May was another big month for KSW Glasgow. In what is now becoming an annual tradition, we travelled to two tournaments in two weekends, hundreds of miles apart. We had a small team of 13 students competing in the Scottish tournament and as always they did us proud.
WKSA Scottish Championships — Xcite Winchburgh, 22nd–23rd May
This year’s Scottish Championships were held across two venues over the weekend again, with Adult Black Belt Tournament on the Friday evening in the Bathgate dojang and the rest of the events happening on Saturday in Winchburgh, near Livingston.
We brought 13 students to compete. Every single one of them came home with a medal.
Our students are people at very different stages of their journey. Different ranks, ages and experience levels, many of whom were stepping onto a competition mat in front of judges for the first time. They all put the time in to their training, grew as a collective group, and delivered great results on the day. There’s a saying I keep coming back to: you don’t rise to the level of your expectations, you fall to the level of your training. Our students have clearly been training well, I couldn’t be more proud of all of you.
As a school, we placed 7th overall. Given the small size of our team, this reflects just how high the individual standard was across the board.
More importantly, though, everyone said they had a great experience and the joy on all their faces in so many of the photos I’ve seen over the weekend is what I am most proud of.
Sally — Jo Kyo Nim
The undoubted highlight of the weekend was Sally’s promotion to Jo Kyo Nim — 1st Degree Black Belt.
Sally came to us as a red belt, having originally trained at the former KSW Liverpool school. From the moment she joined, she set about improving her standard consistently and methodically as we do here at KSW Glasgow. She’s the kind of student every instructor appreciates — always putting in extra work during open sessions, drilling her forms for tournament, filming herself to analyse what she’s doing and where she can improve. Not just because she’s told to. Because she wants to.
Congratulations, JKN Sally.
First Timers and Standout Moments
Several of our students competed for the very first time this year, and every single one of them rose to the occasion.
On the Friday evening, Stuart competed in the adult black belt tournament for the first time and won his first ever gold medal, for his staff form. He wasn’t even sure he would enter that division until a week before the tournament and got the top reward for his effort. A testament to how he has been training over the last few months, well done.
Kiani and Nathan, both at yellow belt, stepped onto the mat as first-time competitors and between them came away with three silvers and a gold. Brilliant results for anyone, let alone students at that stage of their journey. I’m sure there’s plenty more good results to come for you both.
Kate was another first-timer, and one who I thought would maybe never compete due to how nervous she can get. After years of not particularly enjoying (hating) performing in front of us at class, she managed to get into the ring and show what she can do to complete strangers. And even more amazingly, she won a silver for her form and two bronze medals. All this after taking part in National Testing earlier in the day too. Most importantly said she really enjoyed the experience too!
Yellena has had a tough time recently with some long term injuries, and the fact that she was competing at all showed how much determination she has. She performed her staff without mistake and was rewarded with a copper medal in her first tournament. It is just great seeing her able to train more frequently again and I’m delighted she managed to compete well and enjoy her first tournament. Well done, Yellena.
Another Special Promotion
The thing I love most about tournament weekends is the people. We had friends from KSW Westhill, Inverurie, and Widnes stay with us over the weekend, and the time spent together is genuinely one of the best parts of being in this organisation.
A special mention goes to Malcolm from KSW Inverurie. Malcolm and I have been mates since we trained together when we were both Dahn Bo Nims at the Aberdeen school, about 17 years ago now… On Saturday morning, I had the honour of taking his final testing before he was promoted to Pu Sa Bum Nim – 3rd Dahn. Walking with him to receive his promotion was a very proud moment for me. Congratulations, PSBN Malcolm.
WKSA European Championships — UEA Sportspark, Norwich, 29th–30th May
The following weekend, PSBN Sarah and I made the trip down to Norwich for the European Championships, sharing the journey with Master Karl and PSBN Sarah Martindale from KSW Widnes. Norwich is a genuinely lovely city, and between the competition we had a great time wandering the cobbled streets, eating well, and spending more time with friends from all over.
Congratulations to KSW Widnes
Before anything else — congratulations to KSW Widnes on winning their 32nd tournament overall. Thirty-two. That is an extraordinary, completely unmatched achievement in this martial art. Their standard is always an inspiration, and this weekend was no different.
Also my friend and competitor, SBN Richard from KSW Fakenham, who after opening his school only 3 years ago won overall 2nd place in the final standings. That’s an incredible achievement in such a short space of time. His self-defence routine at the tournament was great to watch too, and a well earned Gold medal for him in that, massive congratulations!
Mine and Sarah’s Competition
I competed in the younger SBN division, and it was arguably the toughest level of competition I’ve ever faced at a tournament. I’m incredibly proud to have won medals in all my categories, with a gold medal for techniques. There’s still plenty to improve on, and that’s exactly what I’ll be taking away from it.
PSBN Sarah had a strong weekend, winning four medals in total — three 4th place copper medals across her forms and a bronze medal for sparring. Competing at this level is never easy. Four medals is a result to be proud of and shows how her standard has been steadily increasing over the last few years.
New Masters
On Saturday evening we gathered for our now almost traditional post tournament night out. We had the pleasure of celebrating with Phil Murphy and Nicola Slack on their promotion to Master. Congratulations to both — a huge achievement, and a brilliant night.
Final Thoughts
I always absolutely love this week of tournaments every year. It’s a lot of travelling, hard work and minimal sleep but it is so worth it. I came back tired, happy, and genuinely proud — of our students, of our friends across the organisation, and of what this community represents.
These events are what Kuk Sool is all about for me and, as always, I’m so inspired to keep training hard and push for more next time around! If you haven’t been to Norwich for a tournament weekend, you really should, it’s a brilliant weekend.
Can’t wait to see everyone who was there again at the UK Tournament in November.