T-UK Black Belt Gradings, Sunday 17th November 2024
We are delighted to announce that, after the latest T-UK black belt grading tests on Sunday 17th November, in Leamington Spa, we have three new black belt members in our club! Huge congratulations to our three junior female members, Eleanor Emm, Eve Morgetroyd and Rebekah Shuler! They have all trained for many years and they worked really hard to prepare themselves for this test and they were all fully deserving of their achievement!
T-UK British Championships, Saturday 12th October 2024
On Saturday 12th October, T-UK's British Championships tournament took place at the impressive University of Warwick Sports Centre. Chester sent a team of about 15 members, including competitors, umpires and our team coach for the day, Mr Ben Etchell. The standard of competition was very high, with guest teams joining us from other ITF groups, as well as from T-UK clubs all across the country. As such, we only took one medal back with us this time (congratulations to blue belt member, Evie Darke!). However, all of our competitors' performed admirably, impressing coaches, umpires, masters and instructors from all groups and parts of the country. Also, our black belt (and black stripe/1st kup) members worked hard helping the tournament to run well, as umpires and referees. Well done to all that attended!
New Chester-specific class branding, launched in September 2024
In September 2024, we launched the new branding for our kids classes, based on Chester's Roman history. Our youngest (formerly Kubz) class has now been re-named as Chester mini-Gladiators, and our junior (8-11 years) class is now known as Chester TKD Centurions.
We are very excited about this new branding, as it allows us to develop our youngest members in ways that we have found to work best for us, and it enables us to benefit fully from the expertise of Mrs Shuler, as a professional primary school teacher, as well as a Taekwon-do instructor.
Below are the new badges for our mini-Gladiators and Centurions classes.
We are very excited about this new branding, as it allows us to develop our youngest members in ways that we have found to work best for us, and it enables us to benefit fully from the expertise of Mrs Shuler, as a professional primary school teacher, as well as a Taekwon-do instructor.
Below are the new badges for our mini-Gladiators and Centurions classes.
Coloured Belt and TKD Kubz Gradings, 7th - 8th July 2024
On Sunday 7th July, T-UK President Master Archer(VII dan) came to conduct our coloured belt grading tests. Many of our members had been training very hard to reach the necessary standards and to learn the related theory and Korean terminology. Mr Emm and our instructors were really impressed by the efforts that some of our members made to prepare for the grading, and it was therefore especially rewarding to see them be successful in the tests.
On Monday 8th July, Mr Emm conducted the grading for our youngest, TKD Kubz members, several of whom were due to graduate to our juniors class after the summer break. As usual, Mr Emm was really impressed by the enthusiasm and efforts of our youngest members. Mrs Shuler and our Kubz instructors have done a fantastic job in teaching them the the fundamental skills that will benefit them so much was they progress with age.
The photographs below show some of our successful members being presented with their new belts and certificates.
On Monday 8th July, Mr Emm conducted the grading for our youngest, TKD Kubz members, several of whom were due to graduate to our juniors class after the summer break. As usual, Mr Emm was really impressed by the enthusiasm and efforts of our youngest members. Mrs Shuler and our Kubz instructors have done a fantastic job in teaching them the the fundamental skills that will benefit them so much was they progress with age.
The photographs below show some of our successful members being presented with their new belts and certificates.
Master Ridley Class in Chester, Sunday 9th June 2024
On Sunday 9th June, T-UK Chester Taekwon-do were delighted to welcome Master Ridley (VII dan) to our club again, to teach a class for our members. As always, Master Ridley impressed everyone with his enthusiasm, energy and passion for our martial art. All of our members really enjoyed the chance to train with him and he gave us a very thorough session, covering all aspects of Taekwon-do, including fundamental techniques and exercises, patterns, step sparring, self-defence and free sparring. It was also a real pleasure to be joined by our good friend, Miss Jayne Heywood (IV dan), the senior instructor at T-UK Stockport. After training, it was a particular pleasure for a few of our black belts to take Master Ridley out for dinner in Chester, bringing a social aspect to the afternoon.
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Black Belt Grading tests, Sunday 12th May 2024
On Sunday 12th May, T-UK held their black belt grading tests at the Trident Taekwon-do academy in Sale. The grading tests were conducted by all four of our masters, Masters Archer, Ridley, Miley and Crisp, and they were assisted by a few senior instructors, including our Mr Emm. Chester just had one candidate testing on the day and we offer huge congratulations to our Miss Poppy Thomson, who received her 1st degree black belt after 7 years of dedication and training. Poppy gave a brilliant performance in patterns, technical kicking and various types of step and free sparring, as well as being tested on her technical knowledge. Poppy is also our first member to graduate all the way from our youngest, TKD Kubz class, to reach black belt!
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Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace Training Seminar, Saturday 4th May 2024
T-UK and Master Miley hosted a very special training course at the Trident Taekwon-do academy in Sale on Saturday 4th May 2024. This was a chance to train with the sparring legend and multi-champion Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace. Two of Chester's black belt members, Miss Ksenia Mangan and Mr Ben Etchell, attended and they were very impressed by the tips, tricks, sparring drills and exercises that they learned. The course was run in a very friendly, informal atmosphere too, with plenty of laughs, making it even more enjoyable.
T-UK Black Belt Technical Course, Sunday 21st April 2024
Four of our black belt instructors and assistants attended another excellent training course at the Trident Taekwon-do academy in Sale on Sunday 21st April 2024. This black belt technical course was taught by all four T-UK masters, and it covered the 1st - 3rd degree black belt patterns in full detail, as well as step sparring and model sparring. This was another great opportunity to ensure that our training and knowledge of Taekwon-do is the best it can possibly be!
