Dan middleweight sparring BRONZE

Adrian Prins - Adult sparring BRONZE, veteran sparring BRONZE, power breaking GOLD

Michael Prins - Cadet sparring BRONZE

Louis Streets - 1st Dan Cadet sparring SILVER

Matthew Walls -Yellow/Green belt patterns BRONZE,Green-red belt junior hyperweight sparring GOLD

Mr Walkinshaw of BDTKD- 2nd Dan veteran patterns GOLD

Emily Oakes of BDTKD- Sparring SILVER

Mrs Clay, Mrs McNee, Kerry - thanks for coming to watch! your support went a long way!

Mr Kelly - Thanks for the banter, support and guidance.

7TH FEBRUARY 2010 - REGIONAL TRAINING WITH DR PARKER V

Many thanks to Dr Hayley Parker (V Dan and regional director of Imperial Midlands West) for paying us a visit! Dr Parker ran a 3 hour lesson which was attended by ShaftesburyTKD, Blue Dragon and Dr Parkers students - ranging from white belts to 2nd Dans. The session was non stop and covered self defense patterns, kicking patterns, patterns and fitness - We will be having more of these fantastic sessions in future, known as REGIONAL TRAINING.. Thanks to all that took part, I hope you took a lot away from the lesson!

14TH DECEMBER 2009 - LAST LESSON OF THE YEAR

Everyone had fun popping balloons, playing games, listening to a christmas story and seeing santa - didn't get much TaeKwon-Do done, but it was good fun!

Well done and thank you to all those members who have been here

24TH NOVEMBER 2009 - GRADING IN NORTHWICH

Congratulations to the following who were succesful in the recent Blue Dragon Northwich grading

Adam French-Wollen - Promoted to Yellow belt

Matthew Walls - Promoted to Green belt with an 'A pass'

Kelly McNee - Promoted to Green belt Blue tag

We travelled through rain, hurricanes, tornado's, snow, lightening and everything to get to Northwich - thanks to Mr Kelly for driving everybody there in the minibus - Congratulations to all successful Blue Dragon students!

25TH OCTOBER 2009 - LESSON AND GRADING WITH MASTER TREVOR NICHOLLS VIII

On Sunday 25th October, Shaftesbury TaeKwon-Do thoroughly enjoyed an 'official' welcome to Imperial from Master Nicholls. All students were particularly keen and excited to meet Master Nicholls and learn as much as possible during the day.

The session began at 10am with a black belt lesson - the main focus being on creating power in our movements through practising full power techniques as often as possible. After briefly covering tul, it's safe to say all students had learned things about themselves and TaeKwon-Do. Master Nicholls pointed out that it is important to have confidence in your TaeKwon-Do knowledge, sometimes there is no such thing as a wrong answer - and that nobody should be afraid to try to answer a question because they might be 'wrong'.

At 11am the colour belt lesson began - Master Nicholls ran through several kicks, he told students that not everyone can be expected to do the same, and that correct technique should never be sacrificed to kick higher. Some students impressed themselves with how much more power there was in their own kicks when performed as Master Nicholls directed them to. The lesson came to an end after the idea of kinetic linkage was discussed, all students left feeling very upbeat and a little more wise and confident with their TaeKwon-Do knowledge.

After a well earned lunch break, 20 students (rather nervous students) were ready to take part in the grading. There was a much more relaxed atmosphere in the hall after the students were told to relax, try not to let nerves get the better of you and if you don't know something - don't worry. Well done to all those that passed!!

ShaftesburyTKD would like to thank Master Nicholls for taking the time to visit us, and as expected everybody had a thoroughly enjoyable learning experience.

Mr Carr, Mr Birkett, Mr Morris, Mr Streets, Mr Kelly, Master Nicholls, Mr Walkinshaw, Mr Baker

Group picture of lesson participants

15TH OCTOBER 2009 - BLUE DRAGON VISITORS

This Thursday saw several members of Blue Dragon TaeKwon-Do school visit ShaftesburyTKD for the adult lesson - Mr Carr covered bagwork using only kicking techniques before moving onto sparring and finally patterns. We hope that these visits will become more frequent, and extra training days will be announced shortly. ShaftesburyTKD is pleased to have Mr Lewis Baker 2nd degree training with us as a visitor. Thanks for the visit!

10TH OCTOBER 2009 - SHAFTES RACE NIGHT!

The Shaftesbury youth club organised a fund raising race night, it was well attended and several students and parents of students came along to enjoy the night - some were luckier than others and Mr Clay hit the jackpot in one race! After the races we were entertained by the Shaftes dance troup and got stuck into the buffet!

Thanks to the Shaftes for a great event! Thanks to all TKD students and parents who supported!

12TH SEPTEMBER 2009 - BTC INSTRUCTORS COURSE

Mr Carr and Mr Walkinshaw of Blue Dragon TKD travelled to crown plaza hotel in London for a BTC instructors course. The course was well attended and organised by the Imperial TKD Association.

5TH SEPTEMBER 2009 - PRESIDENT CHOI JUNG HWA SEMINAR

Mr Carr, Mr Booth and Mr Prins travelled to Derby for a seminar with Grand Master Choi Jung Hwa, 9th Dan and president of the ITF. The seminar was hosted by Master Harry of the ITUK and attended by around 200 people, several Masters from accross the globe attended. Master Choi spoke about the "Do" of TaeKwon-Do, and the importance of your fellow students and instructors. The class was taken through fundamental movements by Master Wheatley who displayed fantastic power in every technique. Master Choi made it clear how difficult TaeKwon-Do is to master as he asked questions to which nobody had a correct answer, particularly with regards to sine wave, which was covered in great detail. We were told why we practise patterns and how to maximise power in turning kicks.

