First medal…and it’s Gold for NHEHS Academy!

On Sunday 23 June, approximately 150 Junior Taekwon-Do students from across England assembled for the Pantera TKD Under 18s Championship 2019. De Silva Taekwon-Do was very well represented with 30 entrants and among them was one of our students from the Notting Hill & Ealing High School Tuesday Taekwon-Do  classes taken by Mr Johann de Silva.

Zoe Marsland started training in the 45 minute classes which are run before school and at lunchtime and has quickly progressed, picking up the skills thanks to her dedication towards regular attendance and commitment to self improvement. These qualities were on display by the very fact that Zoe was willing to show courage and challenge herself in a competitive forum against students from numerous regional Taekwon-Do schools.

Zoe competed in the Tuls (Patterns) and Sparring disciplines. She acquitted herself well in the Patterns division, performing her pattern against a higher grade and coping well under pressure to remember the entire sequence.

Zoe then stepped onto the mats to compete in the Under 18s ladies sparring and demonstrating some impressive displays of kicking , she progressed through the rounds, eventually triumphing over her division and coming away with the Gold Medal.

The Instructors of De Silva Taekwon-Do constantly stress that your greatest opponent in Sparring is actually yourself. It is an act of courage to step out of your comfort zone and test yourself and your skills in a safe but tough and pressured environment. Zoe’s achievement is a credit to the school and also to her instructor Mr Johann de Silva. Mr De Silva is a 6th Degree Black Belt, himself a former World Champion and the Head Coach for ITF Wales. He remarked that medals are a bonus but that he was very proud of Zoe not only for the result but for the fair play and sense of enjoyment that she demonstrated throughout the day.

We are currently engaging in enrollment for the new term at Notting Hill, so for further details on how to join this martial arts class, please contact the Physical Education Department. De Silva Taekwon-Do has a full time Ealing Broadway Academy where additional lessons can be provided.