Two students at Monmouth, Usk and Abergavenny Tae Kwon-Do have passed their exam to become Assistant Instructors - while a third, junior member of the club, is now a Classroom Assistant.

Black Belt Third Dan, Niall Farr, and Second Dan, Hefina Rendle, achieved the qualification alongside 14 year old Mia Hall, who is a First Dan in the Korean Martial Art.

Niall is the son of World Master Anthony Farr, a former World Champion in Destruction, who set up Monmouth, Usk and Abergavenny Tae Kwon-Do more than 30 years ago.

“I am extremely proud of all three of them. It was an intense course, run by the Tae Kwon-Do Association of Great Britain (TAGB), which covered all aspects of training and keeping people safe. At the end of it they had to pass an exam to qualify,” said World Master Farr.

The course included instruction on running classes and as Assistant Instructors, Niall Farr and Hefina Rendle were subjected to DBS checks. The pair have since passed a separate course in Safeguarding Adults and Children, which is renewed every three years. Hefina Rendle, who lives in Llangwm, near Usk, is the club’s Safeguarding Lead, and also acts as a Welfare Officer at TAGB tournaments.

“The TAGB is Europe's largest single martial arts organisation, with more than 20,000 members and over 600 clubs nationwide. As a founder member of the British Taekwondo Council, it takes training, the well-being and safety of its instructors and students very seriously. The courses and the regulations are there because they matter to us as a club and association,” added World Master Farr.

Mia Hall, who is a pupil at Monmouth Comprehensive School, is hoping that her new qualification will come in useful for her GCSE in Physical Education.

Mia Hall, who is a pupil at MSC, is hoping that her new qualification will come in useful for her GCSE in Physical Education.  
(Hefina rendle)

“I really enjoy Tae Kwon-Do and I am proud to help out during lessons as a Classroom Assistant. I feel a great sense of achievement on having gained this qualification and am grateful to be given opportunities to develop within the club,“ said Mia.

Recently the club and Coleford Tae Kwon-Do, which is run by fellow instructor, Ben Morgan, helped raise more than £1,200 for the Alzheimer's Society with a Kickathon. More donations are still coming in after senior students were sponsored to complete 2,000 kicks, while the juniors did a 1,000.

It’s not the first Kickathon the clubs have held at Monmouth Leisure Centre to support Black Belt, and 5th Dan student, Miranda Barber. She and son, Ellis, completed the Society’s Trek26 challenge by walking 26 miles in the Eryri National Park to honour her husband and Ellis’s father, Kevin, who has young onset dementia.

“Ellis and I also completed the society’s trek in the Brecon Beacons last year. Both were challenging, but no way as hard as my husband’s long battle with this condition,” said Miranda Barber.

Taekwondo is originally a martial art which was developed during the 1940s and 1950s by Korean martial artists with experience in martial arts such as karate and Chinese martial arts.[