A Personal Look Back Over 2014

I'm acutely aware I've been ignoring my writing responsibilities recently. I use the word "recently" in its loosest context as basically I haven't written anything taekwondoy at all for months. I had also hoped to have submitted an article to MAI on the 2014 Scottish Open but unfortunately other things got in the way although I might be able to get back to it soon. The lack of me putting anything up for you to read isn't for that I don't have decent subject matter, I could write a book on each and every one of you after a bit of research. No, as I said, its been a lack of time to sit and put fingers to keyboard/touchscreen to get my thoughts and observations down.

With Christmas just a few weeks away the, and the final grading of 2014 nearly here, my thoughts are turning back to whats happened over the course of the year. As with anything being practised and worked on constantly, there is improvement and a rise in confidence levels. None is more evident than in some of the kids who diligently train each week at the clubs.  I'm sure this hard work will shine through at the gradings on 13th and 14th December. We certainly have some rising stars and it will be great to see how far they go as they get older

2014 was also a fantastic year at competition. With the Scottish Closed moved to earlier in the year the attendance was well up. Having been to the previous two Closed this was, in my opinion, the best one to date. It was also where I won my first (and only) gold medal which takes pride of place in my modest collection. Prestwick and & Ayr TaeKwonDo fielded the largest competitor entries we'd ever had at this event and the quality must have been good as by the end of the competition we'd managed 3rd place on the overall standings. Which just goes to show that Mr Chahal...... has a great bunch of attentive listeners/learners ;) oh.... and hes not a bad instructors is he folks?? :)

The English Open was a busy one, maybe a bit too busy for such a small venue in Worcester and while I personally didn't come away with anything the usual Prestwick & Ayr suspects (yes Connor Mulgrew, I'm looking at you!) took some of the silverware. Must remember to ask Bryan Mulgrew when hes building that extension.. for all Connors trophies and medals!

In May we were back down south and west this time to sunny Cardiff and the Welsh Open. I've a bit of a soft spot for this competition as it was my very first back in 2013 and my first ever medal win. While I didn't score any medals this time, it was great to catch up with a now good friend, Sam Holme, who I'd met at the 2013 Scottish Open. He's so far always pipped me to higher placed medal each time we've competed together but I'm determined that it'll be me one day.

With us Scots being the next to host an Open we all traipsed off to Ravenscraig Sports Facilities. This was one of the busiest Scottish Open's I'd been to in the nearly 3 years being with the TAGB. Again I met up with me old mucker Sam and also met a competed with a new Sam... Sam Robertson who trains under a good friend Brian Anderton. Sam (Holme) and I, and the rest of our division, watched as Sam (Roberston) blasted out one of the best performances of Toi Gye I've ever seen and raised the bar very high for the rest of us. Ultimately that bar was too high and Sam (Robertson) got a well deserved gold with Sam (Holme) getting silver and I tagging myself another bronze. This event also saw the first ever Junior Squads team event between Northern Ireland and Scotland which showed off the cream of young TAGB talent from both countries.

2014 also saw the first ever West Coast Fight Night which was well attended by competitors and supporters alike. We were treated to some great fights all through the ranks with some superb performances in point stop bouts from the young kids through to some fiercely fought continuous from the young to older adults. The resounding cheering section blasting out "Lets Go Kuli! Lets Go!" while Gary O'Brian and Kuli Chahal were battling it out in the last match is still ringing in my ears! I'm already looking forward to the next one, and Grant Addison... remember what we discussed?? :)

I had hoped to make it to every Open this year but Team Harley had to give the British a by. This was due to Karen and Teagan going down to Bristol to sit their 2nd and 1st Dan gradings respectively. I'm immensely proud of them both, especially Teagan as I remember back to her first few gradings when she started training 5 years ago and there were tears and panic (no, not from her, from me!). The fact she went all the way down to Bristol and put herself in a stressful situation and came out with a pass is a huge win in my book. I'm sure Karen and her will be looking forward to a bit of a rest over the Christmas holidays. I'd like to thank Mr Chahal for all the extra time he spent preparing them both as the hard work really paid off.

Talking of the British, I need to mention that a slew of medals came back over the border including more from Connor Mulgrew getting British Champ and tag team champ along with 2nd in the Junior international event. Darrin MacDowall (SilverFox) 2nd place in sparring and patterns as did young Dylan Nutt. Gill Blackwood battered her way to 2nd place in sparring while Jordyn Finlay and Karina Chahal got 3rd place in individual and tag team sparring respectively.

Over at the Westend club Ian McGarry and Christopher Hagan won 3rd place in their sparring divisions. Heather Andrews won British Champion for sparring and Kirsty Hacking came away with a 3rd place also in sparring. Finally, Kim Boney teamed up with Kirsty and Heather and they became the ladies blue/red belt British Tag Team Champions.

World Champion, James Reed, added another British Championship trophy to his collection but this doesn't mean he can buy the Type R!

From Pollock, new 1st Dan, Chiara McIntyre, hit the gold and became British Champion. Hazel Bracken (now 2nd Dan) won British Champ in her division and Louise MacDonald (also a new 1st Dan) won 3rd in the girls lightweight. 

