Dan

What are you studying and which subject do you prefer?

I’m studying BTECs in Sport and Applied Science and A Level Media Studies. My favourite subject is Sport as it’s an area I’m interested in pursuing as a career.

We hear you both compete in Taekwon-do for England, can you explain a bit about it?

Taekwon-do literally means ‘the art of hand and foot’. There are many different types, but the main ones are WTF (World Taekwon-do Federation) as seen in the Olympics and ITF (International Taekwon-do Federation), which is the style that we do and is a lot closer to the original forms of Taekwon-do. I’ve been practising for 15 years and competing for England for the past five years. Competing in the European and World Championships has given me a great opportunity to travel around the world from Jamaica, Italy and Sweden to Spain and Slovakia.

How did you get into Taekwon-do?

I was three when my parents took me to a fair in Redhill, where there was a demonstration by the local club. I tried it out and instantly loved it and have been doing it ever since.

What are your ambitions within the sport and how are you funded?

I’m aiming to be World Champion as a senior and win each major tournament. Taekwon-do isn’t funded by the governing bodies, so we have to subsidise the costs ourselves, which is tricky. Luckily we have very supportive parents and a few sponsors, including Bytomic, TopTen and GLL who provide free gym access to aid our training.

What are your plans after College?

I’m intending to go to Bath University to study Sport and Social Sciences and then take a gap year to travel to Dubai and Malaysia to train and teach Taekwon-do.