On the 20th of October members from Trenic-TKD
schools travelled down to Cardiff to compete in the much anticipated British
Championships. With a new venue and an air of positivity, this event was
setting to be one soon not forgotten. The mornings schedule started with a
prompt weigh-in and introductory acknowledgements from the tournament committee
followed by ring allocations. Up first and representing region 1 were Nick
Lawrie, Dolci Grove, Katie Hetherington, Harry Evans, Jason Morrison and Vicram
in the cadet and senior divisions. For all competitors this was a great
opportunity to gain valuable experience amongst such strong competition and
showcase all their hard training. Nick performed well in the patterns taking a
well-earned silver medal and wowed the crowd winning gold after a confident
performance in the sparring. This was a strong start for regions 1’s campaign
and continued in the same fashion as Dolci, Katie, Vicram and Harry all fought
their way to the number 1 spot on the podium, a promising future for the young
Trenic-TKD competitors. Although Jason Morrison fell just short of the gold
position his heart and technique could not be questioned securing bronze after
a 2 minute battle on the mat. Once all the cadets had finished competing it was
time for the junior and adult categories to prepare after a short speech from
Master Nicholls. This time was taken to share our appreciation for our overseas
competitors, show our respects for the dedicated Masters present and announce
the new coaches and committee heads.

After a short break giving the adults and juniors time to
warm up and mentally prepare, the event continued. Competing from region one in
the black belt divisions were Lee Hollingsworth, Laurie Cornwell, Matthew
Brunger, Prit Sidhu, Gurlaine Sidhu, Luke Dempsey, Jamie McAvoy and Aaron
Mather. With the cadets watching on, it was time to impress and demonstrate a
good display of Taekwon-Do. After some tough draws in the patterns it left
Matthew, Jamie, Laurie and Prit taking gold, Gurlaine earning silver and Luke winning
a respectable bronze medal.



With the team fired up and raring to go, the black belts
pleased the crowd with a show of high kicks and furious fists, dominating the
sparring divisions. As a newly promoted black belt, making the leap to new
divisions showed confidence and true Taekwon-do spirit from Steve Maeght. After
a round of intense sparring Steve fell just short to the much more experience
overseas competitor.. With the experience he is gaining we are sure to see him
reaching that top spot soon enough.



Along with winning gold in a very tough sparring division,
it was also a proud moment for Luke Dempsey who had his fist students taking
part in the championships from which Karen Abdul Adallah and Coby Esegbona
stepped up to win gold and silver in their respective sparring divisions. Keep
up the good work!



After a long day of waiting, it was finally the turn of the
adult colour belts to step onto the ring and perform. Inspired from watching
the black belts compete, motivation was high. Up first were Fran and Jevgenija
for the ladies divisions. Stepping up to the blue belts and moving down a
weight category posed new challenges for Fran however she kept her composure to
win a bronze in patterns and silver in sparring. Jevgenija performed well in
her first ever competition winning a bronze in patterns, silver in sparring and
gold in power, a solid start to her competitive career.



In the male divisions; Trenic-TKD sent 3 competitors; Arun,
Tom and Bart. New to the competitive scene this was again an opportunity to
gain a wealth of experience. Tom took to the ring first winning a bronze in
patterns and silver in sparring and was followed shortly by Bart who too took bronze
and silver respectively.  Up last for the
male Kup grades was Arun who had to settle for silver in sparring after
receiving a nasty blow to the leg at the start of the fight.



Well done to all the competitors that took part and a huge
thanks to the tournament and umpire committees that helped run a very
professional and smooth running competition. As always thanks must also be sent
to all the relatives and friends that travelled down to Cardiff to back all our
competitors.