And I've just been reminded that Adeline Collins from the Auchinleck club won British Champion in her ladies blue belt sparring division. Sorry for the late entry Ada! 

With this short look back over 2014 the attention now turns to the goals of 2015 and like a few others the buildup to the last quarter of the year will be a busy and possibly stressful one. For the red belts going for the last grading of 2014 this could be their last colour belt grading ever. This is also true of some of us who will be grading in March 2015 (if our instructors think we're up to grading that is). This puts us squarely on the path that says "Road to Black" and the journey of the years comes to a close. But this doesn't mean that its over and done with. I remember an karate instructor I used to know many years back saying that "obtaining your black belt doesn't mean the end, it means your instruction is only really beginning". So getting to and passing 1st Dan isn't really closing a door, its an opening to new opportunities.

Right... I think I'm getting way too philosophical now! Time to wrap this up and talking of wrapping, I better get some Christmas presents done to. Wishing you all a peaceful time over Christmas and a rockin' party at New Year!

Iain

2014 September Grading - 27th & 28th

Hard to believe that its been three months since the last grading. This was when it was still light at 8pm and now the autumn air feels of chillier in the mornings and darker evenings are now upon us but this doesn't mean you can get into bed early...  No sir! If you've eligible to grade then hopefully you've been given your grading form and have it completed and back to your instructor by now, so with the last few sessions this week its time to put the final shine on linework, patterns... and don't forget the go through the theory!

I know I seem to repeat myself on some of these post but if you're grading for the first time or gradings make you nervous or scared then have a look here for some helpful hints and tips. Some information on grading preparation is here. Any questions then please direct them to your instructor.

Glasgow clubs grading is on Saturday 27th September at Western Baths. Start time is 5pm.
Ayrshire clubs are grading on Sunday 28th September at St Joesephs Academy, Kilmarnock which starts at 9am.

Remember, get to the grading well before time so you can get parked, get into the venue and get settled before proceedings start. Looking forward to see everyone at the Ayrshire venue on Sunday but wherever you are grading this weekend good luck folks!

Leaving TaeKwonDo

The subject is slightly misleading, but it did get your attention didn't it :) What I want to talk about here is that down feeling you get when something doesn't quite go right at training and that "I'm going to quit" feeling starts. Its probably happened to all of us at some point or another. For me it was a recent Monday night session where nothing went right. I've been plagued with an achillies tendon injury for about 10 months now along with a shoulder injury for the past year or so. The achillies problem seems to flare up quite often now. Some sessions I have no pain at all and I can do linework, patterns, sparring etc with no issues, but other sessions I can be just beginning in a class and it starts. This is what happened during the first 10mins in of a 90min class, I felt a familiar twinge of pain but I ignored it and kept going through padword and linework. It was into the latter part for the class when we started sparring that it really kicked in (no pun intended). Every time I was on the bounce, every movement, I had pain shooting through my foot so of course my brain says "stop moving", which I did... and of course this is sparring so I get lamped a good few times. What compounded it was next session I got exactly the same with the shooting pain and again in sparring I got lamped a few more times. Mr Chahal eventually pulled me out of the sparring line. I was really angry at myself but there wasn't much, if anything, I could do.

That night and for the rest of the weekend I was down about my performance, beating myself up about this injury and the "why me???" started. Wallowing in self pity isn't pretty and isn't something to do on a regular basis. We all get these doubts and worthless feelings now and then when things don't go the way we planned but what to look at is that you might have one or two bad sessions, but what about all the good ones? or the successes at competitions? or the enjoyment of training alongside the like minded people in your club? These good times more than outweigh the bad ones.

So if you get this sinking, quitting feeling, think back to what you've done and continue to do well at in TaeKwonDo, write it down someplace and keep it to hand in case you need reminding. As for me... well, I might never get past the injuries (being an auld man and all that) but I'll find a way to work round them and keep going. I know I'm never going to be a world class or even a club class sparrer but I'll still try it, even if it means yet again Mr Chahal pulls me out the line, sits me down and then gives me a stick (or just gives me stick) to hobble home with.

MAI This Month & Some News Updates

Getting time to write up something has been quite hard recently. Over the summer months with the good weather this year, I used free time to get out on the road on my bike (pedal power rules!) to try and improve my stamina and conditioning. Currently my cycling runs are taking me on a 30 mile round trip, which is about the equivalent distance from Prestwick to Glasgow. Just need to remember that taking water only on a longish ride is bad idea and that some food intake is needed as well be it fruit or some kind of energy gels. Live and learn! Maybe I could have written something about supplementary training outwith TaeKwonDo?? Foresight is a wonderful thing. With the start of the Autumn months I'll probably get less time on the bike and this might give me more time to write... time will tell... although I have this cycling turbo trainer so I can do some "standing cycling" in the house. Every turn of the pedals count :)

Just before the European Championships in March, the national team coach, Luke McGown, got in contact with me with a view to doing a piece on the TAGB Scotland Squad training and buildup to this competition. Originally this article was to go on a blog or the TAGB Scotland website but after doing the interview with Luke and the Squad it was felt it might be a good idea to submit it to MAI and see what they thought. Next thing I know I'm hearing from fellow scribe, John Clark, to say the article was in the September edition. Hope you enjoy the article as I had great fun working on it. I've already said this in other places but many thanks to Luke and the girls and guys in the squad for taking time out to answer my interview questions and  pose for photos.