Coloured Belt Gradings and Umpire Course, 23-24 March 2024
It was another full weekend of Taekwon-do excitement on 23-24 March, as on Saturday 23rd, we had our latest coloured belt gradings, then on Sunday, a few of our 1st kup (black stripe) members attended the T-UK umpire course. Both events were at the Trident Taekwon-do academy in Sale.
We had 13 members take their coloured belt gradings on Saturday, from beginners up to red belt. As usual, they were all given a very thorough test by T-UK President Master Archer and the host for the day, Master Miley. As usual, our members demonstrated our very high standards and they were all successful in achieving promotions to their next grade! Well done to you all!
On Sunday, we had four junior black stripe members attend the T-UK umpire course, which was taught by Master Ridley, as well as our own Mr Emm and Mr Smith from Stratford-upon-Avon. The course started with a presentation given by Master Ridley, which covered the rules and regulations of tournaments, umpiring and refereeing. Then the afternoon was a practical session primarily run by Mr Emm and Mr Smith, where the delegates were given the chance to judge patterns and sparring, as well as destruction, in various scenarios, and in different ways. Our members all showed real enthusiasm and they all commented how much they had enjoyed the course afterwards. Well done to Poppy, Eleanor, Rebekah and Eve!
We had 13 members take their coloured belt gradings on Saturday, from beginners up to red belt. As usual, they were all given a very thorough test by T-UK President Master Archer and the host for the day, Master Miley. As usual, our members demonstrated our very high standards and they were all successful in achieving promotions to their next grade! Well done to you all!
On Sunday, we had four junior black stripe members attend the T-UK umpire course, which was taught by Master Ridley, as well as our own Mr Emm and Mr Smith from Stratford-upon-Avon. The course started with a presentation given by Master Ridley, which covered the rules and regulations of tournaments, umpiring and refereeing. Then the afternoon was a practical session primarily run by Mr Emm and Mr Smith, where the delegates were given the chance to judge patterns and sparring, as well as destruction, in various scenarios, and in different ways. Our members all showed real enthusiasm and they all commented how much they had enjoyed the course afterwards. Well done to Poppy, Eleanor, Rebekah and Eve!
GTI Open Championships, Sunday 17 March 2024
A team of competitors from T-UK Chester Taekwon-do attended the GTI North-West Open Championships tournament in Liverpool on Sunday 17th March 2024. Our members all competed to the absolute best of their ability. We were very pleased to bring a few medals back to Chester with us, but even those members who did not get medals performed their patterns really well and fought hard in the sparring competition.
Really well done to our medal winners:
Eleanor Emm, silver in patterns
Mr Ben Etchell, silver in patterns
Miss Ksenia Mangan, silver in patterns
Eve Morgetroyd, bronze in sparring
Poppy Thomson, bronze in both patterns and sparring
Eve / Poppy / Ilektra, silver in tag team sparring
Really well done to our medal winners:
Eleanor Emm, silver in patterns
Mr Ben Etchell, silver in patterns
Miss Ksenia Mangan, silver in patterns
Eve Morgetroyd, bronze in sparring
Poppy Thomson, bronze in both patterns and sparring
Eve / Poppy / Ilektra, silver in tag team sparring
T-UK Coloured Belt Technical Course, Sunday 3 March 2024
Well done to the T-UK Chester Taekwon-do students who attended the coloured belt technical course at the Trident TKD academy in Sale on Sunday 3rd March 2024. The course was taught by Master Andy Crisp and Master James Miley and covered all the technical aspects of our coloured belt syllabus, including patterns up to Choong-Moo, step sparring and fundamental movements / principles. The technical course is a key part of our members' preparation to take their black belt grading test and our 1st kups did us proud. Current black belt members are also encouraged to attend and refresh their knowledge at least every two years, and the instructing masters were pleased to see our instructors Mr Emm and Mr Etchell at the course.
ITF England Championships Tournament, Saturday 17 February 2024
The weekend of 17th - 18th February 2024 was another busy one for Mr Emm and our small team that travelled to Newcastle for the ITF England championships on Saturday, as part of a bigger team from T-UK.
Our Mr Ben Etchell won two bronze medals and Joe Cooper competed really well against very tough opponents, whilst Mr Emm refereed all day.
On Sunday, Mr Emm also attended the ITF England AGM meeting.
Our Mr Ben Etchell won two bronze medals and Joe Cooper competed really well against very tough opponents, whilst Mr Emm refereed all day.
On Sunday, Mr Emm also attended the ITF England AGM meeting.
Instructors' Training, 21-22 January 2024
At T-UK Chester Taekwon-do we pride ourselves on providing the best tuition we can. Our instructors had a busy weekend on 21st -22nd January, working to keep up those standards.
On Saturday Mr Emm was training with our four T-UK Masters and some other senior T-UK instructors, while Mrs Shuler was doing a specialist paediatric First Aid course.
Then on Sunday, Chester instructors Mr Emm, Mr Dawson and Mr Etchell attended the T-UK instructor’s course to brush up on teaching methods & skills, as well as updating on modern policies and exercises.
On Saturday Mr Emm was training with our four T-UK Masters and some other senior T-UK instructors, while Mrs Shuler was doing a specialist paediatric First Aid course.
Then on Sunday, Chester instructors Mr Emm, Mr Dawson and Mr Etchell attended the T-UK instructor’s course to brush up on teaching methods & skills, as well as updating on modern policies and exercises.
