2nd Annual London Sparring Course 2015

The May bank holiday weekend heralded the return of the two day TTA London Sparring Course. Now in its second year, the weekend has earnt its place in the TTA calendar with a large dose of sparring drills, fitness training and valuable insight from Grandmaster Loh. The course introduced a variety of new team agility drills, with the entire class running, hopping and jumping over a forest of legs to reach either end of the hall. We also saw the return of old favourite paired sparring techniques (veterans of the last TTA Summer School will remember hours of check side kick, back kick fondly). Below are the recollections from a range of the weekend’s survivors.

“The recent London sparring weekend was a turning point in my Taekwondo progression. The amazingly creative and effective approach of Grandmaster Loh, with loads of new exercises and drills building up from basic kicks to very complex combinations, together with my awesome partner who kept me focused (thank you!), has given me bags of confidence in reaching new heights – literally – and I have since been sparring with a big smile!”
Maria Carapeto

“As the most junior club member at the sparring course, it was with a combination of excitement and trepidation that I arrived on the Saturday. It turned out to be a brilliant opportunity to practice and train with seniors and other grades; I learned and (I hope!) improved a great deal.”
Ben Astley

“The London sparring course was a great way to focus on flexibility and stamina whilst developing both basic and advanced taekwondo techniques. The opportunity to learn from the extensive experience of our Grandmaster was invaluable, and I particularly enjoyed how theoretical aspects of the martial art including philosophy, anatomy and physiology were integrated into the training sessions.”
Joanna Shepherd

“The sparring course was a great weekend. After spending time warming up with some interesting exercises – my favourite being hopping over people – we started on kicking drills. They started simply, with each of us taking turns to side kick our partners down the hall, before developing into more complex multiple kick combinations – some I hadn’t even thought of before! As a result I have added a lot of moves to my sparring repertoire and improved my speed dramatically. I’m very grateful to Grandmaster Loh for coming down to teach us over the bank holiday weekend.”
Jennifer Small