In other news.... September is going to be a busy month for Ayrshire and Glasgow clubs with the Scottish Open on Saturday 6th and then the coloured belt grading weekend on 27th and 28th September. I'm planning on attending both and it will be good to catch up with everyone else face to face rather than on the realms of Facebook for a change.

For a few people from the Prestwick & Ayr club there is a blackbelt grading on the horizon. I'm speak of Kiran Chahal and the two leading ladies in my life, Karen and Teagan Harley. Kiran and Karen are both going for their 2nd dan and for Teagan this will be her grading for 1st dan. All three are working hard under the watchful and critical eye of Kulwant Chahal which means they are in good hands. Dates for the diary for the black belt grading at the Bristol Academy is 17th & 18th October.

Also have to say a big well done to Karen Harley and Mark Sawyer who were down at the Bristol Academy for their Instructors Course Part 1. Both passed and are now certified assistant instructors. Well done both, but we all know you've been "certified" for years! :)

I'm still hoping that some of you from any of the Ayrshire and Glasgow clubs will come forward with your own TaeKwonDo stories. Anything will do and it doest have to be a novel, so get your thinking caps on! Failing that you're going to have to put up with my inane rambling for a bit longer... which maybe sooner than you think :)

Guys and Gals... its your turn

Its been a year since Scott McMillan asked me to start writing articles for Ayrshire and Glasgow Tae Kwon Do and you know something, its been (and still is) a lot of fun. It can be frustrating at times when I get an idea, start with it and get a block on how to get the middle and the end to work with the beginning of the article. There are times though when I batter out (no pun intended) paragraph after paragraph for hours at a time, so much so that Karen doesn't see me apart from to take away the cold cups of coffee which I know where hot when she brought them up to me. The 2013 Scottish Closed article I did for MAI was a bit like that.

However, while its all well and good me giving my thoughts and feelings on all things Tae Kwon Do from my perspective, I would like to hear from you guys. We all train in the same style so we're on the same path, just different journey's. So tell me about your journey. Maybe you've had a blinder at a particular competition? Or a really memorable training session? A grading that stuck in your mind, be it coloured belt or 1st, 2nd Dan etc etc? Someone that's had an big influence on you while training? I don't care if you're 8 or 80 either. So get your thinking caps on and drop me a message on Facebook either on the Phoenix Page or Prestwick and Ayr page or send me a message directly. It can be as short of long as you like, but if you want to tell me about your journey as a white belt all the way to black I'd be happy with that as long as its not getting to the length of War and Peace or Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.


Quick note:

•  Kids, please ask permission from your parents/guardian before you submit anything to me
•  Parents, please ask permission of you kids before you submit something which may embarrass them

June Gradings

I'm acutely aware that I haven't written too much recently on the blog. I've been really busy at work and at home so putting fingers to keyboard hasn't been something I've had much time to do. However, the June grading is less than a week away! This time next week it will all be over and I know that those eligible to grade this time round will have pulled a blinder (as you always do!) and be the proud owners of shiny new belts. I'll not be joining you this time round, I've another three months to go and I dont even know if I'll be able to make it along to St Joesph's in Kilmarnock but I wish you all, Glasgow and Kilmanock graders the best of luck. Glasgow gradings are on 7th June and Ayrshire are on 8th.

If you're grading for the first time then please have a read through this article which will give you an idea what to expect at a grading. Remember don't be scared, you know your stuff, time to show it off! You can also have a look at this article from last year on grading preparation which has some tips on learning theory.

Good luck!

Why Train In Martial Arts?

As the title says.... Why? A lot of people don't really really know what martial arts are beyond the high flying kicking and punching of various movies. With that picture firmly in your mind I hate to break the bubble, but we don't hover in the air and perform 10 blindingly fast kicks to a multitude of bad guys and we don't punch mountain sides to rubble. These are all tricks of the movie maker to suck us into their particular story. But what is shown in most of these movies, certainly the better ones, is that the martial artist puts in time, hard work and dedication to make him or herself the best they can be. A particularly good quote on this from the Bruce Lee movie Enter the Dragon by the character Mr Han is "we forge our bodies in the fire of our will".

So back to the original question... Why? Nearly all martial arts have an element of discipline for mind and body and  this also reflects on the respect shown, not just for the instructor, but for your fellow students. In my own personal experience going back the early 1980s, this taught me that being a cheeky wee ragamuffin would get me a slap round the ear and excluded from training. These days the slap isn't there (unless Mrs H backhands me during sparring) but I do know that kids needing a timeout are indeed given that, and facing a corner while your classmates are having fun kicking pads, doing patterns etc is usually a good motivator for them to keep in line.

Fitness is another key factor, especially for us of a slightly elevated age level. In my first 6 months of starting Tae Kwon Do I lost 3 stone in weight. Through time and persistence I found I could keep up with most of the people there and without the fear of Mr Chahal having to phone an ambulance for me at the end of the session. Please remember that doing exercise is one thing but you need to balance that with a healthy diet. An hours session of Tae Kwon Do burns about 900 calories but its not going to do you much good if your having a 12" carryout pizza afterwards. If you're serious about using the training to help keep trim then try a calorie counter app for your smartphone or find one online you can use, even use old fashioned pen and paper to take a note of how many calories you're consuming or getting back through exercise. I'm trying the "stay off bread" test at the moment, although I don't know how much longer I can keep eating cous cous with mixed veg for lunch!

