​I’m very pleased to announce that we will have a new class at Whitchurch starting Thursday 27th August. This class will be 6.30 - 8.00pm in the sports hall at Whitchurch civic centre and is replacing the Malpas Thursday class.
This class is suitable juniors, adults and families. 

​We have had a very busy few weeks of Tae Kon Do with grading and competitions with lots of success.
On Saturday 21st September we had our colour belt grading in Newcastle with Grand Master Sergiew. There were 15 students grading and we achieved a 100% successful pass rate.

On Saturday 5th October was the North Midlands Area Championships in Nottingham. There was over 250 people participating at the competition and we had 7 students competing in a variety of events. For many of our members this was their first ever Tae Kwon Do competition. We were extremely successful and every one of our students came home with a medal and we had a total medal haul of 16. Gold x 8, Silver x 2, Bronze x 6.
Thomas -  2 Gold & 1 Bronze
Henry - Gold & Silver
Dexter – 3 Golds
Isobel – 2 Golds & 1 Bronze
Ryan – Bronze
Sam –  Bronze
Ashton – 1 Silver & 2 Bronze 

Congratulations to all of you that competed and for all the dedication, hard work and skill shown. 

Want to take your sparring to the net level?

What are the benefits?
The squad training sessions are supervised by national TAGB team coach Master Kenny Walton. They are however of benefit to all, at all levels. Your physical fitness will improve, your technical ability will get sharper, you will learn new things, you'll be given the opportunity to take your performance to a new level and you'll meet some great people on the day.
Who can attend?
Anyone who has a currently valid TAGB licence, make sure you have it with you so it can be shown if asked for. You must be training with your TAGB Instructor regularly and have their permission to attend.
What is the Cost?
The squad sessions costs £5  
What do I need?
Your valid TAGB licence, (please take it with you, we might need or ask to see it), loosely fitting clothes, trainers, full set of TAGB sparring equipment that is in good working order, A skipping rope and a tagb approved focus pads could also be useful if you have them, lots of water and the expectation to work hard.​

Due to the Bank Holiday and venues being closed there will be no training on Saturday 24th August or Monday 26th August, I hope you all enjoy your bank holiday weekend. 

The last two weeks in August the Marches School is closed and therefore we cannot use the hall so the classes will be held at The Venue Park Hall.
The Venue at park hall, Burma Rd, Whittington, Oswestry SY11 4AS
Tuesday 20th August – The Venue, Park Hall 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Friday 23rd August – The Venue, Park Hall 6.00 – 7.00 pm
Tuesday 27th August – The Venue, Park Hall 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Friday 30th August – No Training
Tuesday 3rd September – The Marches School 7.00 – 8.30pm, All classes back to normal.

​We are once again into the exam season and many children and parents will be doing everything they can to help with their exams so to achieve the best possible results.
Many children will stop participating in sport and exercise during their exams but a study by The Headmasters’ & Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC) has found that taking part in sports will have no effect on results.
The study analysed the GCSE results of 1,482 male and female students from 19 independent schools, and examined the effect that participation in sports had on their results.
In fact, taking part in sport appears to have a lot of positive impact. There is no evidence that people involved in sport get any worse GCSE results. They are however happier, mentally healthier, less anxious and more resilient and robust. Taking part in sport on a regular basis is not doing any harm and it is doing them good, there is an abundance of benefits to sport and wellbeing and it plays a vital role to a balanced and healthy lifestyle and the findings in this research strongly suggest that students revising for their GCSEs or A-levels should not abandon sport.
The profile of “super performers” was also examined in the research. Students, who were the very top academic performers, played a lot of sport as well as achieving the highest grades in their class.  
Aside from providing a well-needed break from the marathon revision, when our bodies engage in exercise, it triggers the release of various hormones and chemical compounds in the body. These hormones and chemical compounds all have very important effects on a variety brain functions.
What endorphins are released during exercise, and how they help
Serotonin – involved in regulating sleep patterns and improving mood.
Dopamine – positively influences learning and attention span.
Norepinephrine – affects motivation and mental stimulation.
Combined with an increased blood flow to the brain, this concoction of hormones and neurotransmitters improves cognitive function and the ability to focus for longer time periods. Which translates into higher quality revision sessions and a higher chance of achieving your target results.
Research also shows that exercise significantly reduces resting levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, allowing you to spend less time worrying and more time getting work done.
Not only that, regular exercise has also been shown to increase the size of the part of the brain involved with memory retention, the hippo-campus.
Taking all of this into account I strongly believe and encourage children to continue participating in sport during the run up to exams as it is good for them to have a balance of activities, also integrating exercise into a revision timetable promotes discipline with time management.

