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.

GTUK British Champs - October -Hannah Elton

The GTUK championships were held in Coventry on Saturday 15^th October 2016. Hannah was competing at her second GTUK event that year. The day started with a big honour. She was chosen with a fellow student to read the competitors oath in front of the hundreds of people that had gathered to support, compete in and officiate these games.

Hannah’s was competing in the junior female green belt to blue belt category and her first event of the day was patterns, where students perform a pre-determined set of movements to gain marks for aspects such as power, stances and breath control. She progressed through her early rounds of this with ease, being a very technical practitioner. In the final, however, she was against an older girl who had been moved into her category.  Despite the age difference Hannah put in her usual sterling performance but unfortunately on this occasion she was denied the gold medal by a very close judges’ decision.

Next came sparring, which saw a chance to prove she wasn’t going to just settle for silver. Again she progressed comfortably through the rounds until meeting the same girl she has come second to in patterns. History did not repeat itself in sparring however. Hannah gave it her all, dominating the fight and won by a unanimous judge’s decision to take home the gold and once again become a GTUK British champion!

Grading - March 2016

They’ve done it again! Sutton Coldfield Tae Kwon Do (SCTKD) has had their fifth 100% grading pass rate in a row.

The members of SCTKD were put through their paces at the grading took place on Friday 18^th of April under the supervision of Mr Andrew Holmes, fifth degree black belt. They were tested on all aspects that they had learnt so far in their training including patterns, pad work, self-defence, sparring. With Tae Kwon Do being a traditional Korean martial art the children were even tested on their knowledge of Korean words, with students as young as four being able to count to ten in Korean.

Proud instructors Mr and Mrs Collett, who both represent England for the GTUK, commented that “all students have trained hard and put in a fantastic performance at the grading. We couldn’t be more pleased with their achievements so far”.

But the hard work doesn’t stop here. Next month is the GTUK British championships where SCTKD members are hoping to add to their success for this year.  The tournament will be held on the 2^nd April in Coventry and is a great chance for students of all ages to test their skills and make new friends from all over the country.

If you would like to learn more about how to join SCTKD contact Mr and Mrs Collett at sctkd@hotmail.com or check out their website at www.sctkd.co.uk. 

UITF Euros - 2016

Alex and Emma Collett flew out to Poland last weekend to represent England in the first ever UITF European Tae Kwon Do championships. Between them they managed to bring back three silver medals. Mr Collett was the first of the pair to compete in the gruelling 33 degree weather. Although he didn’t achieve as he would have liked in patterns, he managed an impressive silver medal in men’s heavyweight sparring. This is particularly impressive as Mr Collett has only been a black belt for 5 years, compared to the near 15 years of some of his fellow competitors.

Next up was Mrs Collett, who has been training in this martial art for 15 years herself. After making a slight mistake in the final she narrowly missed the gold in patterns and had to content herself with second place. She managed to control her disappointment, however, and refocused herself to earn a silver medal in the ladies middleweight sparring.

Emma and Alex are part of the England GTUK Tae Kwon Do team, who between them brought home a very well deserved 24 medals (8 gold, 11 silver and 5 bronze). Alongside their national training Mr and Mrs Collett also run a club in Sutton Coldfield. To find out more about how to train with them check out their website www.sctkd.co.uk or email them at sctkd@hotmail.com

GTUK British Champs April 2016

Sutton Coldfield Tae Kwon Do club has achieved a wonderful 5 medals at the GTUK British Championships last weekend.  The club took 4 competitors, including instructors Mr and Mrs Collett to this year’s championships which were held in Coventry.

First to compete was Thomas Elton who at age 10 was competing in the pee wee category, who bagged silver in patterns and lost to the eventual gold medallist in sparring. He also pulled in an impressive 7^th place in the Special Technique event, which involves using impressive kicks to hit a pad that was well over Thomas’s head height.

Next up was his older sister Hannah Elton, who at age 14 was fighting in the junior category. She managed an impressive Gold medal in patterns. However, because of lack of numbers in her belt category she was moved into a higher group and fought courageously against girls who were four belts higher than herself. Despite the difference in experience levels she put in a remarkable performance to earn a silver medal.