The social aspect is a big part of martial arts for me as I've met, and continue to meet, so many amazing people and not just through Tae Kwon Do. Through my writing I met karate sensei and writer (and mentor) John Clark and through him I've got to know Jamie Gray and Liam Gallagher, both karate sensei's who know and love their art. A few weekends ago, these gentlemen and a host of other diverse martial artists got together for a seminar in Ayr where internet sensation Master Ken "demonstrated" to us all that our own forms were a load of...... err..... rubbish :) We all had great fun and it was good to get all these sometimes very serious people in a room together doing the "Thrust of Freedom".... don't ask, just look it up on YouTube. So as you can see martial arts is a great way for like minded people to get together. Thank you again to Jamie Gray who organised the Master Ken seminar.

There are various competitions held throughout the year which are a great way to test your skills be it in sparring or patterns, both or, for the black belts, destruction. Its always a good idea to ramp up your supplemental training outside of your regular sessions, be it running or cycling or swimming or some other form for cardio work. This is particularly important if you want to maintain your weight for your sparring division. Nothing worse than having registered as a middleweight to turn up at a competition and be weighed to find that the 12" pizza you had on Friday has bumped you into heavy weight! There is also the social side of competitions and if you use FaceBook or twitter a lot you'll probably meet and speak to a lot of these competitors online, but at the competitions you actually get to meet and chat to them face to face.

Have I "forged my body"? Well... lets just say its a work in progress. I keep at it and I'm back supplementing my training with some cycling and daily stretching in the hope I can get back into 30" waist jeans like I could when I was 18. I could be pushing that a bit as I'll be 44 at the end of the year so I'm no spring chicken. However I'm not going to let age stop me getting to where I want to go and age shouldn't put off anyone wanting to take up martial arts either. Give it a go! You'll meet interesting people, get fit and enjoy it I'm sure.

Build Up to Welsh Open 2014

Usually by now I've written up something on wishing everyone good luck etc but this is the first time I've manged to sit down and think about this coming weekend. This coming Sunday will be the anniversary of my first ever TAGB competition, and also my first ever competitive medal win, a bronze in men's patterns. I've entered this again so we'll see how things go this time round. With injury still plaguing me its still a patterns only event at the moment, but I'm determined to get past this ankle problem and get at least one spar in at competition.

We're again, back at that amazingly huge indoor arena at Cardiff University which was set up for 23 areas (I think, it was certainly no less than 20) all of Team Harley will be there along with a good number of Ayrshire and Glasgow Tae Kwon Do clubs. It will be good to catch up with all the local folks going down for the event and of course the people we know from clubs over the rest of UK. Teagan and Ieuan are both excited about the trip but nervous about competing. Most likely every competitor has a similar feeling, but I'm sure we'll all get past that and do ourselves, and our clubs, proud.

As always, I'll be doing some kind of report which will most likely end up here. Any photos will be gratefully received and I'll try and get an album together on the Prestwick & Ayr Tae Kwon Do FaceBook page.

So... Good trip and good luck for Sunday, I'll catch up with you there :)

2014 Scottish Closed

For some reason I felt the need to put this report here on the blog rather than submit it to MAI. I feel a "going back to the roots" is needed and it's probably inspired by a recent Facebook post by Scott McMillan about not forgetting where you come from. It was Scott's idea to start the blog and I was the one who offered to take up the role when he asked. Also I haven't posted anything here for a while so this seemed the perfect opportunity.

First off a big thank you to Angus Budge and Luke McGowan for the organisation of the 2014 Scottish Closed. Everyone I spoke to commented on how smoothly everything was going. So gentlemen, my thanks and the thanks of the remaining 269 (ish) competitors who were there. I've always said up until today that that 2013's Scottish Closed was the best competition I'd ever been to.... but now I can't, as 2014's is now top of that list and there are many reasons, you'll find out why as I ramble on.

Prestwick & Ayr Competitors.. Kuli's Krew!

Team Harley arrived at Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility at about 9:15am which we thought would put us near the entry doors to the competition area. What was slightly worrying was the number of cars we saw in the carpark, surely all these cars weren't the competitors and family?? I think nearly all of them were as when the competition was over the carpark was virtually empty! However, we moved smoothly along the line and into the hall. Six areas had been setup which was two more than the Closed last year when it was at Wishaw. This was great though as with the number of people competing the extra competition areas helped the events to run smoothly. At this point I think its also prudent to thank the umpires and referees who give up their time to help with these events and sometimes they get a serious earbashing from competitors and parents/coaches etc. But remember that without them there wouldn't be any competitions!

