My training in Tae Kwon Do began in 1986 whilst serving in the military at Hereford, I wasn’t in the Special Air Service but I was stationed at their Headquarters as a Staff Clerk. An MOD Policeman, Paul Eden invited me to attend his Tae Kwon Do class in the gym. My only experience in martial arts was that I had attended about two lessons in Judo when I was about 10 years old. I broke my arm in the Judo club and never returned.
I took my first three gradings at Hereford with Paul Eden who himself was a 3rd Dan Black Belt.
Augustus Mitchell 5th Dan…
In 1989 I joined a Tae Kwon Do club in Bicester, Oxfordshire. My new instructor was Augustus Mitchell 5th Dan. The classes were disciplined and hard work. The club was affiliated to the United Kingdom TaeKwonDo Association (UKTA)and the International TaeKwonDo Federation (ITF).
The hardest part was breaking boards and pieces of wood. Breaking boards are hard squares of plastic with a join across the centre to practice technique, focus and power. They can be hand held by a partner or supported in a frame. Supervised by Mr Mitchell we would have to strike the board with a punch, knifehand or kick.
Break boards or smash boards are available from Blitzsport Martial Arts from the link in the below image
Sparring was semi-contact, although I did receive many bruised ribs, shins and bent fingers and toes.
Colour belt gradings were taken by Grandmaster Rhee Ki Ha, the president of the UKTA, in Oxford. The gradings were preceded by a training seminar. Most people would pass but a small number would fail, often they would fail for not breaking. Breaking and Taekwondo
Training continued to 1995 when I attended an International Instructors Course in Reading hosted by Grandmaster General Choi Hong Hi 9th Dan. He was the founder of ITF TaeKwonDo.
Here is a very informative but fairly long article on the life of Grandmaster General Choi Hong-Hi published in TaeKwonDo Times magazine. Click on the below:
Almost a Black Belt…
After 8 years training I was almost ready to gain my 1st Dan Black Belt. The following few months I completed several Black Belt training sessions and a UKTA Instructors Course and grading hosted by Grandmaster Rhee Ki Ha where I finally gained by 1st Dan Black Belt in 1995.
Tae Kwon Do is also referred to as Taekwondo or Taekwon-Do.
My next post on Tae Kwon Do is me as an instructor in my own school. Click here for part 2
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