On Friday 19th October, four students from Raglan Tae Kwon Do travelled to The Bristol Tae Kwon Do Academy to undertake the rigorous Black Belt Grading Exam.

In front of six  Eighth Dan Grand Masters, the students were among 86 hopefuls from Wales who were put through their paces.

The exam covered all aspects of Tae Kwon Do from theory to practice, including line work, patterns and also included oral questions on the history of the art.

The grading was the culmination of four years of training, which included nine 'Kup gradings' before the examination for 1st Dan.

The four were supported on the day by their instructor Mark Williamson, who teaches them in Crawley Hall, Bryngwyn on Sunday evenings.

Mark said: "It's fantastic to see my very first students break through to Black Belt in the appropriate time.

"All four are a credit to themselves, to our club and it's great they have achieved a 100 per cent pass rate at our first Black Belt Grading."

Pictured with Mark, on their promotion from 1st Kup to 1st Dan, are mother and son Cara and Jamie Hopgood, Joseph Curtis and Harry Lloyd.