Now I am going to be slightly bias towards Prestwick & Ayr Tae Kwon Do and the reason being that the first time we had so many people competing so I was getting pulled from pillar to post and didn't have my two assistants this time (Teagan and Kiran) as they were both competing or coaching. Incidentally, Kiran, your dad is very proud of you and we have the Facebook post to prove it! Anyhow.. apologies to those I didn't get round to see or get a photo of you competing or even seeing you compete, theres only one of me and I couldn't be in 3 places at once, although I did try at one point and nearly broke my neck running between areas! This all happened while I was watching the patterns competition my son Ieuan along with his team mates Dylan Nutt and Connor Mulgrew were competing in. Ieuan is only 7 and he is trying so hard and I know its just a matter of time before something clicks and he starts winning medals. He did however get through his first round but was beaten in the 2nd. Dylan and Connor got through their 1st and 2nd round and then ended up against each other in the 3rd round. Both of them looked really sharp and confident in their pattern execution and personally for me watching them both it was a close call but the judges decision went with Dylan. Just after this I ran (yes RAN!) the 10 paces to a neighbouring area to see Jordyn Finlay get through her round and then young Rachael Cotton follow her. Both ended up in the final which again, I didn't want to call the winner but the decision went with Jordyn who got the gold and Rachael the silver... well done girls! Excellent performance! I then ran (again!) back in time to see Dylan finish the last half of his pattern and.... win gold! Well done mate!

Jordyn Finlay (left) and Rachael Cotton (right)

Scott Williams, Dylan Nutt (centre)
& Michael McGraw

While Dylan was competing his dad, Craig Nutt, was over doing his green belt patterns event. This was way over the other side of the arena and I wasn't able to get over in time to see how he did but just afterwards, over strolls (or was that swaggers??) Craig with another gold for Team Nutt. A very proud father with a proud son!

Team Nutt - Golden Boys

Just after this I heard the call for men's blue belt patterns in area 6. So over I ran (I was at area 2 after all!) to this area to join with my fellow blue belt competitors including some faces I know, Josh Maxwell, Thomas Dillon, someone I just met that day. Paul Stewart and someone I always love to get together with at an event.... Jonathan Maxwell, big Maxi. Thomas was up first competing against Josh, both looked good and powerful in their pattern execution but at the end of their performance the judges voted Thomas through to the next round. Next it was Maxi up against Paul Stewart. Both looked really good but it was Maxi putting on a really strong performance of Joong Gun who won that round. I was lucky enough to get a by so I was up against Thomas in the 2nd. Having just watched them all I could see these guys were good so I had to really give it all and be sharp and powerful. Whatever I did it must have worked as all the judges voted my way, and put Thomas in the bronze metal position and meant that Maxi and I were competing for first and second place. I hope Maxi won't mind me telling this story but after last years Scottish Open, he and I had been competing for a bronze and it was a pretty close call which I had just edged in and won. Afterwards on Facebook we'd had a bit of banter on this and I'd cheekily said that next competition we were in together I would get a gold and he a silver. Well, after we'd both given what I hope the judges thought was a sterling performance, we both waited for the decision.... which went my way. My first gold medal in competition and Maxi's first patterns medal. Well done again mate! :) Thanks to Mr Stewart McRoberts who gave Maxi and I some feedback after the event aswell. Its good to know where improvements can be made and your comments were most welcome, Sir.

From Left to Right:
Iain Harley (Gold), Thomas Dillon (Bronze)
Paul Stewart
Jonathan Maxwell (Silver) & Josh Maxwell
Photo taken by Claire Quinn

It was also a good day for old clubmate Rachael Risk who picked up another gold medal for ladies blue belt patterns alongside Gill Blackwood who was awarded a silver in this division.


Master Donnelly called a halt to the proceedings so he could get all the Scotland Squad together and praise them for their amazing results the previous weekend. Of particular note was how the GB teams banded together to take on, and win, against an exceedingly strong Russian team. This just goes to show that the TAGB teams can work just as well as one big GB team as they can in their country's squads and sets an excellent example.The Squad did a fantastic job and brought home a nice load of silverware, a good start for Luke McGowan as team coach.

TAGB Scotland Team who competed in Switzerland the previous weekend

With most of the patterns events out the way the sparring was free to get under way. Again it was the enthusiastic kids that stole the show. There was a hard fought bronze medal for Breagh McKellar, another tough fight and a bronze for Connor Mulgrew and a seriously stunning tag team match from Connor and his tag partner Ty O'Donnell who picked up the gold. Michael Wright from Auchinleck got himself a silver for his entry in the boys green belt sparring. Alexandra Wroe got a gold in individual sparring while her sister Jardine won a bronze in the tag team event. A double gold went to Taylor Allan. Zoe Andrews, another first time competator won herself a silver while Morgan Smith won a gold in patterns and a bronze in sparring. Well done to all you guys. Medals were really coming in thick and fast, it was hard for me to keep up with everything!

Michael Wright (right) with his
father Robert (left)

Connor and Ty - golden boys

Back over with the Auchinleck crowd I watched Pepe Sir win a bronze in the men's lightweight sparring, Sean Ginnity also get bronze in his mens middleweight and Simon Littlejohn scored some excellent points but was just pipped in the final but won a silver for his efforts in the mens red belt heavyweight.

