News Archive

That’s right, after finally signing the lease and officially making it ours, ISK Martial Arts is over the moon to announce that it has a new, permanent home in the middle of Redruth.

We left our previous home in Pool a few weeks ago after three great years, having outgrown it, and now have almost double the floor-space in two separate studios.

The new building is the venue of what was “Body and Soul”, a gym that was well known in the local area for years, itself having now moved on to new premises. Sadly the building isn’t in a great state of repair, and there’s a lot of work needed between now and our grand opening later in the summer. So last night a team of students and instructors from the club, armed with buckets, brooms, scrapers and ladders headed over to start the re-fit.

As you can see from the pictures, we’re still waiting on the electrical work to be completed, hence the darkness, but that didn’t stop the team going to work and getting a lot of the preparation started, including:

• Dismantling some unnecessary screens
• Tearing up the old carpets
• Scraping a lot of old, nasty wallpaper off the walls
• Repairing some holes in the wall
• Transferring the matting from the old academy
• Removing the radiators

..to name but a few jobs!

There’s still a lot to be done, but we’re martial artists, and not to be put off by the thought of a bit of hard work!

More updates to come this week, and soon a date for the grand opening.

Our intrepid bunch of 20+ students and instructors hit the road on Friday and made the long trip up to Bedford, before nipping across to Northampton the next morning for the competition. We met with old and new friends, and were lucky enough to have Grandmaster Salm in attendance before heading into the day’s competition proper.

Across the ten mats it was time for the months of preparation and training to come to the fore, with ISK’s competitors represented in the vast majority of categories. To say they did well wouldn’t be doing them justice, they far exceeded our expectations, and their own in many cases. We firmly believe that trophies are a result of hard work put in by everyone in the club; competitor, teacher, fellow students – they all have a part to play in that success, so rather than listing everyone’s names we’ll simply give an idea of how well we managed to perform on the day.

Bronze:

Girls 3rd – 1st gup sparring
Girls 3rd – 1st gup traditional hyung
Womens 8th gup sparring
Mens 7th – 6th gup sparring
Mens 1st dan chil sung hyung
Womens 1st dan traditional hyung
Womens 1st dan chil sung hyung
Masters sparring

Silver:

Mens 10th – 8th gup sparring
Womens 3rd – 1st gup sparring
Wonens 3rd – 1st gup tradtional hyung
Womens 3rd – 1st gup chil sung hyung
Mens 7th gup sparring
Mens 3rd – 1st gup sparring
Mens 3rd – 1st gup chang bong hyung
Mens 3rd – 1st gup traditional hyung
Mens 1st dan chil sung hyung
Mens 2nd dan dangum hyung

Gold:

Girls 3rd – 1st gup sparring
Womens 3rd – 1st gup chang bong hyung
Mens 3rd – 1st gup sparring
Junior 3rd – 1st gup sparring
Junior 3rd – 1st gup chil sung hyung
Mens 1st dan sparring
Mens 1st dan traditional hyung
Womens 3rd – 1st gup tradtional hyung
Womens 3rd – 1st gup chil sung hyung
Womens 1st dan chil sung hyung
Womens 1st dan chang bong hyung

There may be a couple of others which slipped through the net, but we were lucky enough to walk away with the men’s Grand Champion award (and very nearly the women’s). All in all, it was a great event with some fantastic performances – especially in the Masters division – and the perfect preparation for the World Championships in Florida this summer.

Many thanks to Master Kumar for once again hosting and organising a great tournament, and to all the clubs represented over the weekend, our extended family continues to grow.

Sunday saw the Summer gup grading for ISK Martial Arts, once again setting the standards for Tang Soo Do in Cornwall. Students from all over Cornwall gathered at the Falmouth Dojang to be pushed physically and mentally, in a celebration of everything learned and practised since their last grading.

Expectations and nerves were running high after the Spring grading, when not everyone passed, and a sticky, humid day did nothing to help. From the first group on the mats though, it was clear that not even a single person had been complacent, and the extra training put in by many of the candidates was apparent from the outset.

Those same standards continued as the small group of green belts took the mat, albeit for a sterner test of their fitness and ability (not to mention knowledge). Being a school which teaches not only the traditional and Chil Sung hyungs, but also weapons, meant that a wide scope of skills were put to the test. However, the extra weight of responsibility and expectation on those hoping to progress closer to the senior ranks did nothing to dampen their spirit or affect their performances.

Finally one brave soul took the mat on his own, hoping to progress to the last of the junior grades – 1st gup. Taking a higher level grading is daunting enough on its own, but doing it in front of a large bench and even larger group of fellow students only adds to the pressure. Proud instructors looked on as he sweated and gasped his way through a long and difficult test.

After all was said and done, everyone successfully passed their grading without a single referral! Below are the names and new grades of all the successful students:

Karl Shaddick – 8th Gup
Billy Hodgson – 7th Gup
Sam Inglis – 7th Gup
David Carey – 7th Gup
Dominic Flint – 7th Gup
Irmina Krezlewicz – 7th Gup
George Reith – 7th Gup
Daniel Andrew – 5th Gup
Lara Winsloe – 3rd Gup
Katherine Perkins – 3rd Gup
Aaron Dee – 1st Gup

Massive congratulations to all of you, Tang Soo!

Back in May several of ISK’s senior students ventured to the academy to take part in one of Tang Soo Do’s harder tests, the Yu Dan Ja (Dan grade) Test. Behind closed doors they had to demonstrate everything they’ve learned since starting training, under intense scrutiny and demanding physical conditions. ISK hold very high standards and will never allow someone to ‘buy’ their black belt, it’s got to be earned.

Five hours after entering the dojang, with blood, sweat and tears quite literally left on the floor, the testing was over and the emotionally and physically drained candidates left knowing they’d done the best they could.

