Welcome to the On-line Newsletter of Frontline Martial Arts
 

18th April 2024

GrandMaster Shin, Byeong Hyun Seminar

Simon, Steve, Rose, Emily and Andy Belfin attended a technical seminar with Grandmaster Shin, Byeong Hyun (9th Dan Kukkiwon) in Kingswood, Bristol.

Unfortunately, a hamstring injury curtailed Simon's involvement but the others picked up somne valuable tips from one of the World's foremost TKD teachers.

24th September 2023

Dan Grading Successes

Huge congratulations to Master James (6th Dan), Steve Ballard (3rd Dan), Christian Ferraro (2nd Dan), Rose Evans (2nd Dan), Emily Shelton (1st Dan) and Isaac Ryall (1st Dan).

Big performances from all.

18th May 2023

Thursday classes re-instated -

With the run up to the next Black Belt grading announced, the Thursday session has been re-instated but limited to Red and Black Belts only. This will allow them to get together to practice specifically what they want to concentrate on.

9th March 2023

Thursday classes -

Unfortunately, the Thursday class is no longer viable, so will no longer run.

In an attempt to accomodate some of this lost training time, the Monday classes will now run from 7:15 - 9:15pm.

27th December 2022

Grading Requirements -

Following the most recent set of gradings, we have decided to take make a few changes to the grading requirements.

We will now be taking a more formal approach to one-step sparring, teaching a specific set of one-step sparring examples, which will be expected to be performed in subsequent coloured belt gradings.

At black belt level, these can then be used as the basis for you to modify to suit your own style.

On top of this, we are introducing a minimum attendance requirement before being eligible to be considered for gradings. This will be on a sliding scale, increasing with each grade reached. No-one will be considered for grading unless they have attended a minimum number of lessons between grades.

19th February 2022

Traditional Chung Do Kwan Seminar

Simon and Steve attended a technical seminar with Grandmaster Andy Davies (9th Dan) in Staple Hill, Bristol. The session worked on formal stances and traditional application of techniques, before moving onto step-sparring and some parrying techniques.

It was good to get together with people from other dojangs across the country and discuss the various ways of performing a technique and the practical applications.

I look forward to the next one

10th January 2022

Training Videos

To complement our formal training, I have posted a number of training videos onto the "Frontline News" Facebook page. These videos concentrate on the individual grading syllabuses and coloured belt patterns. So far, I have posted the first five sets of basic techniques (up to blue stripe) and all of the Taegeuk patterns (done at half speed, to show the individual movements). I hope to post more, including the black belt patterns, three-step sparring, some one-step sparring examples and some self-defence techniques, as I record them. Hopefully, I can make them as near to a normal lesson as possible, to allow you to continue to train outside of the dojang

The new Frontline News group can be found at https://www.facebook.com/groups/128472209261541/?ref=share

21st November 2021

Coloured Belt Grading

We were finally able to hold our coloured belt grading (postponed from April 2020) on the 21st November 2021. Many thanks to all of you for keeping the faith during the various lockdowns and restrictions.

Congratulations to all those who graded and I look forward to seeing you all continue to progress.

17th May 2021

Welcome back

to Megan, Des and Michelle.

Megan trained with us a few years ago, also coaching the Mighty Mites class, before taking time out to go to university. Now that she has returned to Bristol, Megan has resumed her training with us and it's great to have her back.

Des and Michelle, along with their sons Connor and Lewis, emigrated to Spain some time back, continuing to run martial arts classes there. Since returning to the UK, they have both resumed their training with us.

17th May 2021

Lockdown ends

Finally, we are able to return to in-person training again, albeit with some restrictions on contact still in place.

17th November 2020

Lockdown II

Unfortunately, the country was forced to return to a lockdown state. So, back to on-line training for a while.

8th September 2020

GrandMaster Evans !

Master Evans has been promoted to 8th Dan Grandmaster by the senior Grandmasters at UK Chung Do Kwan Taekwondo and Traditional Chung Do Kwan.

I would like to thank everyone who has helped to keep my standard up and my enthusiasm for training as high as ever.

7th September 2020

Formal Training Resumes

Following the relaxing of the lockdown rules, Frontline Martial Arts has returned to formal training in the Youth Centre. It's good to be back !>

30th March 2020

Training Moves On-line !

With the country locked down due to the COVID-19 threat, we are unable to run the face-to-face classes. However, classes are still running on Monday and Thursday evenings, on-line via Zoom.

27th February 2020

New Class

Frontline Martial Arts has opened a new class, on Thursday evenings, in the Youth centre. This class is open to all age groups and will concentrate on the more technical elements of training, freeing up the Monday classes to work on the more physical aspects.

17th November 2019

Black Belt Grading

Congratulations to Mister Steve Ballard on attaining his 2nd Dan black belt and to Master Andy McGrath on reaching 4th Dan and Master status.

Both performed superbly on the day.

23rd June 2019

Coloured Belt Grading

We held our most recent coloured belt grading on Sunday June 23rd.

This was the first grading in some time as we had been concentrating the black belt grading, so it was good to get back to working with the coloured belt grades. The panel were so impressed with the standard this time around. Everyone put in a lot of work and really raised their game, on the day.

