Confidence is King!

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Martial Arts is about so much more than punching & kicking. It’s the most effective path to all-round personal development.
 
I’m sure if you asked any parent who’d enrolled their children in a martial arts class what they were hoping to gain from their membership it’s pretty unlikely they’d say they wanted them to learn to fight. It’s all about the many other benefits, including focus, self-discipline, respect for them self and for others, confidence, assertiveness and so much more.
 
Here’s a great example of two young lads who’ve been with us for a few years now. Jack and Thomas and are now approaching their black belt examination next month. When they joined us they were both pretty quiet kids who’d barely say ‘boo’ to a goose, and yet this week they stood up in front of their whole school to give a presentation about their martial arts. There were probably 150 people in the room so that’s a pretty nerve-wracking thing for anyone to do, but they absolutely rocked it and got a fantastic response from both students and teachers alike..
Jack-Tom-2859
Given the number of adults who’d tell you their biggest fear is public speaking, you can imagine how proud we are to see the confidence these boys have developed through their training at the Black Belt Academy!
A lovely picture and your words above are very true. The boys have learnt so many skills in the lead up to their black belt all of which they will take forward into their school life and beyond. Although the journey so far has been tough we are so glad we met Richard Olpin at a fair in Dursley and signed Tom up all those years ago!
– Jo Munyard

2015 – A Year of Success

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Well, we’ve had a fantastic year at the Academy, and I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone for their support over the past 12 months.

2015 was a big year for Ilyokwan as we celebrated our 20th anniversary in September and had some notable successes through the year too:

In May our Chief Instructor Master Olpin was awarded a ‘Gold Award’ from Martial Arts Illustrated magazine and inducted into their prestigious Hall of Fame. Then,in July three of our top students to be recognised at the National Student Awards, including our two assistant instructors Mr Hirst and Mrs Williamson and our first ever Black Belt, Shona Thornhill. Mr Hirst was also recognised at the ‘Warriors Assemble – The Fighting Spirit Awards‘ awards in October for his outstanding dedication to the arts in spite of his brittle bones.   We’ve also seen three new Black Belt promotions too, Mr Knott and Mr Powell attaining their first degree and Mrs Williamson promoted to third degree black belt.

Fantastic stuff!

Here’s looking forward to an even more amazing year in 2016

20th Anniversary. Two decades of Black Belt Excellence

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A great little article in the Gazette this week about Master Olpin celebrating the Academy’s 20th Anniversary here in Cam.

It’s a little late as the actual anniversary was back in September, but the paper only just picked up on it recently..

In the photo with Master Olpin you’ll see our two leadership team assistants, Robbie Hirst and Shirley Williamson who are undoubtably the two most loyal students we’ve ever had, along with Shona Thornhill who was Master Olpin’s first black belt graduate back in 2000..

Here’s to the next 20 years eh!

14 year old Martial Artist defends herself from attack

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Parents – if you’ve ever considered enrolling your children in the martial arts for self defence, here’s a great example of exactly why you should!

Original article published in The Metro – Thursday 9 Oct 2014

Attacker, 35, beaten up by girl, 14, when he grabbed her in a park

A would-be attacker was left battered, bruised and embarrassed after picking on the wrong person – a 14-year-old female martial artist.
The schoolgirl was walking home alone through a park near her home when the 35-year-old man came up behind her and grabbed her arms.
He soon realised his mistake when the young teen, who has studied martial arts for several years, broke free from his hold and started raining punches and kicks on him – despite being less than half his age.
Sussex Police arrested the man – described as being ‘very thin’ and around 5ft 7ins – shortly after his attempted assault in Tilgate Park, Crawley and are appealing for any witnesses to the Saturday morning incident to come forward.
‘Although we have made an arrest, we need to speak to anyone who was in Tilgate Park on Saturday morning and saw what happened,’ said Detective Inspector Andy Bennett.
‘We need to find people who may have seen a man acting suspiciously in or around the park on Saturday or on other occasions.’

 

If you’d like to learn more about our martial arts and self defence programmes for any age group, get in touch today and we’d invite you to try 30-days FREE membership as our guests so see the benefits for yourself.

 

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Team Ilyokwan Smashed it at Tough Mudder!

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Last Saturday 11 of us took part in the gruelling Tough Mudder event at the Bathurst estate in Cirencester.

Team Ilyokwan at the Finish Line

Team Ilyokwan at the Finish Line of Tough Mudder South West 2014

 

View More Photos from Tough Mudder HERE

“Tough Mudder is a 10-12 mile obstacle course designed to test all-around strength, stamina, teamwork, and mental grit. Tough Mudder is Probably the Toughest Event on the Planet. Probably”

https://toughmudder.co.uk/events/what-is-tough-mudder

Want to join us for a future event?  Keep an eye on our Tough Mudder page for more info

Instructor of the Year / New Junior Black Belts

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Here’s a little article in the Gloucestershire Gazette today about our three latest junior black belt promotions, plus Master Olpin’s promotion to 6th Dan and his “Instructor of the Year” award from last xmas (old news!).

Black Belt Promotions and a National Award for Richard Olpin

Success Stories – Alex receives an award at School

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Last weekend we saw a post on Facebook from the mum of one of our junior students. This is what it said..

I have had a private text from school asking me to attend assembly tomorrow and not to say anything to Alex….. Can’t help thinking whats he done or not done?! 

Sounds ominous, but then the next day’s update:

He got a Gold Star!! For being kind, working hard, making his teacher laugh every day with his sense of humour and growing in confidence daily. Result was I cried but am so very, very proud of him

Excellent, thats great to hear!  Even better when she followed that up with:

I think the Ilyokwan Black Belt Academy has been the greatest thing helping his confidence. Thank you Richard Olpin!!!

Alex S

This is the real power of personal development through the martial arts programmes we teach here at the Academy.

It’s not just about punching and kicking, it’s about developing real life skills.   Here we see a child developing into a kind, hard-working and confident young man and his mum attributes those improvements directly to the positive start he’s gained from his training here at the Academy.

Well done Alex, we’re so pleased, and very proud of you!

Thanks again to our friends at St Joseph’s School in Nympsfield.  We have a number of students in common and I know we share some similar goals to help them develop as well-rounded, confident and positive individuals.

If you’re interested in giving your family a real a Positive Start in life, then get in touch. Try our programmes  free of charge as our guest for 30 days, and you’ll see the rewards for yourself!

Success Stories – Dillon

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Dillon Callinan

When we first met Dillon he was really shy, and you’d be lucky to get a few words out of him even if you asked a direct question.

How amazing then to see him a few years later where he stood up in front of his whole school and gave a 20 minute presentation about his martial arts to well over 100 people! Such a huge improvement in his confidence since he began training at the Academy. 

Well done Dillon!