Fast-forward a few weeks and the results were given, with the fantastic news that they’d all been successful! The problem with getting a promotion at such a level is that we don’t want it to go to peoples’ heads and inflate their ego – humility is one of our eight key concepts after all – so the traditional ‘chilli powder test’ (which has since been upgraded to a hotter-than-the-surface-of-the-sun paste of dubious origins…) was administered at their presentation. There’s nothing like forty pushups with your mouth on fire in front of all of your students to bring you back down a peg or two.

Mmmmm, yummy!

Welcome to the Dan grades Elly Jahnz and Jo Chinn, 1st Dan thoroughly well-earned!

Elly being presented with her belt

Jo gets presented with her belt

And congratulations to Ben Leonard on his promotion to 2nd Dan, and Adam Richards on reaching Senior 1st Dan.

The happy students with their certificates

This weekend ISK Martial Arts played host to another national squad training session, hard work and good times for all involved.

The weekend started for the Cornish contingent with a tough squad session on Saturday afternoon, with a lot of fitness and footwork drills – there are some students out there who never want to see a skipping rope again! With the UK and World championships a matter of weeks away now, it’s important to make sure we’re at our peak when the time comes. The hard work happens now, not at the competitions.

The following day saw a small group from the EMTF make the long journey down to Cornwall for another national squad training session. Masters Ashok and Anesh Kumar, along with Master Alex Campbell made sure there was wealth of knowledge and experience on-hand as we make our final preparations for the World Championships out in Florida this summer. Forms were tweaked, techniques analysed and a lot of sweat spent on the mats. At the end of a long day (and a very long weekend for ISK) we saw our extended family off, and can’t wait to see them all again in Bedford in a few weeks for the British Championships.

ISK and the visiting EMTF instructors and students

All of the photos from the weekend are up on the club’s Flickr account, details of which are on the Forums for students.

Thanks to all involved, Tang Soo!

There’s big news on the way from ISK.

We’ll give more teasers as we get closer to the time, but there are big changes coming for ISK Martial Arts, Tang Soo Do and martial arts in Cornwall this summer.

Keep checking back for updates, and in the meantime why not contact us and come along to try a traditional martial art under the instruction of our friendly, qualified instructors. Your first lesson is free so you’ve got nothing to lose, but a lot to gain.

ISK’s second Summer Camp is fast approaching now, and this year we’re delighted to say that we’re going to be hosting it not only for ourselves, but for the whole of the EMTF!

The weekend of the 28th / 29th of May will see us converging on Gwithian for two days of training on the beach, surfing lessons, airsoft games, barbecues and of course, pasties!

A proper pasty. Note the lack of peas, carrots etc...

Anyone wanting to attend should talk to their instructor as soon as possible to confirm their attendance and to make sure we’ve got enough pastry-wrapped goodness to go around.

If you’ve got any specific questions we might be able to answer, why not give our Contact Form a try.

ISK are going up to the NEC in Birmingham this May to visit The Martial Arts Show. On the weekend of the 7th and 8th of May exhibitors from all over the world descend on the venue for two days of kicking, punching, throwing, locking, choking and all-round martial arts fun.

Those of you who’ve been with us for a long time will probably remember the trips to SENI in the past, before it moved to London and became less and less traditionally focused, so TMAS looks to be the spiritual successor.

Highlights this year will include:

• Bill ‘Superfoot’ Wallace – The Legend
• Alfie Lewis
• Mark Epstein
• Rajko Radovich (from Last Man Standing)
• Cynthia Rothrock(!) – 80′s Kung Fu film fans are in for a treat!
• Shaolin Warriors
• Victor & Braulio Estima
• Jon Jones – UFC Light Heavyweight World Champion
• and more…

As well as all the usual plethora of stalls and stands selling anything and everything martial arts related, bring plenty of spending money and expect to come back with DVDs, clothing and weapons!

This is a great chance to get to know your fellow students a bit better in a relaxed environment, share a laugh and a drink, and feed your martial arts obsession!

Full details of tickets, hotel and room-sharing are on the forums, head over there now.

A sunny spring afternoon saw ISK’s students grading for the first time in 2011.

The students from the various clubs around Cornwall gathered in Falmouth with a mix of excitement and nerves, and displayed the skills and results of hard training from the last three months (or six in the case of senior grades). We demand and maintain high standards within In Sung Kwan Tang Soo Do, and the demanding testing was proof of this.

The physical aspects of the grading were as tough as ever, as were the mental parts. A student with ISK is expected to learn far more than to just punch and kick, the continuation of the knowledge and traditions are just as important, and so the students are tested accordingly.

Everyone acquitted themselves very well, and, despite a few referrals, the standard was very high from the junior right through to the senior grades. As usual there were a few surprises thrown into the mix to keep people on their toes, and a seminar afterward brought everyone together to share some training time, which as always was enjoyed by all.

With the impending Dan gradings a few weeks away now, it’s time for the senior ranks to get on the other side of the bench and practice what they preach!

Congratulations again everyone, Tang Soo!

On the 26th of March, ISK Martial Arts were lucky enough to have Grand Master Dominick Giacobbe (8th Dan) come to visit and teach a seminar for our students.

The fortunate few who attended spent time learning from GM Giacobbe and his 40+ years of experience in Tang Soo Do, covering everything from how it would have been to have trained in Korea in the 1970s, to lost and previously unknown forms.

It’s very unusual to have the chance to meet a Grand Master, let alone train with one, and the things taught and explained will stay with the students (and instructors) for a very long time.

For more information about GM Giacobbe, have a look at his site, and while you’re at it look him up on youtube for a novel way to carry buckets and weights!