A Cumbrian Taekwon-Do club has proved it is among the best in the world at the discipline’s world championships.
Megan Talford, Ethan Holmes, Sam Webster, Emily Long, Kevin Long and Luke Webster belong to the UKTC club in West Cumbria and competed at the championships against martial artists from places including Mexico, Maylasia, the Netherlands and Italy.
At the event, in Scotland, UKTC was named won the teams championship, and England as a country was second place overall.
Luke, who is an instructor at the club, which holds classes across West Cumbria, said: “Our club members who attended all came home with at least a bronze medal placing third in the world for their respective categories, and some being the British champion for their division and even world champions.
“As an instructor, our goal is to ensure that our students become better than we could ever hope to be. We are exceptionally proud of each and every one of them, they have worked extremely hard to get to where they are today and deserve all of the success that may come their way.
“A large part of Taekwon-Do is perseverance, which is shown every day by our students, one little setback is not enough to stop them, they all keep pushing forward with no signs of stopping, they’re all absolutely fantastic and excellent role models to newer students and especially the younger ones.”
Nine-year-old Ethan Holmes, who has been training for five years, was placed in the top 10 for the entire championship. He won gold medals in sparring, patterns and special technique – meaning he is world champion in those disciplines and also won two silver medals at the event.
Megan Talford, 13, has been training for five years. She won a gold in special technique, making her world champion in her division and a bronze in patterns, earning her the UK champion title.
Sam Webster, 10, has been training for three years and won a bronze medal in sparring, making him the British champion for his division.
Emily Long,11, has been training for four years. Luke said: “She lost her semi-final bout in sparring, but fought absolutely brilliantly and gave her opponent an exceptionally difficult fight, Emily is headstrong and a fantastic student and she says next time will be her time.”
Kevin Long, 42, has been training for three years and won bronze in sparring.
Luke, 31, who is a second degree black belt, won bronze in team patterns, making him and his team the British champions for their division.
