My Understanding of Tae Kwon Do has Matured

My name is Joseph Lyward and I am 17yrs old at the time of writing this testimonial. I first started training in Tae Kwon Do when I was 10 years old, my brother and I wanted to learn how to fight properly. My Dad looked around for a good Tae Kwon Do school school in Cornwall, until we found out that my good friend Leo was a student at the Traditional Tae Kwon Do Association Bodmin school. Leo and his Dad then took my brother and I to the class in Bodmin and introduced us to the other students there. My first class was very enjoyable, I liked all the training and although I found some of the moves confusing at first I still really liked learning them.

As I passed my gradings and made my way through the ranks I was always eager to learn new moves and new poomsae. When we got to quite a high grade although my brother decided to throw in the towel, I kept going and I am incredibly glad I did.

Since starting Taekwondo I have made many friends and thanks to some determination and a lot of hard work, not to mention instruction and encouragement from my instructor Mr S Shields, my friends and I have been up to Scotland for competitions and even around the world to Malaysia and been very successful on all accounts.

When I was 15yrs old, myself and 4 other students from Cornwall travelled up to Scotland for our black belt grading. The grading was both very tough yet enjoyable, I am very glad that we all passed first time!

Since then my understanding of Taekwondo has matured, I have kept training when others have fallen by the way side, always trying to improve and better myself. Which is what Tae Kwon Do is all about in the TTA.

Joseph Lyward 1st Dan