TaeKwon Do

Latchmere Leisure centre was once again the favourite venue for a day of hard Taekwon Do competition.  We have been visiting the venue for more years than most instructors can remember so it's steeped in Taekwon Do history.  For new competitors you are treading in the footprints of the good and the great from over the years.  Your instructors have displayed, fought, broken and most importantly at this venue, WON for many many years.  Luckily this year was a lot more temperate than previous years so it was not so cold in the hall as we have had before.  So a great day was in store for everyone.

The day started as always with the Address from the Masters with Master Au welcoming everyone to the venue.  She outlined the format for the day and underlined the values that a BUTF tournament holds dear; good quality safe competition and unbiased judging.  This followed with the Black Belt certificate presentation, always an honour to the holder.  Not only do you get presented with everyone in the BUTF proudly looking on, but you also in front of the biggest audience of the year being congratulated by all the Masters, Senior Instructors and Instructors within the Federation.  All of whom have walked your path before.

As is customary the events commenced with all six rings hosting various pattern competitions.  It did not take long until the first of the medals were being won with the presentations taking place in front of the flag.  All winners photos were taken and are available for downloading by following this link.

The morning absolutely flew by with all of the patterns being performed deftly and accurately by all competitors.  It was clear that some people allowed their nerves to get the better of them however it was really encouraging to see lots of people performing with grace and confidence.  It is always great to see the art being taken so seriously and patterns being performed with power, accuracy and correct technique.

Moving into the afternoon and we move into sparring.  The quality of sparring this year is fantastic.  Remember, the purpose of sparring is to show that you can use good technique to score the points where you can whilst defending yourself against someone trying to do the same to you.  Chesham rose up to the challenge and scored gold medals across the board from the smallest competitor to the oldest.

St Albans took 5 students to the championships this year.  We seem to have had a bad run of luck in recent tournaments and this year was to be no different.  The ghost of St Albans struck again with our two adult Green Belts Simon Keane and Peter Cadle meeting in the final of the mens heavyweight division.  It always seems to be that if there is a draw that you would rather not have it happens to St Albans.  But at least it was the final!  Even though they were from the same club it did not stop them really going for a hammer and tongs session to see who would be victorious.

Chesham team took 16 students to the event.  Although it was lower than previous years the results tally was incredibly impressive making them one of the best teams in the Federation.  It's not the number of medals that counts, it's the number of medals per students that really reflects the quality of the club.  This year they amassed a total of 10 golds, 5 silvers and 5 bronzes.

Instructor Keith Whitley, 6th dan, said the day started off brilliantly with nearly every announcement saying Chesham had won another pattern contest.

Following on from that was the sparring and nearly as many golds. Every Chesham student performed really well, special mention going to Ian Songhurst and Craig Childress jnr in their first tournament, both winning a gold and silver in their respective divisions. And once again, 10 yr old Max Whitley, who had moved up a belt division and also had just moved in to the next height division won another 2 golds, meaning since he started he is unbeaten; 6 golds in 3 tournaments. This also means he has won the ‘overall junior coloured belt champion’ title and will be presented with a special trophy next year. This is awarded to the student who has the highest tally of awards over the years BUTF’s tournaments. Keith says ‘he’s having a great run at the moment and has won another 5 golds and 2 silvers in tournaments outside the BUTF. Let’s just hope it continues!’