Everyone, especially the Mighty Mites taking their first grading, were exceptional. Massive congratulations to them. Star of the day though was Jack Todd. His performance, concentration and application on the day were superb. Special mentions go to Emily Shelton and Rachel Irwin who, pretty much, beat me up!

Well done to everyone. Now to maintain, and improve on, that standard .

5th May 2019

Congratulations

To Dr. Demelza Emmerton after having passed the final exams for her medical degree at Sheffield University.

Demelza was one of our first junior members in Speedwell, training with us from approx. 5 years old to 16 years. I have no doubt she will make an excellent doctor.

24th March 2019

Black Belt Grading

Huge congratulations to all who took the black belt grading on Sunday March 24th. The standard, as usual, was excellent and, although there were things which still need work, the panel were all very happy to award 1st Dan black belts to Andy Belfin, Christian Ferraro, Sam Fairman-Foster, Megan Fairman-Foster and Rose Evans.

A black belt is seen as the "gold standard" for all martial artists but, in reality, this is where your training really begins. Now you get to refine the basic techniques and modify them to best suit you.

Massive congratulations also to Master Mark James on attaining his 5th Dan senior master grade.

23rd Feb 2019

Tournament Success

Congratulations to Master Mark James on taking a Gold and a Silver medal at the UK Chung Do Kwan national championships

15th November 2018

Child Protection Training

Paula and Simon attended a session of "Child Protection Training for the Community and Voluntary Sector", specifically for community groups in and around the Thornbury area. This was a very worthwhile session and a must for all instructors who deal with children in their classes.

29th September 2018

10 years of classes in Alveston !

On September 29th, Frontline Martial Arts reached our 10th anniversary of running classes in Alveston. Our classes are going from strength to strength and I would like to thank all of the people who have passed through our doors to train over the years.

30th July 2018

Jiu Jitsu

On Monday July 30th, Sensei Alex Field, of the University of Gloucestershire Jiu Jitsu club, visited us to give us an introduction to basic Jiu Jitsu, as part of our Guest Instructor program.

Jiu Jitsu combines kicking and striking with the close quarters arm / wrist locks and throws, things we do not train for on a regular basis. This was certainly a change of tack for us and a very enjoyable evening for all.

Many thanks to Sensei Field for his time and expertise.

17th July 2018

Congratulations

to Megan Day (1st Dan and former Mighty Mites coach) on her graduation from the University of Kent at Canterbury, with an honours degree in Psychology.

14th July 2018

Ninja Niños

Sadly, the Ninja Niños class, in Horfield, has had to close. Andy Morris has been running this class for 3 years but now, due to other commitments, he is unable to continue running the class.

I have always been impressed both with the youngsters enthusiasm and with Andy's commitment to making them the best they could be. Hopefully, they have taken some very positive things from their training.

19th July 2018

Self-Defence Seminar - Bromley Heath, Downend.

Master Mark James and Mister Mike Tovey will be hosting the second set of womens self-defence seminars in the Christchurch Centre, Quakers Road, Bromley Heath on 19th and 26th July and 2nd August.

Last year's set of seminars were very well received and garnered excellent reviews.

Now, by popular demand, Frontline Martial Arts are hosting another set of classes, to teach some basic self-defence to those who want to learn some new skills and to act as a refresher for those who want to brush up on skills they learned previously.

Master James and Mister Tovey look forward to seeing you there.

6th May 2018

"In-House" Competition

Following Andy Morris's very successful mini-competition with the Ninja Ninos at the tail end of last year, on Sunday May 6th Simon hosted a similar event for the Juniors and the Mighty Mites, in the Alveston youth Centre. The even covered both competition styles - "Olympic" style and semi-contact.

The atmosphere was fantastic and the action was superb. Everyone really threw themselves into it enthusiastically and all produced superb performances, truly displaying all the qualities of the tenets of Taekwondo - Etiquette, Modesty, Perseverance, self-control, Indomitable Spirit.

Congratulations to the medal winners - Kevin, Christian, Isaac and Rose in the "Olympic" style and James and Megan in the Semi-contact.

Special mention to Evie, for displaying a real battling attitude and refusing to give up.

If there is enough interest, I will be looking at holding this kind of event on a regular basis.

20th April 2018

2nd Alveston Scouts

On 20th April, Simon was also asked to put on a session of self-defence for the 2nd Alveston scouts. Again, the scouts seemed to really enjoy the session and really threw themselves (and their training partners) into it ! It was also good to see so many familiar faces, as many of the scouts were current or former members of Frontline Martial Arts.

Thanks to James and Sam for being my "willing" victims, this time .

14th April 2018

Coloured Belt Grading - Horfield

Congratulations also to the Horfield Ninja Niños on their coloured belt grading, on Saturday April 14th. I have always been impressed with their standards and attitudes, whenever I get to see the Niños in action and it's good to see their efforts recognised with new belt colours.

Keep it up, guys ! You are a great credit to Andy's teaching.

25th Mar 2018

Congratulations to everyone who took the coloured belt grading today. Everyone was on their game and some raised theirs significantly.

Well done everyone. Now to maintain that standard ....

