On Saturday 9^th April, Mr. McKnight together with Mark Adams(1^st Degree), Adam Gold(1^st Degree), Lynda Milne(Red Tag), Mike(Red Belt) and Luther Powlette(1^st Degree) attended the ETA Spring seminar and grading hosted by Mr. Nick Symmonds in Rickmansworth.

The seminar consisted of a ‘gentle’ but heart thumping warm up by Master Ellis consisting of a walk around the hall which increased in pace which got the our pulses going at a good rate. This was followed by a combination of press-ups, squats and a variety of stretches. After what seemed like an eternity (about 20 minutes), the 3^rd Degree’s went to another training hall to train with Master Ellis which the 2^nd Degree’s and below remained with Master Denis, Mr. Symmonds and Mr. Patterson. We were grouped by Grade to go through respective patterns etc with one of the three instructors.

This proved to be very useful for both black belt’s and coloured belts as we picked up on a number of corrections in our patterns. We also worked on sparring kicking combinations in our respective groups.

After the seminar was completed came the black belt grading. Mr. Adam Gold was grading for his second degree. The grading went well, but Mr. Gold did pick up a hand injure while doing a break on the holder. Despite this I am very happy to say that Mr. Adam Gold passed his grading and is now a second Degree. Congratulations and well done to Mr. Gold.

Feel free to view our Gallery to see more pictures from the England Taekwon-Do Association Spring seminar and black belt grading.

A number of our students attended the ETA (England Taekwon-Do Association) competition on Sunday 27^th June.  The competition was hosted by Mr Nick Symonds V Degree at Watford Leisure Centre.  There was a good turnout from the clubs within the association.

The majority of our competitors were from the Urban Tigers group and they did very well.

The list of competitors is listed below.

Many thanks also to the friends and family of the club who came along to lend their support to our competitors.  It was very much appreciated and had a positive effect on the competitors.

It's amazing what a black belt around your waist can do for you behaviour and attitude.  At a recent Saturday training session, all the members of our 'Urban Tigers' class were all promoted to honary black belts for that training session.  These students range from white belts (recent beginners) to green tags (members of the club for over a year).

Mr. Gold had the following to say about the training session.

"They were pretty well behaved anyway but when we held the black belts in front of all of them and told them they would be a black belt for the day, there were lots of wide eyes and open mouths! When we put the belts on, I told them that something happens when people put on a black belt- they can kick harder, punch faster and generally do Taekwon-do really well!

A lot of the Tigers suddently stood taller and straighter, acted more grown up, counted their Korean numbers louder and clearer and really pushed themselves in their exercises. They seemed to believe that their black belt gave them a 'special strength' and I think they really showed their potential that day. I mean, they are normally energetic and throw themselves into their training but the black belt for a day session didn't just push their physical ability- it really showed their understanding of the tenets of Taekwon-Do too.

Senior insructor Mr. McKnight III was quoted as saying 'they were amazing, the focus of the class was transformed simply by them putting on a black belt'.  It was an amazing sight seeing 11 new / junior black belts in the class."

The picture above shows the members of the Urban Tigers with Mr. Gold and Mr. McKnight.  There are more pictures taken during the training session in our gallery in the section 'Black Belt Tigers'.  Please take some time to have a look.

We would like to thank Debbie Butt for tking the pictures of the training session.

McKnight Schools of Taekwon-Do rigidly follow the original syllabus laid down by General Choi Hong Hi IX degree. This includes the testing of oneself by breaking boards with the official parts of the hands and feet. This practice is strictly monitored and takes many months or years of conditioning the body to withstand impact and force generated by hitting solid objects.
 
(Courtesy of the Times & Citizen newspaper) The video on this page is a brief outline of how we use focus and employ the five tenets of Taekwon-Do to overcome this challenge and includes a montage of different techniques that we use in our syllabus to break various boards effectively and safely. Although all of our students may take their studying of Taekwon-Do at their own pace, anyone who wishes to excel in technique is strongly encouraged and a helpful instructor and proper tuition is always available. The video is a testimony to what can be acheived through hard and proper training.
 

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