Student Spotlight: Ella

Student Spotlight • April 9, 2019

Here at Nuneaton Taekwon-Do we're firm believers that Taekwon-Do is for everybody, regardless of age or ability. A club is nothing without it's members and every month we'll be introducing you to one of our students.

Our Student Spotlight for April 2019 is Ella, a 1st Degree Blackbelt who trains in our Monday night classes.

Student Spotlight for April 2019

Name: Ella
Age: 15
Grade: 1st Dan Blackbelt
From: Hemel Hempstead

Why did you start Taekwon-Do?
I started Taekwon-Do for self defence and because my brother started and it looked fun.

What's your favourite part of training?
My favourite part of Taekwon-Do is Patterns but I also enjoy Sparring.

What is your favourite technique?
My favourite technique is a side kick because it is strong, powerful and is very efficient if used correctly.

What do you want to do in the future?
When I am older I would either like to either be a personal trainer or work in the police.

What advice would you give to someone starting Taekwon-Do?
A piece of advice I would give to someone starting Taekwon-Do is that hard work and determination always pays off in the end.

Ella recently competed at the European Championships in Rimini, Italy, where she put out a fantastic performance in the 14 to 15 years -50kg sparring. Though it didn't go her way this time we saw a huge improvement on previous years and it's great to see her hard work in training paying off.

We asked her to tell us about her experience:

You've been representing for England for a number of years now, how many International Competitions have you competed at?
I have competed in 5 European Championships and 1 World Championship.

What events did you take part in at this year's European Championships?
This year I competed in Junior Female Team Patterns and in the Junior Female 14-15 years -50kg Sparring.

How did you and your team do this year?
In sparring I was against Russia and Ukraine and unfortunately lost both matches however it was a great learning experience. In team patterns we were against Ukraine and lost to them but we were proud of the performance.

What was the best part about the whole experience?
The best part of the euros was being on the Matt competing and carrying out drills that have been practised in class.

What wasn't so good?
The worst part of the euros was having to wait around for the categories to be called. (and too much pasta!!!!!! 😂).

What are you working towards now?
I am now going to be training for the World Championships in August that are being held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria which I am hoping to be selected for.