On Sunday the 5th of December 2009, five students travelled to Southampton to face their toughest test to date: the examination for their Black Belts. However, John, Leyton, Darren, Jacob and Rebecca arrived at West Totton Community Centre well prepared for the daunting task that stood before them.

After training flat out for the past year, developing and perfecting their Poomsae, Sparring, One-Step and Self-Defence, all 5 students looked ready and waiting to tackle the intensive scrutiny delivered by all four top table examiners.

First up was the Poomsae, and all 5 executed sharp and precise movements, standing out from the rest of the crowd. All the candidates tore through Pal-jang and Sah-Jang, along with one pattern of their own choice. Next up came the One Step Sparring, where again all 5 students quickly disposed of their attackers with effective and devastating technique.

Next was one-on-one sparring, then two-on-one, then two-on-two cooperative sparring, followed by self-defence from a number of random holds, locks and chokes. Our guys handled all attempts with ease, showing confidence and superior technique against all manner of attacks.

Finally came the Destruction, where all 5 students had to smash a board with a chosen technique. The selected technique was a sidekick, and all our guys smashed the board with ease, demonstating a high standard of accuracy and power.

It should be noted that there were a few failures on the day, proving that certain strict performance criteria must be met in order to pass successfully. All of our students passed with ease, proving that the effort of the past year was well worthwhile!

Overall it was a great day with very impressive performances from all 5 students, and a very pleasing sight to watch them all collect their Black Belts from Master Lindsay Lawrence. Well done guys!