The ITF England Male Veterans Squad for 2017
This was my first opportunity to represent my country and compete at an international level in Taekwondo, and it didn't disappoint.
Because neither I or my son, who was selected for the Junior squad, were sure that this would ever happen again we made sure that we got some photos of us in the England Team kit.
Proud to be part of the England Team
The standard of sparring and patterns was so much higher than I had previously experienced as either an Instructor at Ludlow Universal TKD or in the competitions I had previously competed in. It was a steep learning curve.
You can read the Ludlow Advertiser article about my recovery to success here.
It was even more significant for me having only recently recovered from reconstructive surgery that meant I had been unable to train properly until recently.
Being selected for the individual patterns and sparring was great, but the icing on the cake was being selected as part of the Team Patterns and Team Sparring. This meant more time training in preparation together but also more time on the mat during the competition.
The individual sparring did not go as well as I hoped. I met Simon Jan from Slovenia in the first round of the draw and was completely outclassed. The quote "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face" was very appropriate for the match, though I did score more points than anyone else who came up against him for the rest of the tournament. He went on to win Gold without too much trouble.
England and Slovenian Veterans Teams
Individual patterns went very well. I progressed through a number if rounds to the final against my own England Team mate Lahsen Amassoul. We had been training a lot together as part of the veterans patterns team and had also spent quite some time working on our individual patterns together. Lahsen performed more effectively and came away with the Gold and European title.
Lahsen Amassoul taking the flag for the Gold in the 3rd Dan Patterns final
The Team Patterns and Team Sparring both went well until we came across the Slovenian team in the final for both.
The highlights for me in both these competitions was the semi finals.
The Team Patterns semi-final against Greece went to an additional tie break pattern that we won.
Stepping onto the mat for the Team Patterns
Staying together in Team Patterns
The Team Sparring semi-final against Wales went down to the last second. With our coach, Steve Millis, exclaiming "Get on with it Reuben" as the last few seconds of the match counted down I launched an all out drive towards Chris Black (Wales) that scored and knocked him out of the ring. The scoring kick and brought the scores level as the bell went and the additional penalty for leaving the ring flipped the scores, giving England the win. I was elated to say the least.
Cutting it fine - The last second of the Semi-Final against Wales.
Veterans Team Sparring Silver Medal
Veterans Team Patterns Silver