March 8th 2020 was graduation day for Chuldow Taekwon-Do. An important day for many students but certainly so for Jonna Laitinen and Hannah Hedigan both from the Morley Academy as they were put forward for promotion to 1st Degree Black Belt. Miss Hedigan and Mrs Laitinen were both put through their paces for over three hours and worked exceptionally hard demonstrating skill in patterns, sparring, breaking and self defence.
Both students demonstrated a superb level of skill, knowledge and endurance and were successful in achieving their promotion.
Congratualtions Miss Hannah Hedigan 1st Degree Cadet and Mrs Jonna Laitinen 1st Degree. A superb effort.
The first black belt graduation of 2020 was a small affair, three kickboxers took to the mats to be put through their paces. With such small numbers there was nowhere to hide but it did not deter Philip Stevens, Caroline Sanderson or Cam Hauer all of whom were thoroughly tested and emerged from the ordeal exhausted but jubilant in their success. Philip Stevens and Caroline Sanderson both achieved 1st Dan Black Belt after a fantastic display of skill and determination. Leading the way and setting a fine example as always Mr Cam Hauer showed us all how it is done achieving his 3rd Dan Black Belt after a gruelling assessment covering every aspect of kickboxing and then some.
Sunday being a day of rest…unless of course you study Karate…meant that three more candidates hit the mats to be assessed in their skill and knowledge of Karate. Campbell Jones (Wakefield), Kay Benson (Royston) and Cam Hauer (Wakefield) were all put through their paces. After a thorough and exhausting test of their skills, knowledge and stamina, Campbell Jones achieved 1st Dan Cadet and Kay Benson achieved 1st Dan. Meanwhile Mr Cam Hauer, not sat at home nursing aching legs and sore abs as one would expect had instead achieved his 2nd Dan in Karate showing an amazing mental and physical resilience and once again setting an example to everyone present.
What a brilliant weekend and excellent results all round, well done all!
It was a cold, wet and miserable day on Saturday November 23rd 2019. Inside Chuldow HQ it was not cold and it was not miserable but looking at the Kickboxers doing their graduation it was very wet, with sweat. The black belt candidates more than anyone. The list of names is long but distinguished with Damien Dean and Shane Griffiths from Wakefield HQ, Mia Mistry, Nikki Ryatt and Geoff Walton from Morley, Matthew Lambert, Neil Harrison, William Haigh, Harry Senior, Dean Wilcox, Victoria Peckover and Alfie Smith of Knottingley and Stacy Wood of Normanton all achieving their 1st Dan Black Belts. The standard across the board was very high and the sweat poring off everyone was a testament to the effort they all put in. Special mention must be given to Mr Dean Wilcox. He probably won’t be happy about being singled out as he is clearly a man who expects no special treatment, regardless of the challenges he faces but nevertheless it was obvious that everyone watching was inspired and impressed by the skill he has achieved despite being visually impaired. Everyone achieving their Black Belt received thunderous applause as is appropriate and deserved but the applause for Mr Wilcox rightly went on and on. Someone to think about when you feel training is too hard or too challenging!
Mr Jon Colley of Wakefield HQ went further, a particularly challenging graduation to 2nd Dan as he was sharing the mats with Mr Jeffery Moore who was himself looking for promotion to 4th Dan. Both were seriously tested in advanced technique and watching Mr Moore’s walk of pain, even after hours of exertion sympathy went out to his pad holder, seriously powerful kicks. An amazing achievement to push beyond black belt, both gentlemen a credit to Chuldow.
Sunday saw the Karate Black Belt Candidates take to the mats. Prem Meisura of Normanton and Jessica Hargreave of Thornhill both achieving their 1st Dan demonstrated superb skill and technical ability whilst Mr David Skeldon of Wakefield HQ achieved promotion to 3rd Dan, showing skills honed through years of practice and hard work. All three were put through their paces for hours and tested to the limits of their knowledge and technical skill. It was a smaller affair than Sunday for sure but nevertheless an impressive display from three superb Karateka.
Congratulations to all the new Chuldow Black Belts and Advanced Dans!
It is not unusual for there to be small numbers of people taking a Black Belt test, the air is pretty thin up there after all but on Saturday 21st of September 2019, when she arrived to take her 1st Dan Cadet in Kickboxing, young Abigail Fellows (Morley) was told she was on her own, solo, just her under the scrutiny of the assessment panel and Master Hauer. It didn’t phase Abigail though and she met every challenge given with gusto and at the end was successful is achieving her Black Belt!
Sunday was the opposite! The karate candidates numbered ten but nevertheless they were subject to the same scrutiny. Joshua Gledhill (Rothwell), Kian Morris (Knottingley), Leah Clarke (Knottingley), Lewis Stone (Knottingley), Umar Hussain (Thornhill Lees) and Uthman Hussain (Thornhill Lees) were all successful in gaining 1st Dan Cadet in Karate after a long and trying test of their skills and knowledge. James Turford (Knottingley), Philip Townsend (Wakefield) and Chloe Watson (Wakefield) were each fully tested in their technical knowledge, mental toughness and skill and were awarded 1st Dan in Karate whilst Victoria Ledger (Wakefield), an accomplished and talented Cadet was tested for the first time as an adult and set a shining example to those following as she achieved her 2nd Dan Black Belt in Karate.
One thing most people will remember about the 20th
of July 2019, it was hot…very, very hot. A select few Chuldow kickboxers will
also remember it was hot but they will also remember that despite the heat they
braved the gruelling experience of a Chuldow Black Belt Graduation. Majka Karas
and Rachel Woodhead of Wakefield, Nathan Smith of Knottingley and Sonia D’Cruze
of Normanton were all successful in gaining 1st Dan Black Belt in
Kickboxing, a feat in itself but the determination and physical conditioning
needed to complete the test in the middle of a heat wave make this achievement
truly stand out.
It was no less stifling and no less impressive on Sunday when the Karateka took to the mats. Oliver and Joshua Barnaby of Normanton, Niamh Foley and Rebecca Laverty of Knottingley, Rebecca Dean and Jolyon Brett of Chapel Allerton were all put through their paces and thoroughly tested despite the heat and achieved 1st Dan Black Belts in Karate. Meanwhile Elliot Banks and David O’Regan of Knottingley and Nihal Waseem of Wakefield went on to demonstrate the higher levels of technical excellence, experience and knowledge to achieve 2nd Dan Black Belt. Mr Michael Fisher of Wakefield pushed on, showing amazing levels of technique, fitness and knowledge of Karate to achieve the coveted level of 3rd Dan Black Belt.
