Kicking up a storm

Imperial College TaeKwonDo (ICUTKD) has returned to its World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) roots this year, and recently entered its first WTF competition in a long time. On Sunday 5th February, Brentford Leisure Centre was host to the Taekwondo London International Open 2012, with competitors from all over the world – notably a team of specialists, which included an Olympic athlete from Korea (the home of the exciting sport.) ICUTKD put forward a team of six fighters for the intermediate level sparring category, and came back strong with a six medal haul.

At the start of the competition, everyone was welcomed with a demonstration given by the Korean team from Yong In University, one of the top three institutes dedicated to studying martial arts in Korea. Throughout the rest of the day we were able to observe a number of other competitors including European champions and the aforementioned Korean gaining insight into their fighting techniques and experience. With most of the team having started this year, and being from a wide range of martial arts backgrounds and abilities, the London Open served as a good starting point to their competitive careers, giving them a great opportunity to put their skills to the test in a competitive environment.

All the hard work and training paid off, with everyone winning medals. Inspired by his chat with the olympian, Bhavesh Patel was the first to start and went on to claim bronze. His team-mates were equally successful, with Mayghal Vijapura also winning bronze, James Ko and Kaki Liu winning silver medals, and Roy Lambert winning gold. The most experienced member of the team, Chris Dancel, also brought back a gold medal and finished his final match in style with a technical knockout that ended the match in a matter of seconds.

We look forward to our next major competition, this time with other university clubs at the British Student Taekwondo Federation (BSTF) national championships next month. Check out our website, www.icutkd.co.uk to see more pictures and videos. We train weekly, on Mondays, 6-9pm in the Union Gym.