Mens sparring
Martin Paterson (Bronze), John MacKay (Gold)
Simon Littlejohn (Silver)

Maureen Brown also did some excellent work in her sparring division and came away with a silver. Maureen hasnt been sparring long but shes certainly putting 100% effort into this part of her training and it's really starting to pay off for her.

Ladies sparring
Maureen Brown (Silver), Kirsty Reid (Gold)
Mel Gorrie (Bronze)

Now I just have to mention this pair, a couple of good friends from Uddingston who always do well at competitions but have a good laugh while they are at it, Claire Quinn and Michelle Duffy. Oh and Michelle, I'll be cheering you on next time... seems fair as I was cheering Claire on this time. Both are due to do their black belt grading on 26th April so I'd like to wish them best of luck for that.

Left to Right:
Kim Boney (Bronze), Claire Quinn (Gold),
Michell Duffy (Silver)

As the sparring events were starting to wind down, the parent and child patterns was called. This was going to be on the two mats right in the middle of the arena. There was a bit of a delay while some of the finals of the men's individual sparring were concluding. Craig Nutt was in the final of his men's green belt sparring and was due to take part in the parent and child patterns as well so I went over to cheer him on. Craig was going great guns until there was a clash of legs with his opponent. Initially it looked like he had suffered a deadleg, but it quickly became clear that it wasn't just as simple as this. Craig could barely put any weight on his foot and it then looked like a calf muscle tear. This effectively ended the bout but Craig still came away with a silver for his hard work. Unfortunately this injury meant that Craig and Dylan had to pull out of the parent and child pattern event.Craig is going to be out for a bit while he fully heals,  turns out in addition to the torn muscle he also has a broken fibula. Wishing you a speedy recovery!

The parent and child patterns event was only introduced 3 years ago and has become really popular very quickly. Last year there were 8 or 9 entries but this year it was 18 and included 3 pairs from Prestwick & Ayr of which my daughter and I were one. Teagan and I had chosen Joong Gun as its her choice colour belt pattern and I had just spent six months working on and trying to perfect it for my last grading so it seemed the logical choice. Again this was a five judges decision on which pair of competitors were the best. It's great to see families competing this way and goes to show how many of them train together in their respective clubs throughout Scotland. Teagan and I won our way through our first and second rounds, we (or should that be I) struggled a bit on the third round but we scraped through. Unfortunately we lost out on the fourth but were still in contention for a third place which we both Joong Gunn'ed our hearts out and managed to collect the bronze medals.

All the Parent and Child patterns
medal winners

Bronze for one half of Team Harley

The final event of the day was the mens blue/red belt tag team sparring. I knew most of the faces here, Josh and Jonathan Maxwell (the Mad Maxwell's... enough said), Martin Patterson and John MacKay and the final pairing of Neil Hanning along with George Lupton. Some excellent sparring, sportsmanship and overall good fun from all the gentlemen here. A great way to end what was an excellent competition!

Gold for Father and Son Team Jonathan and Josh Maxwell
Silver for John MacKay and Martin Paterson
Bronze went to Neil Hanning and George Lupton
Middle of the shot is TAGB Scotland Coach Luke McGowan

The final standings for top three positions were 1st placed, and the club shield, went to Uddingston again. Well done again to Miss Izat and her students. 2nd placed were Ainsley Park and 3rd place were Prestwick and Ayr.

Beginners Preparation for Competition by Scott McMillan

In all my years of competing I see many articles about training and eating right for a competition. But I have struggled to get an article that will help the ordinary person understand how to prepare for meeting the challenges of competition and what they need to do in order to be best prepared.

To date most fighters will lean on the experience of the instructor and the hunger and desire to win with various levels of success. But I have seen so many competitors, both adults and kids who want success so bad that they get the most important bit wrong….MENTAL PREPARATION.

Being ready for a competition starts in the “gut”, and then bleeds into your physical training and then back into your head. I hope this article will help you understand the multifaceted approach to being ready for a competition.

1. Your Commitment:
Firstly, when you have decided that you want to compete, it needs to be a commitment from you, “your gut”, anyone who thinks they will “give it a go”, is either opening up to a first time experience or leaving it to “lady luck” to determine their fate. When with the proper preparation you can have a little bit more control about the outcome. But the Preparation for any competition should be 6-8 weeks depending on a number of variables, number of regular training days, level of fitness and weight category

2. Your Training:
When training we are trying to primarily get ourselves in physical shape for the competition. Many of us will think that if we train hard that is all we need to do. Training also gives us an opportunity to start working our head for the competition, in terms of confidence. The more we try in training, the more boundaries we press/push the more confident we become in ourselves

3. Your Mind-set (Your Bubble):
It is very easy to start with a “negative” mind-set…it is very easy to be put off with “doubt”, and the worst kind of doubt is “self”. When you start to doubt everything you have done from your training, to the very reason you want to compete, it can become destructive to you and makes you question everything.
Doubt is one of the major reasons why people will not try, because the fear of failure. “Those who have not failed have not lived”.  The idea of failure for some people is so debilitating that it can turn them into a nervous wreck, to the point of not functioning and even collapse. To compete your mind-set needs to go through a 180 degree paradigm shift…you need to embrace the fact that failure is not the worst thing in the world, in fact it probably one of the most effective tools for understanding how to get better. And with that mind-set, you cannot fail to eventually have success. And not just in competition, this mind-set is very valid for life too.