28th Feb 2018

1st Falfield Scouts / Cubs

Simon had an absolutely fantastic session with the 1st Falfield scouts, on the 28th Feb. It was a lot of fun for me. From all the responses from the parents and leaders, the scouts thoroughly enjoyed it too. So much so that their cub scouts leader asked me to run a similar session for them, too.

This session took place on 1st May with, again, some really enthusiastic youngsters.

Many thanks to Craig and Joe for "volunteering" to allow me to demonstrate on them on both occasions !

7th Feb 2018

1st Falfield & Stone Brownies

On Wednesday Feb 7th, Simon hosted a martial arts session for the 1st Falfield & Stone brownie pack, with Rose's help, giving them a mixed session of sports style TKD and some Hapkido based self-defence.

Simon has held this kind of session for the Falfield Brownies before and it was a real pleasure to be invited back. All the girls applied themselves brilliantly and with big smiles on their faces. Some of them could well be potential black belts in the making !

8th Jan 2018

New to the Team -

Welcome to Andy McGrath to the team of black belts at Frontline Martial Arts. Andy holds a 2nd Dan black belt in Tang Soo Do and 1st Dan in Yun Jung Do (a variation on TKD).

Andy has a wealth of martial arts experience, having been a World Tang Soo Do Championship silver medallist and a forms competitor. He also holds grades in various other martial styles, particularly Karate, Kung Fu and Krav Maga. His experience greatly adds to our pool of knowledge.

9th December 2017

Ninja Niños Competition Congratulations to all the Ninja Niños and the Mighty Mites who took part in their first taste of competition Taekwondo. The atmosphere was fantastic and the standard of technique and the levels of sportsmanship were excellent.

A special thank you to Kiki and Barry for helping out with kitting the competitors up before their bouts. Plus, of course, a huge thank you to Andy Morris for organising the event.

19th November 2017

Poomsae (Patterns) Practice Poomsae (patterns) are an integral part of taekwondo training but something that we have neglected to a certain extent. The Poomsae are designed to allow you to practice self-defence techniques without the need for a partner.

A session on 19th November was dedicated to training in these Poomsae, where the technical aspects and practical applications of the techniques involved were explored, alongside learning the movements.

Everyone, yellow belt and higher, will need to know their patterns in order to grade, from this point on.

10th November 2017

Change of Venue : From 10th November, the Mighty Mites class moves to the Alveston Youth Centre. The timeslot remains the same. This move will allow us to use a larger matted area and, as the class becomes more popular, it will allow us to safely accommodate more youngsters.

8th Oct 2017

Grading Success !

Well done to everyone who took part in the coloured belt grading, in Alveston.

Stand out performances from Jack, Mollie and James but, for me, the star of the show was Kyle for overcoming his fears and worries and giving a great performance.

22nd Sept 2017

Training Rules : With the return of the Mighty Mites, I would like to re-emphasize the importance of the rules of the training hall. Especially, as we have a number of new starters. The rules are there to keep you safe and to get the most out of your training.

 
• Please be on time. Friday classes are 4.30pm to 5.15pm.

• Bow when entering and leaving the training hall.

• When you arrive, sit quietly on the red mats at the front and wait for class to start.

• Sit quietly on the red mats when it is not your turn to practice with the instructor.

• Watch and learn.

• Do not practice techniques unless the instructor has told you to.

• Be courteous to the instructor and fellow students.

• Listen more than you talk.

• Treat the hall and all equipment with respect.

• Disruptive behaviour will not be tolerated.

• Do not use martial arts outside of the training hall unless in self-defence (and then with the least force needed).

17th Sept 2017

Pre-Grading : Sunday Sept 17th was originally planned to be the date of the coloured belt grading in Alveston. However, this appeared to be too close to the summer break to have people sufficiently prepared.

To help with this, the hall booking was used to run a technical session and “pre-grading” to get people more up-to-speed. I was very impressed with the attitudes, dedication and work ethic of all those who attended.

The session was a great success.

8th Sept 2017

Welcome back to the Alveston Mighty Mites and the Horfield Ninja Ninos, following the summer break.
 

 

1st June 2017

Self-Defence : Mark and Simon hosted a series of self-defence sessions for a group of ladies in Downend, Bristol. All of the participants found the sessions very worthwhile, with feedback such as ...

"they have been fun, thought-provoking, physical and informative. I hope I never have to use it but would encourage anyone who would like to find out more about self defence to give it a go – you won't regret it!"

" It was just the right balance of talking, demonstrations and actually trying things out ourselves. It was fun. It was really interesting and I really feel I learned a lot from it."
 

 

19th May 2017

More New Mats !!!

We have recently acquired another 16m2 of new mats, bringing the total to 76 – enough to allow us to set the training hall up with 2 6m x 6m rings, with 4 spares.

19th March 2017

Grading Success ! Congratulations to all who took part in the most recent coloured belt grading in Alveston. As usual, the standard was very high, with some truly outstanding performances.

18th February 2017

UK Chung Do Kwan Taekwondo Invitational National Championships:

On Saturday, UK Chung Do Kwan taekwondo held it's 9th annual invitational championships, in Keynsham, Bristol. Although we had no fighters this year, Simon was asked to officiate, running one of the WTF style competition rings. There were some good fighters showcasing their skills and a great atmosphere all round. If anyone fancies giving competition a go, this is a good tournament to enter, to give yourself a flavour of competition.

