Perse Prep pupils aim to strike at International Taekwon-do Cup
William and Sophia (both Year 6) are as pleased as punch to be taking part in the International Taekwon-do Cup for Children in Poland next week.
They will be meeting opponents from across the world at the tournament in Lublin, with William competing in the boys’ U11 green tag category and Sophia in the girls’ U11 blue belt section.
William and Sophia both train with the Perse Prep’s after-school club, run by Cambridge Taekwon-Do lead instructor Mirfet Hassan-Spiller.
Both will be demonstrating their dexterity across three disciplines at the International Cup, including sparring, patterns – in which participants aim to display their command of multiple moves – and special technique, where they attempt to use jumping kicks to hit a board suspended at increasing heights.
William took up taekwon-do two years ago as he wanted to try something new and quickly found he had a knack for it.
He said: “I really enjoy taekwon-do. You need to learn patterns to progress, such as the Do-San, which is named after a Korean leader who dedicated himself to the education of people in Korea and the 24 moves represent his life.”
Meanwhile, Sophia got into the martial art three years ago, inspired by her sister Rebecca (Year 9), who competed in the ITF Taekwon-Do World Cup last October.
She said: “I saw my sister doing taekwon-do and it looked really cool, so I wanted to try it and she helps me a lot.
“I’ve enjoyed discovering a lot of things, such as learning some Korean, as well as the different techniques.”
Both are now relishing the chance to compete on the big stage against international opponents.
William said: “I’m really looking forward to it, especially the sparring because that’s my favourite event as it’s full contact.”
Sophia commented: “I’m so excited about the competition as there will be people from lots of different countries there and I’m especially looking forward to doing the patterns.”
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