Academy of Taekwon-do

Ms Barry started training at Rayners Lane Taekwon-do Academy just after it was founded in April 1999 and has trained there ever since.

 

Having achieved her 1st degree black belt in 2011, she graded to 2nd degree in 2018, despite a nagging knee problem that has slowed her progress down. Ms Barry is the longest ‘still in training’ student from the Academy, having been there from the early days. 

 

Ms Barry has competed in many tournaments over the years including two World Championships where she won a silver in points sparring, a bronze in continuous sparring and a gold as part of the women's team in the open grade team sparring divisions, but her most memorable moment comes from a competition when she was an 8th kup where, following a previous training session that involved practising front leg side kicks to score quickly, she employed what she had practised in extra time and as soon as the ref said ‘sijak’ she hit her opponent with the technique, not only scoring the winning point but also lifting them off the floor and backwards with the kick.