GTUK British Champs Oct 2017

Sutton Coldfield took 9 members, their biggest entry yet, to the GTUK British championships, held in Coventry on 28^th September and brought back a total of 11 medals – 7 of which were gold!

Their youngest competitors were aged 6, but they took students across a variety of ages and belt groups to this tournament.

The first medal of the day went to Fred Newman, who only started Tae Kwon-do after trying the martial art at last years’ Sutton Coldfield Community Games. Fred was unlucky to be drawn first round against the eventual silver medallist in his patterns category, losing on a split decision. However, he more than made up for it with a very convincing sparring performance to claim the bronze medal in his category. He also demonstrated his agility prowess, making it to the final five in the special technique in a category dominated by black belts!

Up next was Ibrahim Rafiq who recently moved up into the ages 11+ category. Ibrahim performed brilliantly under the pressure of his first competition to achieve double silver across the patterns and sparring category.

Hannah Elton was also competing again for the club. She has competed ever since starting Tae Kwon do over three years ago and definitely shown how much her competition experience and hard work can pay off as she took a convincing double gold in her category – making her the best overall junior female colour belt at this event.

Also competing were instructors Mr & Mrs Collett. Alex put in a strong performance to gain a gold in individual patterns and then lead his team to a thrilling silver medal in the tag team event. Emma had one of her most successful tournaments to date, claiming a whopping 4 gold medals across the team sparring, individual patterns, individual sparring and destruction events, Mrs Collett’s efforts earned her the overall best adult female competitor award at this event.

Also competing for the club were pee wees Stanley Newman, Louis Lycett, Kieran O’Connell and Rebecca Welch. Mr & Mrs Collett had this to say about the clubs’ performance: “As a club we have gone from strength to strength and we couldn’t be prouder of everyone who competed. They all conducted themselves in the true spirit of Tae Kwon-do and should be very happy with their performances”. 

Mr Holmes - 6th Degree

A massive congratulations to our instructor and your grading examiner, Mr Andrew Holmes, who successfuly graded to 6th Dan Black belt on 7.10.17.

Wherever he goes Mr Holmes must be known and respected for him Tae Kwon-do knowledge, technique and ability and we are so lucky to be able to train with and learn from him.

ITF World Championships

Mr & Mrs Collett represented the GTUK England team at the ITF World Taekwondo championships. The tournament was held in The Netherlands over 4 days of tough competition. The pair, that have over 20 years combined Tae Kwon-do experience, competed alongside over 3,000 other competitors in their bid for success.

Mr Collett more than held his own in the male 3^rd degree patterns category – despite only grading to 3^rd degree himself in April – going out to the silver medallist.

Mrs Collett managed to secure a bronze medal in the ladies 3^rd degree patterns category – despite badly damaging her foot in the sparring preliminaries the day before. The medals didn’t stop there though, as after a day of recovery they both took part in the team events. Emma, captaining the ladies team, put in her usual convincing performance in both the power breaking and the sparring event. In power the ladies team missed out on the gold medal by one point, and were forced to settle for silver, while they claimed the bronze in the team sparring despite fierce competition.

Unfortunately, it was a similar situation in the male team. However, but Alex put in a worthy performance, using his fancy footwork to out manoeuvre his opponent until a hard kick to the back ended his tournament. “I’ve had the best spar of my life, I can’t be disappointed in that”, said Alex when discussing his performance at this World Championships.

It doesn’t stop there for the duo. Alex is signed up for the Birmingham International marathon, and Emma for the Birmingham half marathon as an extra way to boost their fitness in the preparation for the competition and they will both compete again (along with members from their club in Sutton Coldfield) in the GTUK British championships at the end of the month. To learn more about the pair, or how to train with them please visit www.sctkd.co.uk or email sctkd@homail.com. 

GTUK technical course

So on Saturday we set our alarm clocks early and set off with kit bags and packed lunches in hand. What magical adventure were we heading out on I hear you ask. We were off to the GTUK technical course.

This course has become compulsory, in recent years, for all students that are taking their next black belt promotional test. Don't get too excited dear reader. Neither of your instructors are grading for a while as we only took our last one 6 months ago. However, we go regardless of whether we are grading or not as its a fantastic opportunity to not only check and receive guidance on our current patterns, but to confirm we are teaching our students the technically correct way in accordance with the GTUK technical standards.

The day pretty much covered all aspects of TKD that will be part of the gradings. From the obvious patterns and sparring to etiquette such as how to address and bow to different grades, all of which were performed under the watchful eye of Grand Master Oldham, as well as the very knowledgeable Master Auciello, and the very talented Mr D Holmes and Mr A Holmes.

While the course does take a whole day we couldnt recommended it enough for keeping your techniques sharp. Afterall the point at which you stop putting effort into the study of this incredible martial art is the point at which you begin to coast and your techniques start to become blunt.

We will be looking forward to the next one in 6 months (especially as some of our students should be attending for the first time in the preparation for their black belt grading in April).

GTUK Scottish Champs 2017

Scottish Champs – 13.05.17

Sutton Coldfield Tae Kwon do club gained success again at last weekend’s Scottish Championships.