15th January 2017

Open Morning. Frontline Martial Arts ran a stand and performed a small demonstration at the Alveston Youth Centre Open Morning. The event allowed all of the groups which hire the Youth Centre and the Jubilee Hall to showcase their activities to the local community.

Many thanks to those who supported the event and demonstrated your skills superbly.

4th November 2016

Mighty Mites.The Alveston Mighty Mites class has moved back to its original timeslot, at 4:30 – 5:15pm on Friday evenings. The venue is much better suited to this class and it was great to welcome back so many youngsters who were unable to make it to the Saturdays.

There will be one other minor change, in that the class will now run term-time only.

However, with the Mighty Mites moving back to Fridays, the Saturday Juniors class will be ending after October.

14th October 2016

First Aid. Andy completed a course in Paediatric First Aid, on 20th August and Simon completed a First Aid course on 14th October. This means that all of our current team of black belts will then hold first aid qualification as Mark, Mike and Steve are already qualified.

12th October 2016

5th Thornbury Brownies. Simon was invited to give an introductory session on basic martial arts to a very enthusiastic group from the 5th Thornbury Brownie pack. The brownies were very keen to join in and all thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They were a great group to work with.

3rd October 2016

Weapons Training. We have started to introduce a small amount of weapons training to some of the Alveston classes. Many of the “empty hand” techniques stem from weapons training. It also harks back to the traditional side of the martial arts. There will be no “live” bladed weapons involved, only the 4’ staff, the short stick and the wooden sword. We are also starting to introduce more knife defence too, using safe training (plastic) knives.

22nd September 2016

DBS Clearance. The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is a government service which checks coaches, teachers and instructors who regularly deal with children, to ensure that they have no criminal records. It allows parents to be confident that their children are being taught in a safe and protective environment. All of the current team of black belts at Frontline Martial Arts now hold current DBS clearance, for teaching people of all ages.

22nd September 2016

1st Alveston Guides. Simon was invited to host a Self-Defence session for the Alveston Guides, on September 22nd. Due to recent events in the village, where strangers have approached some of the young girls, the group leader was keen to have the Guides learn a little basic self-defence. They all threw themselves (and me ! ) into it enthusiastically … loudly, too !

5th October 2016

Grandes Ninjas. Following the success of his Ninja Niños class, some of the parents have asked Andy Morris to run a class for the adults. Following 2 trial sessions in June, the Grandes Ninjas class is now running from 8:15 - 9:15pm on Wednesday evenings (term time only) in Horfield.

24th April 2016

Kup Grading. Congratulations to everyone who took part in the coloured belt grading on Sunday April 24th, in the Alveston Youth Centre. As always, the standard was extremely high, with some stand-out performances from the juniors, in particular. Everyone really raised their game and showed exactly why they deserved to be wearing new belt colours. I am very proud of you all.

9th April 2016

New Class !!! Due to the popularity of the under 15’s class, we have now opened a second class for the same age group, following the Mighty Mites class on a Saturday afternoon. This allows us to specialise a little more, in each session. The new class will concentrate mainly on the more physical elements - competition style training and some Hapkido - with the Monday class concentrating on the more technical aspects of the martial arts. There will, of course, be plenty of cross-over, so no-one will miss out.

The Mighty Mites class now runs from 12:45pm – 1:30pm, with the new class following on at 1:30pm.

7th March 2016

Parish Council funding. Frontline Martial Arts has been given funding, via the Alveston Parish Council’s grant aid program, to buy some additional training mats, expanding the matted area to 60m2. On Monday 7th March, Alison Peters, chair of the Parish Council, visited us to officially christen the new mats. Once again, many thanks to the council for their help.

28th Feb 2016

Coaching Awards. On Sunday Feb 28th, Simon and Andy both took part in the second stage of the sports coaching award process, at the headquarters of the UK Taekwondo Commission, in Bristol. We now have until the end of October to complete our evidence portfolios, ready for appraisal by independent verifiers, hopefully leading to the formal qualification – something which the majority of martial arts instructors have been slow to adopt.

24th Feb 2016

Falfield Brownies. On Wednesday 24th February, Simon and Laura were invited to give a “taster session” in martial arts to the 1st Falfield brownie pack. The session involved some basic warm-ups and kicks, followed by some free sparring and finished with some basic self-defence techniques. All involved thoroughly enjoyed themselves, with Brown Owl (Jane) quoted as saying “A big thank you to you and your daughter for a brilliant evening. We have some very shy girls and it was great seeing them take part and hear them shout :-)
We hope you could visit us again in some time in the future.”

30th Jan 2016

Ninja Niños . On Saturday 30th January, Simon paid a visit to Andy’s “Ninja Niños” class in Horfield and was very impressed with their enthusiasm, their attitude and their Ninja skills. He is looking forward to seeing you all again soon.

23rd Jan 2016

Mighty Mites. The Mighty Mites class has now moved to Saturday afternoons, from 1:30 - 2:15, in the Alveston Youth Centre.

20th Jan 2016

Grant Aid Application . Many thanks to Alveston Parish Council for awarding us grant aid which will allow us to buy extra training mats. Currently, we have 36 mats which have been enough up until now. However, as the number of attendees, particularly in the juniors class, increases this is not enough to enable them to train safely. This grant will help to buy an additional 24 mats, providing us with a 6m x 10m training area for sparring and self-defence training.

