Author: Philippa Hardy
Yorkshire Taekwondo Open
Sunday November 25 saw the reincarnation of the sought after and successful Yorkshire Open competition, created and hosted by LUU Taekwondo (LUUTKD), seeing an influx of competitors from all over Yorkshire specialising not only in Taekwondo, but also mixed martial arts, Jiu Jitsu and kickboxing.
The competition kicked off with the kids categories, which saw some of the smaller competitors work their magic and wow the crowds. Proud parents and awestruck older competitors all gathered and cheered to watch the little firecrackers with their impressive skills and fearless faces.
After a couple of hours of hectic organisation of children in patterns and sparring, the competition really heated up with LUUTKD stepping into the ring, with female and male competitors in most categories competing to win in performing patterns, point stop sparring, continuous sparring and destruction.
Coming face to face with unfamiliar fighters can be daunting for some, but LUUTKD did not seem fazed, confident that the six hours per week professional training from Murrays TKD stood them in good stead to score highly in the competition. An explosion of impressive axe kicks, flying punches and responsive footwork were skilfully used against the other teams to push LUUTKD to the top of the leader board where they remained for the rest of the day.
Over half of the LUUTKD team walked away with a bronze, silver or gold medal. Medallists included Nicky Watt, Ben Brazel, Rob Hon, Elena–May Jones, Ekbal Hussain, Hannah Furey, Aurelien Bunga, David Cumming, Pip Hardy, Adele Harrison and Reuven Davidson.
However the best was yet to come: after all of the children’s category and adult coloured belts had finished the gruelling and highly expert black belt fights commenced, raising the already vibrant atmosphere to a new level. The black belt competition is its own entity which all other competitors look forward to, not only as a great spectacle, but also to learn new tactics and techniques from the experts in the field.
The black belt competition started with expertly demonstrated highly technical patterns, with such precision and power that really does bring taekwondo back to its Korean roots. Leeds’ very own British Champion Charlie Jones swooped in to claim his gold in patterns. The sparring this year saw all of the instructors compete, experts in taekwondo with more years experience in the sport than most of the competitors put together. Their participation was a surprise not only to the organisers but also the other competitors and spectators, which sent an anticipatory hum around the sports hall and a rush of spectators locating cameras to record the legends at work.
The showcase commenced and the instructors dominated the mats. Will LUU Taekwondo win Gold again? The society will be hosting the British University Taekwondo Championship in February 2013, another LUUTKD-created competition, now in its second year. LUUTKD will also be touring the UK and competing at University and public competitions, the next one being at De Monfort University on Saturday December 1, Fancy giving taekwondo a go? Visit leedsuniversityunion.org.uk/clubsandsocieties/martialarts/taekwondo/. The first lesson is always free so come and get addicted.