Haywards Heath Taekwondo club enjoy success at national tournament

Front row: Rhys and Sian. Back row: Chantal Lew, Gabriel, Nia, Teodor, Adam, Andreia and Grandmaster T. K. Loh (9th Dan).

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Students from Haywards Heath Taekwondo club, TTA Sussex, returned with an impressive medal haul to reflect their efforts at the 38th TTA Annual British Individual Championships in Glasgow.

Competitors travelled from across the UK to take part.

Both club instructor (Chantal Lew, 4th Dan) and students competed across competition categories in both poomsae (form) and kyorugi (sparring). Categories were divided between genders, ages and weights.

The team of eight from Sussex managed to secure six gold medals (Kyorugi – Chantal – two weight divisions and Gabriel ; Poomsae – Teodor, Sian and Adam), seven silver medals (Kyorugi – Andreia, Sian and Rhys ; Poomsae – Chantal, Andreia, Nia, Gabriel) and three bronze medals (Kyorugi – Nia and Adam ; Poomsae – Rhys).

Sian, 9, was awarded the ‘special player/match of the day’ award and TTA Sussex also won 2nd in the overall 'Team Spirit' awards.

For many of the students it was their first time competing under the unfamiliar spotlight and keen eyes of onlookers (mostly families and friends amidst the spectator stands).

All were required to focus and put into practice the skills that they had worked on in the classroom over many months of training. Lessons were learnt, not just from the successes but also the failures.

Dr. Lew said: “Martial arts offers a safe learning environment for individuals to explore their own personal areas of limitation and how to develop these for personal growth. In life and reality, whilst success is rewarding, the real value is in the journey to get to that point. When we fail, we learn to try again until we get there. We learn about true inner strength.”

Dr. Lew added: “The TTA focuses on ‘traditional-style’ taekwondo. In class students are educated about anatomy as well as focusing their minds. At the same time they learn to face and understand their fears and challenges in life’s journey. Our aim is to imbue a persevering attitude towards challenges as well as developing the tenacity to overcome them. Our younger students are also guided in their social interactions and development.”

TTA Sussex is a branch of Chief Instructor Grandmaster T.K. Loh’s (9th dan) ‘Traditional Taekwondo Association”.

The club offers both children’s classes (6-7pm) and adult’s classes (7-8pm) and runs twice weekly (Tuesdays and Thursdays).

Free trial sessions are available on request periodically through the year.

Anyone interested can contact Dr. Lew directly via the club’s ‘Contact Us’ online page to arrange a free trial: https://www.taekwondo-sussex.com or via Facebook Messenger through the club’s facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ttasussex .