12th Jan 2016

BINGO Evening . On Tuesday 12th January, Simon hosted an evening, along with Andy, teaching self-defence techniques to 21 ladies from Alveston village as part of their BINGO (Been In, Now Going Out) series of events. The evening included discussion of the law regarding self-defence, effective strikes, joint manipulations and a lot of good fun and banter. All participants thoroughly enjoyed themselves and left the hall with very big smiles on their faces.

I suspect that a number husbands were nursing minor injuries the next morning, having been practiced on, that evening ... :-)

Jan 2016

Coaching Qualifications. Simon, Mark and Andy all attended an introductory seminar, with a view to obtaining formal Sports Coaching qualifications. The session was led by the head of the UK Taekwondo Commission, Grand-Master Andrew Davies (9th Dan).

In general, the martial arts have been slow to adopt this type of qualification, due to the reliance on the belt system. However, just because someone has obtained a senior grade and can perform the techniques, it doesn’t mean that they can teach / coach to a suitable standard. This qualification will enable us to prove that our instructors are capable coaches, as well as practitioners.

Simon and Andy will be attending the second stage of the coaching assessment process towards the end of February and hope to be formally assessed and qualified shortly after. All instructors will need to be qualified at some point in the near future, in order to teach classes.

20th Nov 2015

Thornbury Explorer Scouts. Master Evans was invited back to the Thornbury Explorer Scouts, to present an evening of self-defence based training. At one point, however, the self-defence got a bit out of hand, with one getting a kick in the groin and retaliating with a BIG right hook. Thankfully, it didn't land ...

15th Nov 2015

Coaching awareness Master Evans, Master James and Mister Morris recently attended a coaching awareness course, at the headquarters of the UK Taekwondo Commission.
This is the first stage towards formal coaching qualification, ensuring that the training we provide reaches an accepted national standard. Just because an instructor holds a black belt does not mean that they can teach effectively...

8th Nov 2015

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the most recent coloured belt grading. The performances were excellent all-round. Special congratulations to Isaac Freeman, on winning the Mighty Mites Star Performer award, this time around.

4th Oct 2015

Ninja Ninos Mister Andrew Morris has opened a new class, in Horfield, Bristol, for children aged 4 - 7.
The "Ninja Ninos" offers an introduction to martial arts, teaching self-defence with a mix of fun games and traditional training.

4th Sept 2015

Jiu Jitsu Seminar. Following the Summer break, I would now like to re-arrange the Jiu Jitsu seminar with Renshi Trevor King of Maru Jiu Jitsu, which we needed to postpone, earlier in the year. I will look into alternative dates.

10th August 2015

The Kukkiwon formerly recognised as the headquarters for WTF style Taekwondo throughout the World, has issues an edict stating that all clubs / groups must conduct their Black Belt gradings under a panel headed by their country's Olympic recognised body, in our case the British Taekwondo Control Board.

This appears to be an attempt to impose restrictions on independent groups, such as our governing body - UK Chung Do Kwan Taekwondo. As this will affect their independence, UKCDKT have formally rejected the Kukkiwon's proposal, as have the majority of TKD groups throughout the World.

I see this as no great loss. The Black Belt gradings we conduct within our own club are a sterner test of proficiency than a Kukkiwon grading has become.

In reality, the Kukkiwon is just 1 dojang in Seoul which has managed to annex certification for WTF, up until now. The "Kwans" hold the true history.

19th July 2015

UK Chung Do Kwan Taekwondo held a technical seminar, with all of their senior Masters (5th Dan and above) present. Master Evans attended on behalf of Frontline Martial Arts.

It was a refreshing change to attend a seminar involving no sport style TKD, instead concentrating on self-defence and traditional techniques. The Hapkido training especially, was excellent.

The next seminar is scheduled for October 25th, in London.

4th June 2015

On Thursday June 4th, Master Evans paid a visit to his original instructor's new dojang. This was the first time Master Evans had trained in GrandMaster Davies' school in roughly 15 years.

19th April 2015

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the coloured belt grading on April 19th. Special mention goes to all of the new members, who took their very first grading. The standard and the enthusiasm was exceptionally high, from everyone.

Special congratulations to Devan Curtis, on receiving the Mighty Mites ?Star Performer? award, this time around, although it was tough to choose between so many outstanding performances.

2nd Feb 2015

Frontline Martial Arts are looking to produce a series of training videos, of the basics and line-work involved in the coloured belt grading syllabus. This will allow people to continue to practice outside of the regular classes, prior to gradings.

28th Jan 2015

Unfortunately, the Wednesday class is no longer viable and will close at the end of January. If the demand is there, we can look at re-opening this sessions somewhere down the line.

27th Nov 2014

Master Evans has been invited to teach a series of Sport Martial Arts and Self-Defence classes as a PE option for the year 11s at Marlwood School, in Alveston.

23rd Nov 2014

Master Evans has been formally presented with 7th Dan certification at an award ceremony in Newbury. The grade was presented by Master David McGoldrick (7th Dan) and Grandmaster Mark Iles (9th Dan).

