Academy of Taekwon-do

380 Students in (Just Over) a Week

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On the 21st June, myself (Stuart Anslow, Chief Instructor of Rayners Lane Taekwon-do Academy), along with Senior Instructor Kate Barry, visited Bentley Wood High School for Girls, after being invited to teach Taekwon-do there by the head of PE, Emma Jones, as part of National Sports Week.

 

Over the course of a week (with a few extra classes the week after) we taught sessions to groups of around 26 students per class, most of which were total beginners, aged between 12 and 16 years old. By the end we had taught 380 students in total.

 

Having previously taught at the school back in 2019, Covid put a stop on it for 2020 and in 2021, with the students now in bubbles, we were back with the only differences being, that unlike in 2019, students didnt get a choice of whether to take the Taekwon-do sessions or pick a different sport, which created a mix of students in each class, from wildly enthusiastic to 'I don't really want to be here'.

 

The sessions followed a similar format; We started off with Introductions and a brief history of where Taekwon-do developed, followed by a loosen up, some fitness work and stretching. Then we went onto basics, in the form of line work, executing single and double punches, low blocks and front snap kicks, after which we did some of the basic kicks as partner work, cover turning kicks, side piercing kicks, back piercing kicks and reverse turning kicks, before putting them into combinations. Some classes that picked them up quickly also had a go at the flying version of the kicks.

 

Each class finished with hosinsul (self defence), which is ironic, as in my own Academy, my students are unable to practice this part of the art because of the social distancing measures in place, however, due to the 'bubbles' in the school, the students were. Students were shown how to use the basics they practiced earlier on in the sessions, to escape from simple grabs etc. which was the part of each session everyone seemed to enjoy.

 

All in all, it was a very rewarding week for everyone.

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