RL_Taekwondo

On 20th September, students from Rayners Lane Taekwon-do
Academy travelled to Dublin, Ireland, to take part in the 1st
Open World Martial Arts Championships, which was a
prestigious event that took place over three days.

The event was hosted by world famous Grandmaster of
Taekwon-do, Grandmaster Hee Il Cho, 9th Dan and attended
by over 2000 competitors from countries as far away as
Canada, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Argentina, USA & Paraguay, plus
many others.

The first day of the Championships saw two students take
medals in sparring. Making Kate Barry a World bronze medallist and Lyndsey Reynolds a World silver medallist, a tremendous achievement for both of them. Academy instructor, Stuart Anslow (3rd dan), also became a World silver medallist in the black belt sparring division. Student Toni Bennett put in a good
performance in the patterns division after a nervous start, as did her sister Zoe. Both gave good performances and were unlucky not to place for medals as well. Zoe Bennett also gave some fine performances in the junior sparring division and after some tough fights was again unlucky not to place in a medal position going out just before the semi finals, still a tremendous achievement in itself.

The second day of the event saw the instructors long time
friend and training partner John O'Connor (2nd dan, BUTF)
become a World bronze medallist in the destruction division
and Instructor Stuart Anslow became World Champion in
destruction after taking the gold medal in a well contested
division.

Just taking part in an event of this magnitude and calibre was
a brilliant experience for all those that went. All the students
had a great time and learnt a lot. The medals won at this
World Championships from a single club is testimony to the
quality of training and student dedication coming out of
Rayners Lane Taekwon-do Academy and next year they are
hoping that more students have the opportunity to take part in
such a prestigious event.

The Academy would like to thank Racal Acoustics for its
donation towards the cost of travelling to this World
Championship.

The students who went to this event wrote a report on what
they felt about attending a World Championships. To read
them please click on the name below

Miss Lyndsey Reynolds Miss Toni Bennett Miss Kate Barry Miss Zoe Bennett