19th Oct 2014

Congratulations to all those who took part in the most recent coloured belt grading. As always, the standard was excellent.

17th August 2014

Congratulations to Steve Ballard, on gaining his 1st Dan black belt and to Mark James, on gaining his 4th Dan and "Master" status.

14th August 2014

Sadly , mister Graham Brook has been forced to retire from training, due to a long-term injury. Good luck, Graham, from everyone at Frontline Martial Arts.

20th June 2014

Happy Birthday - to the Alveston Mighty Mites, now 5 years old !

28th March 2014

Governing Body - Following a statement from Taekwondo England, that they are only interested in promoting Taekwondo as a sport and not a martial art, Frontine Martial Arts relinquish their associate membership of Taekwondo England.

Instead, we have joined the newly formed UK Taekwondo Commission.

16th March 2014

Congratulations to all who took part in the recent coloured belt grading. As usual, the standard was excellent.

Special congratulations to Millie Cole, on receiving the Mighty Mites "Star Performer" award, this time around.

15th Dec 2013

Competition Style Training - Frontline Martial Arts held a third session dedicated to competition style training.

The session included lots of fitness training, pad work and competition sparring. All participants thoroughly enjoyed the session and are looking forward to the next.

20th Oct 2013

Congratulations to all who took part in the most recent coloured belt grading.

The performances were excellent, once again.

Special congratulations to Nathan Wong on receiving the "Star Performer" award.

8th September 2013

Competition Training - The 18th August and 8th September saw some specialist competition training in both WTF (full contact "Olympic" style) and ITF (semi-contact) styles. Many thanks to all who took part.

12th August 2013

New Mats - Frontline Martial Arts now own 36m2 of training mats, allowing us to undertake competition training under proper conditions or to allow us to practice takedowns, throws and ground work.

19th August 2013

Welcome Back to Des, Michelle, Connor and Lewis French

23rd June 2013

Congratulations to all who took part in the most recent coloured belt grading.

I was especially blown away by the performances of the Alveston Mighty Mites. Everyone really raised their game.

Special congratulations to Christian Ferraro on being the first recipient of the "Star Performer" award.

26th May 2013

Master Evans spent 3 hours training with former World no1, Aaron Cook, as a fund-raiser for Aaron's bid to represent the Isle of Man at the WTF World Championships, in Mexico.

The training was very hard, as you would expect from a World class competitor, but very worthwhile

The organisers are hoping to get Aaron back for more training (hopefully, as World Champion) later in the year. I urge those members thinking of competing, to come along.

21st April 2013

A big Thank-You to Sifu Neil Young and his senior students, from the Bristol Wing Chun Academy, for a fantastic session on the basics of Wing Chun Kung Fu.

Their hand speed was incredible and is something we need to work on, more.

9th December 2012

Congratulations to Demelza, Megan, Graham, David and Jacob on successfully grading for their 1st Dan Black Belts. All gave a superb display.

Congratulations, too, to Mike on gaining his 2nd Dan.

24th Oct 2012

New Class !! Frontline Martial Arts are now opening up a new class on Wednesday evenings from 7:30 - 9:00 pm

21st Oct 2012

Congratulations to all who took part in the coloured belt grading. Some outstanding performances, especially from the youngsters.

12th Aug 2012

Congratulations to all the fighters on the British Olympic Taekwondo team.

A magnificent Gold medal for Jade Jones and a bronze medal, under the severest of pressure, for Lutalo Mohammed.

Jade simply refused to be beaten, securing Britain's first ever Olympic Taekwondo Gold.

Lutalo, with the eyes of the Taekwondo World on him, following the controversy over his selection ahead of the World #1, handled the pressure superbly and secured Britain's first men's Olympic Taekwondo medal.

1st July 2012

Congratulations to all who took part in the Kup grading, this week-end. The standard continues to remain high, especially in the application of technique. Following the grading, we now have 4 people whose next challenge is the Black Belt grading. Well done, to all.

24th June 2012

Grandmaster Pan, Sim Woon - 8th Dan -conducted a seminar, in Bristol, attended by some of the members of Frontline Martial Arts. Grandmaster Pan is a very engaging instructor with vast knowledge of the art and a fantastic attitude towards teaching. The seminar was enjoyed by all and we are all looking forward to the next !

19th June 2012

Happy Birthday !!! The Alveston "Mighty Mites" class is now 3 years old !

23rd May 2012

The Grading scheduled for Sunday June 10th has been postponed until Sunday 1st July. A Pre-Grading now takes it's place.

22nd April 2012

Many thanks to Sensei Dave Reynolds, of Thornbury Aikido, for a hugely enjoyable introductory session on the basics of Aikido.

The session highlighted the different emphasis in techniques between the two styles, taking us off on a different tack to the one we are more used to.

A session very much enjoyed by all who attended.

Also, many thanks to St Helen's Primary School, for the loan of their gym mats, for the session.

27th March 2012

Frontline Martial Arts have become Associate members of "UK Chung Do Kwan Taekwondo" - the fastest growing Taekwondo organisation in the country - and the British Council for Korean Martial Arts.

This association gives us access to UK based 7th and 8th Dan masters, along with US and Korean based 9th Dan Grand-Masters.