Sunday 5th May 2019
​
Schedule is as follows,
 
01.00pm - 02.30pm black belts 1st & 2nd Dans.
 
02.30pm - 04.00pm black belts 3rd Dans +
 
04.00pm - 05.00pm red belts (red belts only, no catch ups for black belts).
 
 
All of the above at Derby Arena, Royal Way, Derby DE24 8JB.
 
Please remember students need to bring their licence with a current licence slip attached & £7.
 
I have been informed that there will be limited parking for the first session due to Derby playing that day so please get there early to make sure can park!

Heels together, toes apart.
Weight distribution 50/50

One shoulder width wide measured from little toes.
Weight distribution 50/50 

One and a half shoulder widths wide between big toes.
Weight distribution 50/50
 

One and a half shoulder widths long between the rear foot sword and front toes.
Weight distribution 70/30 (Back leg/Front Leg)
 

​The tenets of Tae Kwon Do play a huge role in the success of ones Tae Kwon Do training. Any serious student of the art should observe and implement the tenets to the bet of their ability. 

(Pronounced ye-wee)
The showing of politeness in one's attitude and behaviour towards others.
Students of Tae Kwon Do should endeavour to practice the following fundamentals of courtesy to build up their noble character and to conduct training in an orderly manner.

• To be polite to one another.  

• To behave oneself according to the etiquette. 
• To respect others and their possessions.   
• To encourage the sense of justice and humanity. 
• To handle matters with fairness and sincerity. 

​(Pronounced yom-chee)
The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
In Tae Kwon Do, the word integrity assumes a wider definition than the one usually presented in the Dictionary. One must be able to define right and wrong and have the honesty, if wrong, to feel responsibility.
Listed below are some examples, where integrity is lacking: 

• The instructor who misrepresents their self and their art by presenting improper techniques to his students because of a lack of knowledge or apathy. 
• The instructor who camouflages bad techniques and lack of knowledge with false flattery to their students. 
• The student who requests grade with minimal effort.
• The student who desires rank for ego purposes or the feeling of power.
• The student whose actions do not live up to their words. 

The student who feels ashamed to seek opinions from their juniors.

​(Pronounced een-nay)
Persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.
There is an old Oriental saying, "Patience leads to virtue or merit." "One can make a peaceful home by being patient for 100 times." Certainly, happiness and prosperity are most likely brought to the patient person to achieve something, whether it is a higher degree or the perfection of a technique, one must set their goal, then constantly persevere.
Robert the Bruce learned his lesson of perseverance from the persistent efforts of a lowly spider. It was this perseverance of tenacity that finally enabled him to free Scotland in the fourteenth century. One of the most important secrets in becoming a leader of Tae Kwon Do is to overcome every difficulty by perseverance.
   Confucius said; "One who is impatient in trivial matters can seldom achieve success in matters of great importance."