Unfortunately there were no medals that day for Mr Collett, who was in a tough category. When discussing his own performance he said “I’m not too disappointed. I fought well and it is through failures that we often see the path to our improvements”.

Sutton Coldfield’s other instructor Mrs Collett, however, managed the expectations and pressures on her given her status as GTUK Ladies Team Captain and Assistant Coach to secure a Double Gold in patterns and sparring.

Mr and Mrs Collett shared their thoughts on the day’s achievements after the event. “Sutton Coldfield Tae Kwon do is a relatively new club as it opened less than two years ago, to already have produced British Champions was beyond our own targets for the club but is a testament to the hard work of our students, and the guidance from us. This is the first time we have entered children into these events and are exceptional proud of their performance today. No one had an easy ride into medals today and the future is very promising. We have lots of talent within the club and now we have our first medallists we hope it will inspire others to come along next time”

If you are interested in training with Mr and Mrs Collett they always welcome new members regardless of age or experience level.  You can contact them for more information at sctkd@hotmail.com or check out their website at www.sctkd.co.uk.

GTUK British Champs October 2016

Seven competitors from Sutton Coldfield(5 students and 2 Instructors) went to the GTUK British Championships on Saturday 15^th October. Between them they brought back an impressive 8 medals, 5 of which were gold.

First to medal was 11 year old Rebecca Welch who took a silver medal in her patterns category with a very strong performance, narrowly missing out on gold after a close judge’s decision.

Next up was Hannah Elton who was competing at her second championships this year. She also put in a solid performance to earn herself a silver medal in patterns. She then went on to beat older girls to gain a convincing gold medal in sparring.

After a pause for lunch, and a superb demonstration from the GTUK international black belts, Sutton Coldfield’s newest member Michael Boyle was up. Despite only learning his patterns this week he put in a confident performance but unfortunately didn’t place in the patterns event. This was not the case in his sparring event however. Even though he was much older and less experienced than his competitors he managed to hold the final to a 2 -2 nail biting draw until in the dying seconds he landed a clear punch on his opponent to win the match.

SCTKD’s other two competitors, Kieran O’Connell (age 7) and Michael Gilmore (age 25) unfortunately didn’t place this time after losing to the eventual winners of their categories in the early rounds. However all showed the true spirit of competition of accepting their losses, knowing it will lead to their improvement and went on to support their team mates in their victories.

It was business as usual for Sutton Coldfield Tae Kwon Do’s female instructor Mrs Collett, who is captain of the GTUK ladies team. While she might feel the pressure performing at this standard it certainly didn’t show in her performance, winning gold in both her patterns and sparring category. Speaking later she said, “It is never nice to face a team mate on the mats (her final was against the Ladies team vice-captain Amy Ridgard), but I think I responded well to the pressure of today’s event.”

Emma’s husbands and co instructor Alex Collett was last of the SCTKD crew to compete. He put in a fantastic performance in patterns, but lost in the final after making a mistake in his moves. Next came sparring and a chance for retribution as his first opponent was the same person he had just faced in the patterns final. Needless to say Mr Collett was motivated and progressed comfortably through his rounds until the final. The final was exceptionally close, and following a draw in the judges’ decision it came down to technical marks – who had fought the more cleanly and obeyed the sparring rules. Mr Collett came out on top of that and was awarded the gold medal.

His weekend didn’t stop there, however, as on Sunday he took part in the Birmingham Half marathon and completed the course in a personal best time of 1 hour, 38 minutes and 44 seconds.

Speaking after the competition on Saturday he said: “I’m thrilled with mine and everyone from the clubs performance today. The club is going from strength to strength and win or lose all of our members conducted ourselves well today and should be very proud of themselves”.

If you are interested in joining Sutton Tae Kwon do please contact Mr & Mrs Collett by email at sctkd@hotmail.com or check their website for further information www.sctkd.co.uk