It also gives us the opportunity to attend more TKD style competitions and technical seminars.

Importantly, we retain full membership of the Amateur Martial Association - the UK's biggest multi-style martial arts organisation - giving us the best of both Worlds.

We look forward to cementing our associations with both groups.

19th February 2012

Congratulations - to all who took part in the recent Kup grading, at the Alveston Youth Centre.

For the newly promoted red belts, it's time to gear up towards a Black Belt grading !!!

New grades / belts were awarded to ...

Mr Andrew Day - Red Belt (2nd Kup) Mr David Kingsland-Wain - Red Belt (2nd Kup) Miss Megan Day - Red Belt (2nd Kup) Mr Jacob Ford - Red Belt (2nd Kup) Mr Graham Brook - Blue Belt / Red Stripe (3rd Kup) Mr Aaron Barnes - Blue Belt (4th Kup) Miss Laura Evans - Green Belt / Blue Stripe (5th Kup)

Mr Steve Ballard - Green Belt (6th Kup) Miss Grace Golbourn-Peters - Green Belt (6th Kup) Ms Alison Peters - Yellow Belt / Green Stripe (7th Kup) Mr James Bennett - Yellow Belt / Green Stripe (7th Kup) Mr Robert Sims - Yellow Belt / Green Stripe (7th Kup) Mr Sam Fairman Foster - White Belt / Yellow Stripe (9th Kup)

 

29th January 2012

Congratulations to David Kingsland-Wain, on qualifying as an ABA Level 1 Boxing Coach.

19th November 2011

Seminar with Grand Master Park, Jung Sae (9th Dan)

An excellent days training, spent with instruction in Patterns, Sparring and Self-defence techniques with one of the World's most respected Grand Masters.

16th October 2011

Congratulations - to all who took part in the recent Kup grading, at the Alveston Youth Centre.

The format of the grading has changed but the performances remained excellent.

New grades / belts were awarded to ...

Frontline Martial Arts Mr Andrew Day - Blue Belt / Red Stripe (3rd Kup) Mr David Kingsland-Wain - Blue Belt / Red Stripe (3rd Kup) Miss Megan Day - Blue Belt / Red Stripe (3rd Kup) Mr Graham Brook - Blue Belt (4th Kup) Miss Grace Golbourn-Peters - Yellow Belt / Green Stripe (7th Kup) Ms Alison Peters - Yellow Belt (8th Kup)

Alveston "Mighty Mites" Mr Jacob Ford - Blue Belt / Red Stripe (3rd Kup) Mr Aaron Barnes - Green Belt / Blue Stripe (5th Kup) Miss Laura Evans - Green Belt (6th Kup) Mr Max Kingsland-Wain - Yellow Belt / Green Stripe (7th Kup) Mr James Bennett - Yellow Belt (8th Kup)

10th September 2011

Frontline Martial Arts goes International !!! - We have formed an association with the "Mixed Martial Arts Academy- Spain", teaching Taekwondo, Aikido and Free-style kick-boxing in Southern Spain.

The school is run by mr Des French (2nd Dan), a former student / instructor at Frontline Martial Arts

3rd September 2011

Alveston Community Show - Frontline Martial Arts and the Alveston "Mighty Mites" again displayed their skills and entertained a large crowd at the Alveston Community Show. As the final act on the main display arena we, again, put on a spectacular performance, whcih was warmly appreciated by the spectators.

13th August 2011

Coaching Qualifications - Master Evans, Mr Tovey, David Kingsland-Wain and Andrew Day all attended the sports coaching qualification course, presented by the AMA Vice-President, at the Jubilee Hall, Alveston

25th June 2011

Frontline Martial Arts - put on another spectacular demonstration at the Congresbury Fete.

Thanks to all who took part.

22nd May 2011

Referree Qualifications - Master Evans and Mister Morris have re-qualified as Class 1 and Class 2 WTF style Tournament Referrees.

27th January 2011

End of an Era - The classes in Kingswood, of over 10 years standing, have now come to an end.

Training continues, as normal, in Alveston

9th December 2010

Kingswood Classes - Unfortunately, due to lack of demand, the Kingswood classes will be shutting down in the new year.

Training, officially, continues until the end of January 2011 but the classes have already started to wind down.

As many of the instructors at Frontline Martial Arts still live around the Kingswood area, it may be possible to re-start the classes, if there is enough demand.

Please send an E-mail to info@frontline-ma.co.uk if you are interested in what we have to offer

Otherwise, I am sorry but these classes are no longer viable.

Thanks to all who have attended, over the years. I hope you have enjoyed your training.

Training continues, as usual, at the Alveston classes.

4th December 2010

Congratulations to Andy and Lu Morris, on the birth of their baby son.

Mother and baby both doing well

Congratulations to all, from all of us at Frontline Martial Arts.

Unfortunately, none of our suppliers make a dobok in a suitable size, but we expect to see young mister Morris at training soon :-).

16th October 2010

Mixed Fortunes for our fighters in the recent UK Chungdokwan British Championships.

Despite returning with 4 Silver medals, some "dubious officiating" cost them the chance of higher honours.

Special mention needs to go to Sam Ballard who, in his first competition, narrowly missed out on a Gold medal with the last kick of the match.

