This weekend our school participated in the WKSA Scottish Tournament, the first tournament for us since 2019. It was great to be back and we were very happy to see Kuk Sa Nim (our Grandmaster) once again visiting us in Scotland and to see all our Kuk Sool family – it has been far too long!
Friday Tournament
Normally we would kick things off with National Testing but this year we had the 2nd – 4th Dahn adults competition up first.
Many thanks to Kuk Sool WonTM of Bathgate for hosting us in their beautiful dojang for the Friday evening tournament. Being able to compete before grading was a very welcome change for the higher ranked Black Belts!
Competing on Friday were our school owner PSBN Andrew, KSN Ruaridh and myself. KSN Ruaridh brought home a Gold, Silver and 2 Copper medals and I won a Gold, Silver and Copper. Both of us are proud that we managed to both win a Gold medal at the KSN level.
However, we are especially proud of our Instructor PSBN Andrew who won the Grand Champion award in his division, winning Gold in all 6 of his categories!
Saturday
Saturday began with the National Testing. It is always a challenge and everyone worked extremely hard. It was great to see the high standard of everyone grading again especially considering the challenges we have had in training regularly over the last 2 years. Two of our students, JKN Brian and DBN Stuart, completed their first testing towards their next rank. The first one is always the most nerve racking so well done to both of them!
The tournament which followed saw 2 of our newer students competing, Apoorva and Deary. They have both shown great progress in the last few months and were rewarded with a medal in every category they competed in. Deary won 2 Gold medals and 1 Bronze and Apoorva won Bronze and 2 Coppers.
The 1st Dahn Black Belts were last up this year. We had JKNs Chris and Craig representing us and in a very competitive division they managed a Gold, 3 Bronzes and a Copper.
Promotions
Finally the event is rounded off with the promotion ceremony with 4 of our Black Belts achieving their next rank! After acheiving a Black Belt rank it takes at least 4 more years to move up to the next rank. Everyone promoting has faced a lot of challenges and disruption over the last couple years so we are all extremely proud of their hard work and making time for their own training even when we couldn’t all train together. PSBN Andrew had the following to say about each of our newly promoted Black Belts:
PSBN Ruaridh
“It is very exciting to see Ruaridh promote to the rank of PSBN (3rd Dahn) and become our highest ranked student ever. PSBN Ruaridh has been working hard helping run classes recently and is a great training partner of mine. He has always had incredible athletic ability but the last few years he has grown a lot, particularly with the more technical elements of Kuk Sool training and is growing into an exceptional martial artist. Congratulations PSBN!”
We also have three new KSNs (2nd Dahns) to congratulate.
KSN Fiona
“KSN Fiona is the first student of mine who I have taught all the way from White Belt level to 2nd degree Black Belt. She has always been enthusiastic and determined to push herself and never gives up despite injuries or illness. I am extremely proud of her and thankful for everything she does for us at KSW Glasgow. Congratulations KSN!”
KSN Craig
“KSN Craig’s attitude and enthusiasm in class is outstanding and it has been a privilege to watch him grow and develop as a martial artist. He frequently stays behind after class just to perfect a new flip or trick and shows how repetition and the right mindset to training will let you achieve anything. Well done KSN Craig!”
KSN Chris
“KSN Chris started training with us from yellow belt and in his very first class joined in with a grading just for the fun of it. He has never shied away from a challenge and thrives on competition, winning 3 grand champion awards during his time as JKN. KSN Chris has become an invaluable instructor for us who is always happy to share his passion and experience with everyone at class, I am grateful to have him push and inspire us all at KSW Glasgow.”
Up Next
Classes are returning to normal from this evening, we are looking forward to preparing for the UK Tournament in November. We are all feeling inspired to train even harder after seeing the great standard of everyone this weekend, looking forward to seeing you all again soon!
We need more practice!
KSN Peter