The school

Shepton Mallet Taekwon-Do Club was established around 15 years ago  at Shepton Mallet Leisure Centre. 

Mr  Stewart Farmer took over at the beginning of 2001.  Stewart has been training for 15 years and has finally reached 5th Dan Black Belt. Mendip Independent Schools of Taekwon-Do was formed 2nd September 2002.

Castle Cary, Wells and Langport soon followed. The club base has grown to a large number of students, many of them children, so much so that there has had to be an extension of club hours on a Tuesday.  In addition, there have been many inclusions of activities such as Grappling and a taster of Tae Bo sessions.

 

What is Taekwon-Do?

Taekwon-Do is an ancient form of unarmed combat.  It has been practiced for many centuries and has been perfected into its modern form in Korea with more recent development since its introduction as a sport in the Olympic games.

 

Taekwon-Do is translated as:

 

To smash or destroy with the

FOOT - HAND - WAY.

 

Taekwon-Do is a patriotic symbol of Korea and of rich, multi-cultural influences. Currently recognised and practiced in over 140 countries, Taekwon-Do is a well-respected martial art system comprising of a variety of self-defence techniques and philosophies.  Based upon mathematics, theory, scientific fact and ancestral forms, Taekwon-Do training guides one to develop a high level of spontaneity, balance, focus, speed, concentration, equilibrium, strength, spirit, endurance and combative skill.

 

 

 

TAEKWON-DO  AND THE NEED FOR CHANGE

 

For some time now Taekwon-Do seems to have been in the doldrums. As a visual spectacle and also for those taking part it now appears to be dull and boring with its regimental line work of basic techniques. Having spent the last six months restructuring the clubs and syllabus we have now changed the way we train.

Patterns are still performed in the traditional way.

One step i.e. your first line of defence is now performed with sparring equipment so that it is more real to the student, allowing light contact.

Fighting/ sparring techniques are performed against a partner with sparring equipment to give students understanding of moves, targeting and light contact with which they can take into their free sparring.

Self defence is now based around real everyday attacks and not the usual get out of that wow factor, simple, ease of recall and effectiveness being the key.

Grappling techniques will play a bigger part in training  especially for those who want to supplement their self defence.

Free sparring is now performed in  more of a tournament style with mini bouts between students, encouraging them to find targets and score points in a controlled environment.

Fitness improvements will be achieved with the use of kick bags and pad work on top of the normal stretching / fitness exercises.

Overall it is hoped the changes will make Taekwon-Do more exciting not only for those taking part but also for those who look in.