Excellent performances too, under the severest of circumstances, by Andy Morris, David Kingsland-Wain and Joe Brook.

Kick of the day goes to Andy Morris's reverse-turning kick, in his WTF style final.

10th October 2010

Master Evans has been awarded the rank of 6th Dan, under a grading conducted by the senior examiners of the British Council for Korean Martial Arts.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all whom I have trained with, over the years, who have helped to keep my standard up.

4th September 2010

Another fine performance at the Alveston Communtiy Show. As always, the "Mighty Mites", especially, were superb. My thanks to all who took part and those who supported us.

19th June 2010

Many Thanks to all who took part in the demonstration at the St. Helens School fete, in Alveston. The "Mighty Mites", especially, put on a fantastic display.

7th June 2010

Master Evans has been appointed as the AMA's technical representative for WTF style Taekwondo.

31st May 2010

Goodbye and Good Luck to Des, Michelle, Connor and Lewis French, following their emigrating to Spain. We are all looking forward to our invitation to train in their new Dojang ... :-)

19th May 2010

Congratulations to Andy Morris, Des French, Mark Coombs and Connor French on gaining their 2nd Dan Black Belts.

22nd March 2010

Congratulations to all who took part in the recent Kup Gradings.

19th March 2010

Congratulations to the "Mighty Mites", following their recent coloured belt gradings.

9th December 2009

Congratulations to Lewis French on successfully grading for 1st Dan Black Belt.

25th November 2009

Welcome, Mr Paulo Ferreira, 3rd Dan, to the team of instructors at "Frontline Martial Arts".

3rd October 2009

Des French, Andy Morris and Lewis French became the first competitors for many years to represent "Frontline Martial Arts", in the UK Chungdokwan Wales and West of England Championships, at the week-end.

Competing in both semi-contact "Point-Stop" and in Olympic style WTF formats, they returned with 2 Gold Medals, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze. Congratulations to them.

28th September 2009

Congratulations to Michelle French on successfully grading for 4th Kup Blue Belt and Andrew and Megan Day on grading for 7th Kup Green stripe.

22nd April 2009

Congratulations to Lewis French, on successfully grading for his First Kup, black stripe belt.

Now the really hard work begins, in preparation for the Black Belt grading.

5th June 2009

Coming Soon !!!

New classes exclusively for the youngsters.

Friday Evenings - 4:30 - 5:15

Jubilee Hall - Alveston

Starting 19th June 2009

30th March 2009

Congratulations to Des French and Connor French, on successfully grading for their First Dan Black Belts.

Both put in an outstanding performance and proved to be worthy of being called Black Belt Martial Artists.

13th February 2009

Master Evans is proud to announce the birth of Rose Charlotte Evans, a second daughter for Master Evans and Paula, and a new sister for Laura.

29th September 2008

New Classes begin at Alveston Youth Centre, Greenhill Road, Alveston, South Gloucestershire
The classes run from 7:30pm - 9:00pm

25th September 2008

Many Thanks to the instructors from the Wado-Ryu Karate Federation for giving us an introduction to their art, in the cross-style training session on 24th September.
All participants enjoyed the session and believe it was certainly a worth-while exercise.
Hopefully, more guest instructors will be arranged in the not too distant future.
Negotiations have begun to bring in a local Ninjutsu instructor and an Aikido Sensei to run sessions for us.

4th September 2008

A joint Training Session has been agreed with a local Wado-Ryu Karate group for Wednesday 24th September, as part of our policy of inviting guest instructors / groups to train with us. Training will start of 7pm for that evening.

2nd July 2008

Congratulations to Des, Connor, Lewis, Michelle, Tom and Leon in their performances at the recent Kup grading.
Des & Connor both achieved 1st Kup black Tags, with Lewis achieving 3rd Kup Red Tag, Michelle and Tom both achieving 8th Kup Yellow Belts and Leon achieving 9th Kup Yellow Tag

Congratulations to all.

18th June 2008

Grading Postponed.

The grading scheduled for late June has been put back by a week. Grading will now take place on the 2nd July.

11th June 2008

Change in Training Fees.

In order to combat the operating loss currently being made, the training fees need to rise.

Training fees now - Juniors £3.50, Seniors £4.50 per class

5th March 2008

Congratulations to Lewis on gaining his 4th Kup blue belt and both Connor & Des in gaining their 2nd Kup red belts.

All three performed admirably in the pressure cooker of a formal grading.

Especially admirable is the fact that they have transferred over from a different style, so have had to adapt to new techniques and have had to learn a whole new set of patterns.

Congratulations to all.

7th February 2008

Change of Training Times.

From April, training will start 15 minutes later, to accommodate changes to the Kingswood Foundation's curriculum.

12th Dec 2007

Seasons Greetings from all the instructors at Frontline Martial Arts.

Final training of the year takes place on Wednesday 19th December. Training resumes on January 9th.

Merry Christmas. See you all in the new year.

31st Oct 2007

Congratulations to Mark Coombs and Mike Tovey in gaining their 1st Dan Black Belts.

Black Belts signify a certain level of proficiency, both technically and tactically, in the arts and a mastery of the basics. They are not given away lightly. Both Mark and Mike have shown themselves to be worthy of wearing the martial artist's own "badge of Honour".