Taekwon-Do at The Sixth Form College

Five Sixth Form College students recently took part in a Taekwon-Do competition held in Moreton on Easter Saturday. The event attracted competitors from Taekwon-Do schools’ around the North of England. The students took part in sparring and patterns events in their various coloured belt divisions, and all 5 came away with medals.

The students attend Taekwon-Do lessons in college as part of The Sixth Form College’s Enrichment programme. Students from the College’s Taekwon-Do group also recently attended a sparring workshop given by Hwang Suil, the Japanese National Coach famed for doing the motion capture moves for the video game Tekken, which clearly inspired them going by the fantastic medal results.

Jennifer Rampling, who currently studies Law, English Language and Literature and Drama & Theatre Studies at The Sixth Form College was delighted to achieve 2 Bronze medals in the competition, “I am the newest member to the college’s Taekwon-Do group so I was really excited about taking part in my first competition. I think the extra opportunities available at College, such as Taekwon-Do, are fantastic and give me an opportunity to develop interests that I wouldn’t have thought of trying otherwise.”

The College’s Taekwon-do group is led by Science Teacher, Helen Bennett who teaches Chemistry and Applied Science at The Sixth Form College. Helen has been practising Taekwon-do for 29 years and is the current Veteran World Champion after competing in the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) World Championships in Tajikistan in 2014. Helen trains at least 3 times a week, as well as running the Taekwon-Do group at college.

Helen said, “It was an amazing feeling to be named Veteran World Champion at the ITF World Championships last year. I have been practising Taekwon-Do for many years now and wanted to pass the skills and experience I have developed on to the students. Taekwon-Do is fantastic at focusing the mind, reducing stress and improving confidence – all of which I think are of excellent benefit to our students - especially around exam time.”

Taekwon-Do at The Sixth Form College