(Pronounced gook-gee)
The ability to control oneself, in particular one's emotions and desires, especially in difficult situations.
This tenet is extremely important both inside and outside of the dojang, whether conducting oneself in free sparring or in one's personal matters. A loss of self control in free sparring can prove disastrous to both student and opponent. An inability to live and work within one's capability or sphere is also a lack of self-control.
    According to Lao-Tzu "The term of stronger is the person who wins over oneself rather than someone else." ​

(Pronounced beckjool boolgool)
To show courage when you and your principles are pitted against overwhelming odds.
A very good example of this tenet is when Leonidas and his 300 Spartans at Thermopylae stood up to Xerxes and his elite vast army.  Indomitable spirit was shown when a courageous person and his principles are pitted against overwhelming odds.
"Here lie 300, who did their duty." A simple epitaph for one of the greatest acts of courage known to mankind.
   A serious student of Tae Kwon Do, will at all times be modest and honest. If confronted with injustice he will deal with the belligerent without any fear or hesitation at all, with indomitable spirit, regardless of whosoever and however many the number may be.
    Confucius declared: "It is an act of cowardice to fail to speak out against injustice." As history has proven, those who have pursued their dreams earnestly and strenuously with indomitable spirit have never failed to achieve their goals. ​

If you’re interested in starting Tae Kwon Do but are afraid that you’re too old, you are not alone. Many adults want to start Tae Kwon Do but they never make it to a class simply because they let their age stop them. But think about this: if you don’t even try, you won’t know what you’re missing out on!
If you have or are considering starting but you’re afraid of being too old, remember that age is merely a number and it doesn’t define you and your ability to thrive in the dojang. Instead of just thinking about it, why not take action and book or go for that first class now?

1. Tae Kwon Do is excellent for stress relief
Life can be hard, stress and anxiety are on the rise. A little Tae Kwon Do training is a great way to take the edge off. Whether you are looking for an adrenaline rush from sparring, the stress release from punching and kicking pads, or the focus of practising patterns, chances are that Tae Kwon Do will provide a way of managing your stress in a healthy and enjoyable way that works for you.
Tae Kwon Dot doesn’t just give you a needed break from the challenges of life outside of the dojang. It also assists you to develop the tools that will help you combat stress in other aspects of your life. Physical activity and mental training are effective ways to manage stress, and Tae Kwon Do training provides both of those in a safe, friendly and fun environment.
2. It’s a fun way to develop and maintain physical fitness
Getting and staying fit takes work and it can be a challenge if you’re not into weight lifting and aerobics classes offered by your traditional gym.
Tae Kwon Do lessons offer adults a way to challenge crucial components of physical fitness including strength, cardio, balance, flexibility, and agility in a fun and non-judgemental environment.
Whether you’re looking for the intense warm-ups, pad routines, and sparring or the low impact endurance training of line work, patterns and theory Tae Kwon Do training offers an extensive variety of options for people of all needs and levels of fitness who are looking for a new way to improve their wellbeing. 
3. Tae Kwon Do can provide you with vital self-defence skills
It’s better to be safe than sorry, you don’t know what’s round the corner and some sound self-defence training is beneficial to people of all ages. Tae Kwon Do lessons can provide you with practical techniques that you can apply to real life situations that will help give you the confidence and skills to help to protect yourself and your loved ones in the real world.
Good Tae Kwon Do training will also help you gain the ability to think on your feet, prevent situations escalating and when to fight and when to run, which is an important but often overlooked component of self-defence.
4. Tae Kwon Do is great for your social life
Some health professionals say we are currently in a "loneliness crisis", medical studies have associated loneliness with costly physical and psychological ills, loneliness has been proven to be worse for health than smoking 15 cigarettes a day, Countries such as Japan, China and South Korea report similar problems, and in January Theresa May appointed the world's first “minister of loneliness” to address the issue here in the UK. 
Tae Kwon Do is a great way to improve your social life for a number of reasons. Most training takes place in an encouraging and fun atmosphere, helping you to relax and be yourself amongst new people. Tae kwon Do can also be relatively non-competitive, because it focuses on individual development and accomplishment. Your fellow Tae Kwon Do practitioners are there to help you and each other be the best that they can be, not compete against you, which makes for a very positive environment to build new friendships in. Tae Kwon Do introduces you to some of the finest, coolest, most thoughtful, respectful, and interesting people you’ll ever meet.
5. It’s never too late to get into shape
Each and every day is a new chance to work on becoming an improved version of yourself, and Tae Kwon Do can help you to get there. From the physical to mental, there’s no doubt that regular Tae Kwon Do training will help you to get into the best shape ever, whether that be martial artist or as a person.
Tae Kwon Do encourages continuous self-improvement. As a result, you would constantly be working towards becoming a better version of yourself and eventually evolve into everything you wish to become in life. 
It may be cheesy but, it helps to remember that you only live once. So don’t let your age stop you from unleashing your greatness!

