Masters

I started Tae Kwon-Do in 1974. ‘Enter the Dragon’ had just been released and there was great public interest in all martial arts because of Bruce Lee.

I picked Tae Kwon-Do purely by chance as it was advertised in the local paper that week and I started training with Mr Clive Neal (2nd degree at the time) who was one of the first civilians in the UK to get his black belt under FGM Rhee Ki Ha. 

I took all my coloured belt gradings under FGM Rhee. I still remember taking my yellow tag as there were 400 white belts there from all over the country. A bit different to how it is nowadays where the examiner comes to the students.

I took my first degree in 1984. My instructor never pushed us to grade, we just enjoyed training. I eventually took my 2nd degree in 1992. Both gradings were under GM He Il Cho.  After several years at 2nd degree, I left Tae Kwon-Do and studied other martial arts and earned two other 3rd degrees.

When I decided to return to Tae Kwon-Do I joined a club in Solihull run by Mr Ian Hughes.

I took my 3rd degree in 2003 and my 4th degree in 2009 under GM Oldham. I then sustained a back injury that eventually needed surgery.

The surgeon and doctors all told me that I would have to stop training due to my back condition.
I decided that was not going to happen and eventually after a lot of work and pain I took and passed my 5th degree in 2015.  It was my favourite grading, partially because of the people I was grading with but mainly because I proved the surgeon and doctors wrong.

I took my 6th degree in 2018. GMO allowed me to take it early it as I had long gaps between gradings in my past.
I'm very grateful that he did because health issues occurred shortly after which severely restricted my ability to train regularly

I was awarded my 7th degree in September 2025. I was taken aback as I had resigned myself to the fact that I would never achieve it due to my health so it was a surprise when I received a phone call from Grandmaster Oldham to inform me.

Even after I took 10 years off TKD to learn other styles I still came back to TKD because it is in my opinion the best ‘all-rounder’ if trained in and applied correctly and the GTUK is the best martial arts association I have ever belonged to. 

I have met many Grandmasters, Masters, Instructors, Black Belts and Students over the years ranging from the amazing to the ‘not so amazing’.

These people came from all walks of life, but they all had one thing in common, they were all there, sweating, trying to beat their limitations and improve that little bit more. Whether they were a white belt trying to get their head around it all or a senior grade trying to master that one difficult movement, they are all part of the same like-minded group which, in my opinion, makes martial artists different from other people.

I would like to thank everyone that I have met along the journey for making it so interesting.

I often wonder how boring my life would have been if I hadn’t gone to that first class and how I would be a completely different person if I had given up at the first hardship. It has been the biggest single influence in my life and I even though I can't train like I used to it is still in the forefront of my mind every day. 

Nowadays I have a much deeper understanding of Perseverance, Self-Control and Indomitable Spirit.  Courtesy and Integrity go without saying.

So, if there is a summary to all this, it is “Don’t Give Up! Don't ever give up. It may be hard, but it is worth it.”