Coach full of praise for his Manor Park students

Manor Park School of Tae Kwon-Do’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ picked up a haul of three gold, two silver and three bronze medals at the Global International British Open Championships held in Cheltenham on Sunday.

The team of seven youngsters from the Hathaway Community Centre-based club, took part in the tough competition after a long period of hard training.

Five of the group are also on the national squad which takes part in competitions both at home and internationally.

The club now boasts two more British champions in boys’ lightweight and middleweight sparring – Safee Hussain and Malachi Staveley – as well as Aisha Hussain, who is a two-time national champion in the girls’ red belt patterns.

Instructor Pat Houlihan, who is a fourth dan, said: “These martial artists have trained very hard for between three and four years and have taken part in many national and two world championships.

“Aisha will be taking her black belt exam in October and will go on to achieve great things in taekwondo and in life in general.

“She has total focus and a deep commitment to everything she does. I am proud of all the team as they demonstrate great bravery to step up to the mat and fight someone they have never met in their life.

“I’m particularly proud of Safee and Malachi, who have never won gold before despite entering between 10 and 15 competitions.

“They never gave up on their hopes and continued to work hard and improve everytime. Theirs were two well-deserved gold medals.”

The club will enter students into four more competitions this year, but are already on track to beat their last years impressive record.

? If you are interested in joining the Manor Park School of Tae Kwon-Do, check out the website manorparktaekwondo.com for more information.