To celebrate the New Year we are giving away a Tae Kwon Do uniform.🥋

To enter all you need to is: 
like our Facebook page @MalpasTKD
Share the giveaway post
Tag any friends that are interested in starting Tae Kwon Do.

Click below to be taken to our Facebook page where you can enter, Good Luck!
Enter Here!

This give away is open to any of our current students and anyone thinking of starting Tae Kwon Do.
The winner will be chosen at random, contacted for required size of Tae Kwon Do uniform and to arrange collection at any of our training sessions.

day 11th November 2018 is the last compulsory black belt training of the year. The session is being held at Belper Leisure Centre 1.00 – 3.00 pm.
After the black belt session there is an extra red belt training session 3.00pm - 4.00pm.
Both sessions to be run by Grand Master Sergiew.
Any student attending the red belt session can register on the day approx' 1/2 hour before the start time.
All students attending either session should have their licence with them to be stamped and it should be in date.

North midlands Area Championships Success
 
On Sunday 2nd we had students competing in the North Midlands Area Championships in Derby Arena. The competition saw over 400 people from across the country competing in a mixture of events.
We had students competing in patterns, sparring, team sparring and strike pad power tests.
Results:
Rory Tinsley won gold in Boys strike pad power test, hand technique, middle weight.
Sam Fielding received gold in Boys strike pad power test, hand technique, heavy weight and Bronze in boy red belt patterns.
Chris Southan competed in men’s heavy weight strike pad power test.
Dexter McArdle – the group's youngest competitor – competed in boy’s blue belt patterns and boys blue belt sparring.
Matt Hanks competed in men’s green belt sparring and men’s middle weight power test.
Dan Valentine received bronze in men’s blue belt patterns and men’s heavy weight blue belt sparring.
Lily Ryder won gold in girl’s green belt tag team sparring and bronze in girl’s green belt sparring.
Rebecca Manford competed in lady’s black belt patterns and also helped in umpiring at the event.
We even made the local news, to check out the article follow the link below.
http://www.bordercountiesadvertizer.co.uk/sport/16695835.tae-kwon-do-group-celebrate-success-at-championships/

​On Saturday 21st July Whitchurch, Malpas and Oswestry Tae Kwon Do travelled to the Birmingham Arena for the 12th Tae Kwon Do International World Championships where over 2000 hopefuls, from every continent of the world battled to be crowned the best in the world.
Hosted by the Tae Kwon Do Association of Great Britain (TAGB), 22 countries sent their best competitors to compete in an exciting selection of events in the Tae Kwon Do World Championship.  The two-day tournament saw some of the world’s best fighters, patterns technicians and destruction champions come together to battle it out for the title of World Champion. 
We had six students, Dexter, Rory, Daniel, Emma, Matt and Carl competing across a variety of events in this great competition. All of them put in lots of hard work, effort and training in the lead up to this event and it paid off.  Well done to all of them for their tremendous effort and a huge congratulations to our medal winners,  
Dexter, 3rd, Boys blue belt, sparring
Rory, 3rd, Boys blue belt, strike pad (power test), hand technique
Emma, 2nd, Ladies, Blue belt, Strike pad (power test)
Carl, 1st (World Champion) – Men’s, blue belt, strike pad (Power test) – 3rd Men’s, Blue belt, sparring – 3rd, Men’s colour bet tag team sparring.
 
Competitions are not just about winning medals or trophies, they are also about learning, gaining experience and having fun. We had a fantastic day and cannot wait for the Scottish championships in September.  

Exercising in the hot weather, for me personally I love training in the hot weather, the sun puts me in a good mood for training, my body feels flexible, I know it’s going to be a hard workout and very beneficial. However, exercising in the hot weather can dangerous.

