National Martial Arts Medal Haul

The Kuk Sool Won Martial Artists from Oxshott, Claygate and New Malden entered the National Championships on November 29th and won a total of 25 medals between them, putting them in the Top 10 performing clubs in the country.

The UK Championships in Birmingham attracted over four hundred competitors from more than sixty Kuk Sool Won clubs and all competitors had the opportunity to win medals in a variety of divisions. In Traditional Forms, the martial artists had to demonstrate memorised sequences of hand strikes, kicks and blocks in front of a panel of judges and in Techniques they demonstrated the effective application of self-defence techniques on a partner. They also competed against other opponents in bouts of sparring. Instructor James Barker also entered the sword, staff and wood breaking categories in the 3rd Dahn Black Belt Competition and officiated at the event.

There were four Gold medals achieved by James Barker, Ben Ingram, Phil Bowden and Rabb Bannister in Techniques and Sparring and a further ten silver, nine bronze and two copper (4th place) medals. Phil was close to winning a second Gold in Sparring but an injury in the final meant he had to settle for a Silver. The other competitors and medal winners were Vicki Gasston, Max Bowden, Stan Bannister, Tallulah Bowden and Alex Bowden.

Instructor James, who is also a qualified secondary school teacher, is amazed at how well all the students have done. He said, “There were a total of 29 medals available for the 9 competitors to win, and to get 25 was outstanding. This is by far the clubs best ever tournament success and a great stepping stone to build and improve upon in the future.”

The UK Championships had topped off a busy few weeks for the martial artists having already completed a Kick-A-Thon of thirty thousand kicks to raise over £450 for Children In Need, a grading for their next belt, a special class lead by the Masters of the art and Junior and Senior success in the Elmbridge Borough Sports Personality Awards.

If you interested in becoming a part of a successful forward looking martial arts club, please contact James on 07973 173893 or take a look at the website (www.kswonm.co.uk).