4. Weight Management:
Weight management is tied into your diet and training and is a critical element in competition. If you want to compete and a category has weight divisions, you need to know what division you enter and if it’s the best one for you. If you’re on a 6-8 week program, you should be at your weight division 1-2 weeks before the event. Starting on the correct exercise and eating plan and having faith in the person offering the advice will help take an extra pressure off you.

5. Mental Rehearsal:
Being able to rehearse what you want to do is such an important aspect of preparation. What will I do? How do I do it?
Understanding your strengths and having a “plan” is the best way to start. When mentally rehearsing its best you’re in a quiet room. You use all good experiences you have had in training to feel the wee positive “buzz” you get in your gut when you know you have had a good session. Keeping that feeling there, you then start to play in your head “how you want to compete”. And you play it over and over till you feel like you have programmed it into your head.   You take that mental rehearsal into training and make it work or try to make it work. You can use your instructor for guidance and reassurance of what you’re doing is correct.
 

6. Triggers:
Triggers on the day of the competition to help with your calm and motivation. These triggers could be a piece of music, a movie clip or even a magazine article. And the trigger will have been with you from the start of your training program, and linked to your game plan and mental rehearsal, and used to trigger you into action. Whatever the trigger is, it will be personal to you and it will help you with triggering your mind-set change.

7. Dealing with the Stress:
We can sometimes let the situations get to us, to the point of panic. First thing you do is to breath, mentally take yourself out the situation, this will help calm you down. Secondly, when you are under control again, get back to the triggers for your mental rehearsal, to get that focused mind-set back. Get back into your own “bubble”.

First grading or a fear of Gradings? Read on!

Not long after the last grading of 2013, Kevin O'Donnell sent me a message on FaceBook with an idea, a very good idea as well I might add:

"I was talking last week to a young white belt who was scared of what she might face (at a grading). I wondered if there is something that you could be put together to perhaps help alleviate some of the apprehension faced prior to the first time grading."

Ironically, Kevin started training a few months ago and will be going for his first grading in March 2014. Good luck Kevin!

Anyway, this got me thinking back to when my daughter did her first few gradings. She was really scared. It was a big hall with all these other students most of whom she didn't know. It really was a big deal for her and she did freeze up and there were tears. If it wasn't for the help if her instructor, Mr Chahal, she would probably still be at white belt but shes now got over the nerves, grown in confidence and will be going for her 1st Dan black belt later this year (2014).

When you're up there in front of everyone, it can be scary and intimidating but there's a really important thing to remember - No one is there to make you or even wants to see you fail. If your instructor didn't think you were ready for a grading they wouldn't be putting you forward. Keep in mind that your fellow graders also want to see you do well. That's one of the great things about TaeKwonDo with our clubs; we all encourage each other to get over those hurdle and improve ourselves. We want to see each other win and move forward.


"So what can I expect at a grading?"
It's a very formal process and this is what some people can find intimidating, but once you know the format and done it a few times it becomes second nature and you'll probably relax a bit more. I'll describe it here but if you want more information or a mock-grading, please ask your instructor who will be happy to explain this and help you further.

First off, arrive early. Your instructor will let you know before the grading the start time. Usually its early morning (Ayrshire clubs) or early afternoon (Glasgow clubs), but whatever one it is try and get there a bit before hand. This allows you to get "the feel" of the place and you can and relax into the environment. But also being late is considered disrespectful.

You'll be asked to "line out" in your grade groups, just like what happens when you start training in class. When facing the top table, its white belts on the far left up to red belts on the far right. From here a roll call is taken, this is to ensure everyone who is grading is actually there. Remember to say "here sir!" or "here ma'am!" in a loud voice when the instructor calls your name so they know you are there. Don't try and be small and hide, this is your time, so shine and start it loud and proud.

Theory questions are next. Now this is the point where most people get the most nervous (I certainly did). Nine times out of ten I hear people talking about how they've forgotten all their theory and then afterwards they're saying they got all their questions right! Usually its 3 questions you're asked and as long as you do the study it will come back to you when you're asked your questions. There are standard meanings for punch (jirugi), block (makgi) and kick (chagi) so if you are asked what reverse punch is, it's going to end with jurigi... incidentally reverse punch is bandae jurigi... and no I didn't have to look that up, but I do spend time studying the theory and eventually it does sink in. When your name is called, go up to the instructor asking the questions, bow and always end your answer and either "sir" or "ma'am". When you've been asked all your questions and the instructor dismisses you, bow and say "thank you sir" or "thank you ma'am" and go to the back of your line.

"Those people asking me questions are scary and I've forgotten my theory"
Having a blank moment? Don't worry about it, these things happen. Also the black belts asking you questions aren't scary... no really, they aren't! They've been where you are now so they know how nerves can be a big factor. Just take a deep breath, relax and think. I've previously written a blog post on Grading Preparation and I use the techniques there to study for the theory and it certainly works for me. So give it a try and see what works for you. Small amounts often are better than trying to cram it all in over the last few days.