Mr & Mrs Collett, instructors at the club, made the 500 mile round journey to Motherwell last weekend to take part in the GTUK Scottish championships.

After a tiring day refereeing the dynamic duo hit the mats in their respective categories. Mr Collett took home his first medal at this particular event in patterns. He put in a remarkable performance to beat people with much more experience after only grading, and moving into this category, last month!

Mrs Collett put in her usual, consistent solid performance to defend her double title from last year, earning the gold medal in ladies’ patterns and sparring. When asked about her performance she said “As captain of the GTUK England ladies team I always feel a bit of pressure going into events. I’m the one to beat, the one with a target on my back, so to defend my double title feels amazing”. She wasn’t quite finished there, however, as she competed in the power breaking event later on in the day and earnt her first ever medal in this event. Unfortunately, not a gold this time, but a bronze after some consistent breaking across a variety of techniques.

This success at tournaments places the pair in good stead for their individual and GTUK team preparations for the ITF World Championships which are to be held in Holland in September.

To learn more about the club or about training with Mr and Mrs Collett visit www.sctkd.co.uk or email them at sctkd@hotmail.com

GTUK British Champs April 2017

Sutton Coldfield Tae Kwon do took 5 members to last weekend’s GTUK British Champs, held in Coventry on the 29^th October. Between then they managed to bring home a strong haul of 5 medals, 2 gold and 3 silver.

First up was little 7 year old Kieran O’Connell. Having trained at the club for 2 years he just lost out on a medal in patterns securing himself 4^th place in patterns. Undeterred, however, he rose to the next challenge showing true indomitable spirit to get a silver medal in his sparring category.

Next was 15 year old Hannah Elton, who again had to settle for fourth in patterns. However, after being merged into a category of older girls she put in a very strong sparring performance to secure herself a silver medal.

The clubs next member, Michael Gilmore, put in a good performance unfortunately finishing just outside of the medal positions in sparring. He also put in a strong showing in the colour belt destruction, breaking with a variety of techniques to finish joint 3^rd.

Both Mr and Mrs Collett (the insctructors at SCTKD) took part in the half time demonstration of tag team sparring – a 4 minute furious event which gives the crowd a good spectacle of the fast paced kicking this martial art is renowned for. Mrs Collett’s ladies team managed to gain the gold medal in this event, after a thrilling final that went to extra time due to a tied score at the end of normal time.

Mr Collett also competed in patterns. This was particularly nerve wracking as he had only moved up into this category after passing his grading earlier this month. “This is a big step up for me” said Alex, “I’ve got improvements to make but I am looking forward to the challenge”.

After a wobble in the final of her patterns category Mrs Collett had to settle for silver, however, it was business as usual for the world champ winning her sparring division to retain her British Champion status for the 3^rd consecutive year.

If you would like to know more about the club or training with SCTKD please check out their website sctkd.co.uk or send Mr & Mrs Collett an email to sctkd@hotmail.com.

CSPAN awards 2016

CSPAN awards 2016

Awards night 27.01.2017

Last year Mrs Collett won the Sutton Coldfield Female Personality of the year and this year we found ourselves not only nominated but shortlisted for 4 different categories. Wow! Those shortlisted were:

 Mrs Collett - Adult Female category - after winning a cracking 10 medals this year - 8 of which were Gold – as well as being promoted to GTUK Ladies Assistant coach.  

Mr Collett - Adult male category - after winning his first national title this year he has really come into his own and is now UKGT British sparring champ, GTUK British sparring champ, European sparring silver medallist and GTUK British patterns silver medallist.

Miss Elton – junior female category – Hannah has only been training for a relatively short period of time (about 18 months) but this year she became a double British Champion and earned herself 2 silvers too!

SCTKD club - club category – This year our students have earned 3 gold medals and 4 silver medals at national level championships. As a club we have maintained our 100% grading pass rate, as well as achieving a total of 7 A passes. As a club we have been involved in several community invents including the Sutton Coldfield Community games were we gave over 750 children a taste of Tae Kwon-do.

So combined with nominees and proud parents and grandparents we headed off for our table of 12 at this year’s event, held at the Ramada hotel. We were greeted with a drinks reception where laughs were soon shared at Mrs Collett’s expense when it was discovered she was wearing odd shoes! In her defence they were very similar – except for the heel height…

Once seated we were treated to a lovely 3 course meal. Having a range of dietary needs on our table I have to say that the Ramada catered for us very well and efficiently. During courses we were treated to a future singing talent from Arthur Terry school who thrilled us with a variety of songs.

Then came the awards. It is staggering just to realise the amount of talent in this town! Most categories featured an Olympian/Paralympian or international medallists. This high level of prestige is what makes this event so inspiring and humbling. Unfortunately, we didn’t win any awards this year but anyone that has got into sports just to win has entered a life changing activity for the all the wrong reasons. To just be nominated, and then shortlisted amongst a plethora of talent was honour enough for us. And it certainly didn’t stop us having a wonderful evening.

We are very proud of our club, and of all of our students.