Exercising in hot weather puts extra strain on your body and If you’re not sensible and don't take care when exercising in the heat, you can risk serious illness.
Exercise, the air temperature and humidity can all increase your core body temperature. To help cool itself, our bodies circulate more blood through your skin. This leaves less blood for your muscles, which will increase your heart rate. If the humidity also is high, your body faces added stress because sweat doesn't readily evaporate from your skin. That increases our core temperature even higher.

So what can we do to reduce the risks of exercising in the hot weather?

• Dress appropriately. Lightweight, loose fitting clothing helps sweat evaporate and keeps you cooler. Avoid dark colours, which can absorb heat. White Doboks are ideal training and if it gets very hot replace your Dobok top with our club T-Shirts.

• Drink plenty of fluids. Help your body to sweat and cool down by remaining hydrated with water or a sports drink. Sports drinks can replace the sodium, chloride and potassium you lose through sweating. Don't wait until you're thirsty to drink fluids.

• Know your fitness level. Don’t overdo it, be extra cautious when training in the hot weather. Your body may have a lower tolerance to the heat. Reduce your exercise intensity and take frequent breaks.
• Outside Training. If we train outside you should take extra precautions. Wear a hat and sun lotion. Sunburn decreases your body's ability to cool itself and increases the risk of skin cancer.

 
Pay attention to your bodies warning signs

When you are exercising during the hot weather watch out for signs and symptoms of heat related illness. If you ignore these symptoms, your condition can worsen, resulting in a medical emergency. Signs and symptoms may include:

• Dizziness or feeling light headed
• Confusion
• Irritability
• Muscle cramps
• Feeling unwell, nausea or vomiting
• Weakness or fatigue
• Headache
• Excessive sweating

If you develop any of these symptoms, you need to lower your body temperature and get hydrated immediately. Stop exercising and get out of the heat.
To help lower your body temperature, remove extra clothing and/ or sparring equipment. Placing cool wet towels or ice packs on your neck, forehead and under your arms can help. Drink fluids such as water or a sports drink. If you don't feel better within about 20 minutes, seek medical assistance.
 
We can avoid heat related illnesses by being sensible and taking some basic precautions. So when the sun is out and the temperature rises we can keep kicking.
 

The past few weeks have been full of Tae Kwon Do action and will continue in the next few weeks too. 
We started at the end of May with the Welsh Championships in Cardiff, where we had five students competing, Chris, Emma, Dexter, Carl and Amelia. I would like to say a big well done to all of them for competing. It was a day of new experiences for a lot of them. It was Dexter and Amelia's first competition, Carl's first time sparring in the continuous sparring format and Chris's first time sparring in the Men's black belt heavy weight category.  
Congratulations to Emma who came away with third place in the woman's red belt sparring .
There are lots of positives to take from their performances and areas for improvement we can work on. 

​After the Welsh Championships all attention was focused on the up coming colour belt grading at Whitchurch.
This was a very special grading for me in many different ways, but the most significant, it was our last club grading with World Mater Brian Towndrow and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for all he has done for me personally, our clubs, the North Midlands Area and the TAGB. He will be missed greatly and I wish him all the best in the future.
I feel those grading gave a  strong performance, with many getting an Advanced pass so well done to all of you and it was a nice send off for Master Towndrow. 
Photos of the belt presentations can be found on our Facebook group. www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.10155608199595905&type=3

I would also like to thank all of the black bets that gave up their free time to help with the grading, without their help the grading would not run ass smoothly as it did so thank you!

Up and coming events​
Coming up next is the World Master Minott Semiar at Whitchurch on Saturday 23rd June. I cannot recommend this seminar enough. Master Minott is a fantastic coach and a great guy. Whatever your experience you will gain something from this seminar.  
This event is open to all TAGB licensed, if you'd like to attend please speak to your instructor or contact me to book your place.

TI World Championships 
On the 21st and 22nd July the TAGB are hosting the Tae Kwon Do International World Championships in Birmingham Arena. 
​All information along with entry forms can be found on the World Championships website
 www.worlds.tkdi.biz