My name is Clifton, I am 16 this year (2024) and I’m from Edgefield Secondary School. Taekwondo is a self defence sport that is highly dependant on footwork. What we learn in Taekwondo consists of Pattern, Basic Kicking and Sparring. Pattern opens up many different combinations for us to use in sparring. Basic Kicking helps us by learning short but effectives moves when sparring, and sparring allows us to practice both our footwork and kicking which can be applied to real life scenarios.

What I learnt from this program is that everyone is able to self defence despite their size. As the only overweight student who continued Taekwondo on Sec 3, others might find it very ironic that people like myself would attend a sport like Taekwondo and they would look down on me due to my size. Despite it, I was still encouraged by some people to continue as it enables me to stay fit and does help with my legs. Even if I was unable to attend competitions, the programme had shown that I should continue my journey as my trainers have always checked on me and encouraged me, treating me with care to minimise any negative outcomes.

After completing my black belt test, it also opens up a possibility to pick up a part time job by applying for a permit to teach others. I think that I would fit as a good role model as it encourages people of any size to take on more opportunities to be fit and learn self defence as being “large” does not mean they are unable to do it.