Imperial North-West attendees:

Left to right: Miss Lyndsay Walkinshaw, Blue Dragon TKD students, Mr Alasdair Walkinshaw, Mr Eduardo Pillar, Mr James Kinnear, Mr Stuart Booth, Mr Adrian Prins

17TH AUGUST 2009 - GUEST INSTRUCTOR

Many thanks to Mr Al Walkinshaw from Blue Dragon TaeKwon-Do (www.bdtkd.co.uk) who visited ShaftesburyTKD and took us through our paces with kicking patterns. Thanks also to Mr Eduardo Pillar and Mr James Kinnear who were also guests. A brilliant lesson followed by a session of aerial kicks for the senior grades later on.

21ST JULY 2009

ShaftesburyTKD is now a member of the Imperial TaeKwon-Do Association. INO#2 England ITF under Grand Master Choi Jung Hwa 9th Degree.

5TH JULY 2009 - GRADING WITH MASTER TONY VELLA VII

Congratulations to all those who graded under Master Vella:

Oliver Upton – Yellow tag

Callum Walsh – Yellow tag

Matthew Walls – Yellow tag (A pass)

Joshua Jones – Yellow belt

Sian Rossley – Green tag

Joe Spence – Green tag

Alisha Dryhurst – Green belt

Elisha Jones – Blue tag

Rachel Jack – Blue tag

Adrian Prins – Blue tag

Shannen Booth – Blue tag

7TH JUNE 2009 - INTERCLUB COMPETITION

Some pictures from the competition

ShaftesburyTKD hosted a friendly competition, with visitors from Manchester and Pensby almost 50 competitors attended. The competition included patterns, special technique and sparring. Thank you to everyone who worked hard to make this a successful event:

Lauren Upton - Behind the scenes
Mrs Kelly - Behind the scenes
Mr Kelly II - Judging
Ady Prins - First aid
Ian Carr - Photography
Phil Birkett I - Judging
Helen Bennett IV - Judging
Felix Lopez IV - Judging
Tony Harris II - Judging
Daniel Caine I - Judging

Many thanks to Elisha Jones for the following report:

"Sunday was a great day for all of us. I got a lot of experience on the day and could not believe that I got man of the match. It was amazing! At first I did'nt think I would do it. It was so scary getting up there in front of all of the judges my stomach turned when my name was called. I thought I might freeze like I had In my pattern but I just kept walking to the centre judge who was doing the sparring and when he said sijak I just went for it and gave it all I had. As the sparring went on I gained confidence with my punches and kick’s. My friends did very well in the competition, and my little brother Joshua WOW he was amazing. I didn’t know what to say and my other brother Ryan did very well too. I was really impressed with them both as well as all the club members .All the junior grades were very nervous as this was our first competition but once we got going it was great.A big thank you to all the senior grades who helped us and all the people who helped set up that fantastic day for us. So many thanks" - Elisha Jones, age 9, green belt

Students of ShaftesburyTKD were awarded the following:

Phil Birkett - Gold sparring, bronze patterns
Shannen Booth - Silver special technique, bronze patterns
Megan Clay - Gold special techniques, Silver patterns
Alisha Dryhurst - Silver patterns, Silver sparring
Raemar Gaskell - Silver special techniques, Gold patterns
Elisha Jones - Silver sparring
Joshua Jones - Silver special techniques
Ryan Jones - Bronze special technique
Rachel Jack - Bronze special technique
James Morris - Gold patterns, gold special technique, Silver sparring
Ady Prins - Gold sparring, Silver patterns, Bronze special technique
Michael Prins - Bronze special technique
Chloe Pierce - Gold sparring, Silver patterns
Jo Spence - Bronze sparring
Tom Spence - Gold sparring, Bronze patterns
Louis Streets - OVERALL GOLD JUNIOR BLACKBELT
Matthew Walls - Gold Patterns, Gold special technique, Silver sparring

15TH MARCH 2009 - INSTRUCTOR S COURSE

7 senior grade students attended a class 'C' instructors course on 15th March with Master Vella. The following attended:

Michael Carr - 2nd degree Class "C"
Stuart Booth - 2nd degree Class "C"
Phillip Birkett - 1st degree Stage 1 "C"
James Morris - 1st degree Stage 1 "C"
Louis Streets - 1st degree Stage 1 "C"
Lauren Upton - 1st Kup black tag Stage 1 "C"
Raemar Gaskell - 1st Kup black tag Stage 1 "C"

22ND FEBRUARY 2009 - GRADING

19 students took part in a grading on Sunday 22nd Feb and all passed, 3 outstanding students gained an 'A' grade pass. Well done to all, everybody deserved the promotions they received

Joshua Jones - Yellow tag
Thomas Keith - Yellow tag
Anna Kirke - Yellow belt
Sian Rossley - Yellow belt
Amy Kelly - Green tag 'A' pass
Kelly McNee - Green tag 'A' pass
Alisha Dryhurt - Green tag
Rachael Jack - Green belt 'A' pass
Shannen Booth - Green belt
Ryan Jones - Green belt
Elisha Jones - Green belt
Chloe Pierce - Green belt
Michael Prins - Green belt
Adrian Prins - Green belt
Tom Spence - Green belt
James Keith - Blue tag
Luke Almond - Blue belt
Luke Buckley - Blue belt
Megan Clay - Blue belt

Congratulations to Louis Streets on gaining his 1st degree black belt. Louis performed extremely well and exelled in patterns, sparring, technical sparring, theory and breaking.

Thank you to Adrian Prins for putting together a detailed information booklet about TaeKwon-Do for the club.