Taekwondo stars of the future secure perfect performance
The adult advanced 1 class in Ely with their grading certificate. - Credit: Mark Farnham
Taekwondo pupils in Cambridgeshire saw a clean sweep as they took part in a colour belt grading.
The grading saw 10 students from the Mark Farnham Schools of Taekwondo, which has classes in Wisbech, Ely, March and Huntingdon, attend the colour belt sessions and two for the black belt star sessions.
Some children as young as five-years-old also took part at the first grading since October last year in Ely under Covid-19 guidelines.
Coach Mark Farnham said: “We achieved a 100 per cent pass rate – the examiner was Grandmaster David Oliver 9th Dan.
The adult advanced 2 class in Ely with their grading certificate. - Credit: Mark Farnham
“These gradings are conducted by 9th Dan Taekwondo Grand Masters from around the country, who each have over 45 years Taekwondo experience.
“To take part in a grading, a student needs to have worked for an allotted time and be up to a good standard for the grade they are taking.”
Adult beginners at the Mark Farnham School in Ely with their grading certificates. - Credit: Mark Farnham
Students are ranked from 10th Kup to 1st Kup, the lower number meaning the more experienced they are, before they progress onto an intermediate ranking as a black belt candidate.
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All students start at white belt and work through yellow, green, blue and red belt grades until they are ready to aim for their black belts.
The junior advanced class in Ely with their grading certificate. - Credit: Mark Farnham
Mr Farnham said it could take a minimum of three-and-a-half to four years to reach the black belt stage, in front of a panel of five 9th Dan Grandmaster examiners.
However, this is dependent on a student’s progress.
Mr Farnham added: “Students returned to some of our schools that were lucky enough to open in April.
The junior beginners 1 class in Ely with their grading certificates. - Credit: Mark Farnham
“Since this time, schools have been opening and we now have all 16 schools have returned to full operation.
“This makes a total of over 14,500 students passing colour belt gradings with the schools in the last 33 years.”
The junior beginners 2 class in Ely with their grading certificates. - Credit: Mark Farnham
ELY RESULTS
9th Kup
Tomas Bellamy; Jacob Day; Isaac Howlett; Violet Jefferys; Ariyaana Khanom; Emma Kiss and Zara Minas.
8th Kup
Joshua Howlett; Suri Lee; Monica Martin-Hogg and Henry White.
6th Kup
Finn Gilbert; Arwen Horsfall; Laura Keay and Neo Pearce.
4th Kup
Nikodem Budzinski; Shanai Horsfall; Veaceslav Pascal; Mario Sellers-Sanchez and Pablo Sellers-Sanchez.
3rd Kup
Daniel Bainbridge and Natalia Teli.
