Max Shand : How it all began

After been nagged by my 2 younger brothers for over 2 months about how good taekwondo is, and how good it would be if I came along. I gave in and decided that I could go along at leased once in my very busy schedule, as I worked 24/7 with computer issues.  I remember in May 2000 on a Wednesday I tagged along and met a rather unusual Scotsman called Mr Shields... I for some reason thought a Tae KwonDo Instructor would be a Huge towering Muscle bound man. As my training has progressed I have found that kind of stereo type to be completely wrong.. AM I RIGHT !  Anyway, back to the story. I met with the Instructor and he was very approachable and asked If I would like to join in rather that just watch ... so as a fool I am I thought OK.... well the next couple of days after I thought I would never be able to walk normal again with all the ACHES & PAINS.

After attending that first lesson there was something about how I felt afterwards, when I came out of the hall.. It just felt like .....I was ALIVE !!!!

I spoke to my wife SAM about the ordeal and asked her to come along... for years she had been inviting me to aerobics and I had always given some kind of excuse (well it was aerobics). Anyway she was very unsure at first and after a bit more persuasion she decided to come along... my words were IF YOU GIVE IT A TRY AND DON'T LIKE IT I WILL NOT ASK YOU EVER AGAIN..  My reason for asking her was for the self-defence aspect of Tae Kwon Do.. It does pay to have a little experience in self defence when you deal with the general public ..which is what both our jobs involved..

So we both attended the next class together and I can safely say have not looked back since.. well maybe a few times when the lessons have been extremely hard. only joking !

Max Shand : the change over !

Our club was in a kind of transition between different taekwondo practices... I joined in May 2000 and have been going for a couple of belts enjoying the new patterns and different techniques, I learnt stances and blocking, and a basic white belt form. When I received my next belt I learnt newer techniques like side kicks and a more advanced form... this felt quite refreshing, as when I had progressed to the next belt it was quite a change and kept your mind busy learning the new techniques. 

This leads me to when we joined the TTA - Traditional Taekwondo Association.. The first thing I noticed was the last belt (YELLOW) was in fact a Yellow Tag and the 3rd belt is in fact a yellow belt so in respect I gave the belt back in order to follow the new belt system... This was quite a blow in a way as I was measuring  my progress by my belts... That has of course changed and I now feel the progress in myself... Its not about going through the belts quickly its understanding the changes between them and experience the development.

The change in styles were quite extraordinary we were in fact going back to white belt techniques and learning some HARD exercises where stances were more important than anything else... I would say someone who was used to the old ways of our training would find it quite boring and hard to dedicate his training back so far... I was quite lucky as my Training has only just begun, so the change was a little less dramatic.. I feel quite fortunate as I have had a very strong foundation attending 4 times a week non stop... putting all the hard work in and feeling better for it.

TTA training has helped me hold my form better and develop a different kicking technique, which I feel is stronger and a lot more powerful.. I really appreciate the experience grandmaster T K Loh has to offer and for him to travel all the way down to Cornwall from Scotland is quite a treat.  I was very worried at the first Gradings and blew all my energy on nerves... at the seminar after I felt I could relax and he took us through some great new techniques and exercises... 

The only disadvantage over this new training is it will take me longer to obtain a black belt, as the training is much more intense and harder.. but I feel when I eventually get to that stage I will be a very strong contender...I would like to point out , when I first took up taekwondo I couldn't wait to get to black belt and it was a key motivator in my training... now I don't care what belt I hold as long as I am earning that belt with hard work and dedication....  

I have felt very good about myself in my training and I believe its not what martial art you follow its how you feel in your training and more importantly what you get out of it....! The TTA is a very strong organisation I believe it to be the best for me as it has such a strong history and with a grandmaster T K Loh to follow I will obtain great things... If you want a recommendation I would say give it a go, It can only be really really hard and almost impossible, but hey that's what life is, is it not ?