Q. Will we have to wear masks to train?

A. You will need to arrive wearing a mask so that when you approach the admin desk you have one on. Once you have entered the hall, you may remove it to train. You may keep yours on if you feel safer, but training in a mask will not be enforced.

Q. If we do have a grading, how would we participate in sparring as part of the syllabus?

A. In terms of club grading, there will only be one for one sparring in the grading. No other forms of sparring, including 3 step or 1 step will take place. We will be able to conduct it in class at 2m distancing, but unless the government rules change prior to the grading, only poomsae, syllabus work and one for one will take place in the grading.

In regards to the black belt grading, I am unsure as yet what will happen. I will have to wait to hear more from British Taekwondo on this one. One for one will definitely take place however.

Q. How will it work for minors if parents aren’t allowed in the hall?

A. Unfortunately, at the moment, we are being enforced by British Taekwondo to not let parents stay in the hall. If numbers are low enough however, I may be able to reconsider this. Maybe to one parent/guardian per household, but I have to ensure I do not have more than the allowed number of people in the hall. Once I know more on numbers returning, I will be able to advise further on this one.

Q. Are larger group lessons allowed in the park, until we can return to the schools?

A. Previously the answer was no, I was restricted to 5 students, however we have been given the green light this week to have outdoor lessons, for up to 30 students. Therefore, I will be considering running a lesson in the park, more information will be emailed out regarding this.

Q. Will combined family sessions still take place?

A. I appreciate that there are a few instances where siblings or parent and child of different ages and grades currently train together. I will do my best to ensure you can still train at the same time. Until I have the full responses in though it is difficult to confirm this.

Q.  Would the price be the same for reduced time lessons?

A. I have always tried to be fair with my prices, the only way I can maintain running classes is to reduce the times to ensure as many can train as possible.

Q. Will the class times not be too short? Worried that we will not have enough time.

A. Minors sessions would be reduced to 30 minutes, bearing in mind I am not allowed to hold paddles for them, this means they will not be going up and down individually to kick mitts or use the blocking stick, so will all do techniques by all students at same time, so will cover as much content as they did before.

Juniors and Seniors would be reduced to 45 minutes, note that the session make up will be changed so that similar grades train together. This means that we can cover syllabus specific content. This is more than enough time. I will also do a more basic warm up as the usual running up and down will not be allowed, so can restrict the warm up to ensure a full lesson is still covered in a shorter time.

Q. We paid throughout lockdown so we could have extra classes on return, will this be able to be used or refunded?

A. I know some people paid throughout lockdown to support the club through a tough time, thank you to those who did, it is much appreciated. I know some were doing this to "bank" payment for extra classes to get ready for grading on our return. Unfortunately, our return is not how I had imagined, and I am having to put things in place that restrict our training at the moment. I cannot guarantee that you will be able to do extra classes at the moment, as I am limited on numbers in each class, but I will do my best to make space where possible. I can either refund you or use it for grading costs, or your monthly fees on our return. It is up to you.

Q. What happens to the payments we made in March, before lockdown?

A. I have made a note of all students that paid in March and your outstanding credit will be used in September on our return, if you are returning.

Q. Will I be ready for the next grading?

A. This is a tough one to answer. Some of you have been keeping up training, so it won't take too long for me to help you sharpen up when we return. Some have trained a little and others not at all. I am not judging anyone. This was a strange time for us all, and I know some will have just enjoyed having some time off. These students, may need a little longer to be ready for the grading, especially if you have forgotten poomsae. I will do my best to help everyone get back up to the same standards we were prior to lockdown as fast as I can. You can help me by running through the videos I posted on YouTube. All poomsae are on there, as well as kup grade syllabus, so you can refresh your poomsae and techniques before we return. Those going for black belt, I do not know what they will be expecting, as the black belt grading focuses a lot on sparring and self defence, which is not possible at the moment, so I am unclear what we need to work on. All I can say is freshen up your poomsae, make sure your stamina is good and run through all the prior syllabus to make sure you remember all the techniques.