Mayor of St Ives, Cllr Pasco Hussain, visited the a Tang Soo Do martial arts group to congratulate them on winning trophies at the GB Tang Soo Do National Competition.

The traditional Korean Martial Art group took part in the competition on November 20 in the '2021 National championships' which saw almost 300 competitors from ages four years to 50+ years come together at the Ebbw Vale Sports Centre in Wales.

The three specific elements of Tang Soo Do that they were competing for was weapons, forms and sparring.

The Hunts Post: Left to Right: (Back Row) Master Innes, Master Harvey, Master Wisken, Councillor Hussain, Master M Khan, Master D Khan and Master Amin. (Front Row) Left to Right: Roger Clark (First place in forms) Henry Clark (First place in weapons, Second place in forms, Third place in sparring). Ollie Clark (First place in forms, Third place in sparring). Bradley Dearnley (First place in weapons, First place forms, Third place in sparring).Left to Right: (Back Row) Master Innes, Master Harvey, Master Wisken, Councillor Hussain, Master M Khan, Master D Khan and Master Amin. (Front Row) Left to Right: Roger Clark (First place in forms) Henry Clark (First place in weapons, Second place in forms, Third place in sparring). Ollie Clark (First place in forms, Third place in sparring). Bradley Dearnley (First place in weapons, First place forms, Third place in sparring). (Image: Archant)

Teams from St Ives, Huntingdon and surrounding Cambridgeshire area clubs were represented at this event, returning with an impressive haul of trophies across several age groups and belt categories.

Cllr Hussain said: “I was delighted to be able to congratulate the teams personally and it is a massive honour for me, because I used to train with Master Khan and it was an absolute honour for me to be invited back, because this was my old classes if you like.

“It was very important in terms of your health, mental health and your physical health, plus it is great to be able to learn self defence.

“Especially the last couple of years that we have been through, we all need to look after health, physically, mentally, to be successful in our lives.”

The opening ceremony to the championships also saw the presentation of Fourth Degree Master Black Belt to Shazan Amin. Master Amin – an instructor at the St Ives club has been a dedicated student of Tang Soo Do for over 20 years, beginning his own training at the age of seven.

Master Khan said: “Martial Arts is a lifelong thing, my message to the parents is give your kids the gift of self-defence because if you can defend yourself then no one can hurt you.

“Martial Arts gives you confidence, if you don’t have a confidence then you are only living half of your life.

"We have classes in Ramsey, Huntingdon, St Ives, Sawtry, Swavesey and many more."

To find out more about Tang Soo Do in your local area visit: https://www.huntingdonstivestsd.com/ or contact Master Khan directly on 07973 636740.