Wim Geberbauer 1st Dan

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My mum signed me up for my first Tae Kwon-Do class when I was 7. Back then all I knew about martial arts was what I’d seen in films, so as you might imagine I was pretty optimistic.

What I got however was hard work, discipline and a notion of what respect really means.  Even now 8/9 years later I still come to class to find these things, although now I can also appreciate them a lot more.

I was always a big kid so I never had to deal with bullying personally but as I grew older I came more and more into contact with the older kids especially outside school walking around in my neighbourhood.  Tae Kwon-Do gave me inner calm, self control and the ability to make the correct choices because I wasn’t having to deal with the racing heartbeat or panic you feel when you’re being approached by a group of people asking for your phone/wallet/oyster.

It also gave me the confidence and volume to use not just my hands and feet but also my head and my voice to defend myself.

Tae Kwon-Do also gave me a place, a safe environment to vent anger and stress into something beneficial, like rigorous physical training, learning and more recently instructing.  I’ve been World Kup champion, London champion, Imperial champion, and English champion with a string of chunky medals to prove it.

The adrenelin rush that pumps through your body when you take that first hit in the ring; or when your performing your pattern in front of the 600 people; or when you break wood for the first time; or when you get your new belt after a hard grading and you know you’ve earned it, all that and a lot more make all the press ups, sit ups and burpies thoroughly worth it for me.

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