All the grades do their theory first and once that's completed, at the Ayrshire gradings, one of the instructors will call all the white belts over and take them through a mock-grading. For the Glasgow clubs, Mr McMillan has intimated to me that he runs through a mock-grading a couple of weeks before the actual grading. This mock will be exactly what you've learned in class with the linework (blocks, punches and some block/punch combinations), exercises (leg raise and pushups) and your first patterns saju jirugi 1 (low block) and saju jirugi 2 (middle block). All these are on the sheet provided to you by your instructor so remember to read through it. During inclass preparation for gradings, if you are confused or stuck with something, ask your instructor as that's what they are there for.

After this everyone lines out again in their grade groups while the examiner and senior instructor enters the hall. After the top table is introduced, the groups are dismissed and as a white belt you'll be up first so listen for your name. When your name and position number are called reply "here sir!" and run quickly to the designated number on the floor. The senior instructor will indicate where the number is so you know where to stand. Once all the positions are filled the instructor will call out which blocks/punches/exercises to do. Remember when starting off its with right foot and right hand. Don't worry if you make a mistake, you're doing the same technique a few times so correct yourself and keep going. After the linework its patterns next and the senior instructor will call out which pattern(s) to do. Take your time and show each move clearly, don't rush and make it all a blur. Its not a race to see who can finish first.


"I'm scared of making a mistake"
Want to know a little secret? Making a mistake isn't a problem. I've done it before at more than one grading. Just keep going and don't beat yourself up about it. If you make a mistake in your pattern then just stop, take a deep breath and start again. I've done this before myself and at a recent grading one of the young blue stripes did the same thing and he did exactly that... stop, compose, start again. What to remember is if you do have start a pattern again, don't rush it. As I said above, its not a race to get to the end. Take your time and make it look even better than it did first time round.

As a white belt, after your patterns are completed you'll normally be dismissed (haessan) and the next group will be called up for their assessment. Its considered good manners to wait until every other grade group has completed their own gradings. Once every group has been called, all the students line out again like at the beginning of the grading, the senior instructor and examiner will usually have a few words of encouragement for everyone whose graded, then grading is closed and everyone is dismissed.


Congratulations! You've completed your grading and the next one wont seem so bad.



For young kids who are feeling scared it can sometimes be hard for their parents to help overcome these fears. If your child is feeling scared and close to tears, don't panic as it will just make them worse. Speak to their instructor as in nearly all cases they can help give your child a bit of a confidence boost. From experience with my own kids, they tend to listen to their instructor more than they do my wife or myself.

If you're an adult feeling anxious then deep slow breathing can help, breath from your diaphragm and not from your chest. This type of breathing slows down a racing heart and helps to calm you down. Speak to some of your fellow students too, a nervousness shared is a nervousness halved.

Overall, enjoy the grading process. While its there to show the examiners you know the syllabus, its also a great social event and way of meeting and getting to know students and instructors from other clubs. So if you see me at the next one, come up and introduce yourself. I don't bite! :)

I'd like to thank Karen Harley, Kulwant Chahal and Scott McMillan for their input with this article.

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year, I know I did... way too much turkey, mince pies, good cheese and lots and lots of fruit juice... yes FRUIT JUICE!! I haven't had any alcohol in over a year now and to be honest I don't really miss it.

Anyway now that 2013 has ended, we have the new 2014 to look forward to with a full calendar of events which starts this week with going back to training. And I cant wait to get back after two weeks off.

On February 22nd we have the Ayrshire & Glasgow 2014 Awards at the Grand Hall in Kilmarnock. This is a great annual event and well worth going along, even just to see what your fellow students wear outside of training. You really didn't think we wore our doboks all the time did you?? :) Please see your instructor for tickets which are priced at £12 for adults and £8 for kids. Family of three is £30, family of four is £38 and family of five is £45. Look forward to seeing you all there!


There is of course a slew of competitions to look forward to up and down the UK and overseas. I know these have already been posted on some of the social networking sites but for completeness here they are again ("borrowed" from Mr Chahal's list):

2014 Competitions
English Open Championships - 16th March - Worcester
European Championships - 29th & 30th March - Davos, Switzerland
Welsh Open Championships - 18th May - Cardiff
Scottish Open Championships - 6th September - Ravenscraig
British Open Championships - 30th November - Worcester

The date of the Scottish Closed Championship is yet to be confirmed.


For those doing their 1st Dan or above gradings here are the dates that are important to you:
Black Belt Grading - 25th to 27th April - Bristol Academy
Black Belt Grading - 17th to 19th October - Bristol Academy

Additional courses for black belts are as follows:
Instructors Course part 1 - 21st & 22nd June - Bristol Academy
Instructors Course part 2 - 8th & 9th November - Bristol Academy
Referee part 1 & 2 - 25th January - Willenhall
Umpires part 1 - 1st February - Willenhall
Umpires part 2 - 2nd February - Willenhall
Umpires part 1 & 2  - 1st March - Cardiff
Referee part 1 & 2 - 2nd March - Cardiff
Umpires part 1 - 3rd May - Willenhall
Umpires part 2 - 4th May - Willenhall
Referee part 1 & 2 - 28th June - Willenhall
Umpires part 1 - 30th September - Cardiff
Umpires part 2 - 21st September - Cardiff
Referee part 1 & 2 - 1st November - Cardiff