AFTER more than four-and-a-half years of dedicated training, three members of Farnham School of Tae Kwon Do recently earned the right to take their black belt grading examination.

Daisy Johnson, Will Houghton and Nick Nawrattel all train in the Korean martial art under the guidance of instructor, Tim Ayres-Townshend and assistant instructor, Evie Ayres-Townshend. Having attended intense additional training sessions to prepare for the big day, the three martial artists travelled to Kent, first to complete a pre-grading and, two weeks later, for a rigorous grading examination under the scrutiny of a panel of senior black belt Tae Kwon Do examiners.

Daisy, a pupil at Heath End School, overcame an eve of grading knee injury, putting aside the pain, to achieve the highest mark from the examiners and earning the award of ‘Best in Grading’.

Will, who attends South Farnham School, is one of the youngest members of Farnham School of Tae Kwon Do to achieve the rank of first degree black belt, having first been introduced to Tae Kwon Do through an after-school club at All Saints’ School.

Nick, whose young daughter also trains in Tae Kwon Do, shattered his shoulder joint in an accident five years ago. He has now proved the doctors and surgeons wrong, not just in his resolve to take up the martial art, but to then go on to achieve his black belt.

Instructor and coach Tim Ayres-Townshend, said, “The road to black belt is not an easy one, nor should it be. Daisy, Will and Nick have all had to overcome set-backs along the way and their promotions to first degree black belt are richly deserved.

“Everyone at Farnham School of Tae Kwon Do is immensely proud of them and they have proved what can be achieved with the application of perseverance and indomitable spirit.”