TTA Team competition April 2019

On Sunday 7th April, TTA London attended the 34th TTA British Team Championships in Glasgow at Bellahouston Centre in Glasgow.

35 members, a good mix of first timers and seniors competitors, travelled to Glasgow to represent London across a number of events including paired and team poomsae, individual and team kyorugi (sparring), as well as referees.

TTA London won 3 gold medals, 8 silvers and 8 bronzes, placing 3rd in the Top Clubs table, with 2 competitors placed in the Top 10 individuals medal table.

Congratulations to all the competitors and referees, and many thanks to the coaches for their essential advice and support throughout the competition.

Here are the recollections from the experience by Dan, Daniela and Nico:

I was very excited to attend the competition for the first time, and had worked hard in training to be ready for poomsae and kyorugi.

I received a lot of support in the lead-up to the day, and as a new competitor I was determined to enjoy the occasion regardless of my competitive results. I left the competition having put in a respectable display and, most importantly, being much more aware of areas to work on going forward.

It was a lot of fun seeing how the competition unfolded, including the top-level sparring and a fantastic demonstration to close out the day.

In my poomsae I made a false start but recovered, while in the kyorugi I learned to read the opponent better and scored quite highly. My defense needs a lot of work, but I was happy with my energy and didn’t take the pressure off until the end.

I will build on these lessons over the coming months and hopefully I can be back in November, I would recommend anyone who hasn’t tried to throw themselves in, it's definitely worth it!

Dan

I participated in the last TTA competition but this time it was a team competition so I was still quite nervous on the day of the event. I enjoyed the last poomsae competition so I was sure I wanted to compete again.

Practicing for the team poomsae was slightly more challenging as not only did we need to work on getting the right moves, we also had to work together as a team and make sure we were in sync with each other.

At first it was challenging because everyone has their own pace but after practicing hard and receiving a lot of support from our club mates, we were able to show a good performance.

For the kyorugi, I felt that I improved since the last competition and being able to spar with someone from another club, more senior than me, was a good learning experience. I was able to see what some of my strength were and aspects I need to work on.

The competition is a great opportunity to showcase what you have learnt during training and to meet people from other clubs, so I would encourage anyone considering joining the next competition to go for it!

Daniela

This was my second time being a TTA referee and corner judge. I can definitely say that both times have been amazingly rewarding experiences.

I was on the children and juniors' ring, and I found myself surprisingly apprehensive compared to my first time as a referee, as I felt I was responsible not just for the quality of the match, but also for the young competitors' safety. It taught me how to react quicker to different situations, making sure that all the fights would happen in a safe environment.

I would highly recommend this experience; the day was an insightful experience and really adds to your understanding of Taekwondo, as it helps to see situations from a different perspective.

Nico

Mr Cornwell and Matthew with their trophies

Results

Pair Poomsae

Celine & Sally - Silver

Mr Cornwell & Daniel - Silver

Szilvia & Ernestine Mae - Bronze

Jeongmin & Nikolett - Bronze

Team Poomsae

Mr Cornwell, Matthew & Romuald - Gold

Patrick, Tricia & Esi - Silver

Victoria, Sarah, Daniela, Jessica & Jenny - Gold

Luisa, Jamal & Elias - Silver

Dave, Seth, Thomas, Jonathan & Joshua - Bronze

Team Kyorugi

Daniela, Jessica, Sarah - Bronze

Esi, Juliane, Tricia - Bronze

Jamal, Matthew, Patrick, Ross, Seth - Silver

Daniel, Matteo, Rory - Silver

Female Individual Kyorugi

Diana - Gold

Sally - Silver

Luisa - Silver

Esi - Bronze

Nikolett - Bronze

Szilvia - Bronze

Referees

Thomas, Elias, Mr Bender, Ms Kingsley, Nico, Mr Cornwell, Jenny, Victoria, Jon, Joshua, Dave, Romuald, Vera