This client suffered a head injury years ago. He later took up Taekwondo to help improve his condition. He came to me for wider conditioning. I have trained in Korean martial arts for decades, but this booking has been a clear reminder of the value of looking outside one system.

A lot of people think kicking is mainly about flexibility. Flexibility helps, of course, but it’s not the main issue when moving from one kick to another. The real challenge is this: can the body stay organised while one leg is in the air? For my client, we worked on transitioning from one kick to another without putting his foot down. In taekwondo, this sort of control matters. A student might need to chamber the leg, kick, bring it back, turn the hip, and kick again.

My 66 year-old client embarked on his sixth hour with me. This is a martial arts cross-training personal training course used to improve his movement in taekwondo and to improve his balance for the turning kick. Despite not being involved with Korean martial arts since the 1990s, I am working with a lot of taekwodoins who wish to use other martial arts, such as boxing to improve their overall game. This afternoon, being so close to his grading, I decided to totally work on

When a 66-year-old client returned for his fourth lesson focused on improving his Taekwondo turning kick, I knew this session would be both challenging and rewarding. Despite not training in Korean martial arts since the 1990s, I have worked with Taekwondo practitioners because of the clear benefits martial arts cross-training offers.