As part of our 40th anniversary celebrations we’re sharing the stories of our members. In this feature we find out more about LMC Taekwondo, Coach Max Cater, the club’s growth, it’s athletes and plans for the future.

LMC Taekwondo

British Taekwondo: Can you tell us about your club and its origins?

Max Cater: LMC Taekwondo opened in 2019 and began with three members. Since then, the club had grown to 100 members by the start of 2022. The club’s goal this year was to reach 100 members by the end of 2022, however we’ve already exceeded this, and our target now is to reach 150 members. We are delighted with LMC Taekwondo’s growth.

BT: How did you find the transition from athlete to coach?

MC: Being a GB Athlete was incredible. The lessons I learned, the quality of physical and mental training and having the fantastic resources really did help guide me as an athlete to what it’s like becoming a coach.

Once I had resigned from the team I didn’t give up Taekwondo. I started coaching with other clubs which lead me to the decision to start up my own. Taekwondo has been such a huge part of my life since the age of four and I knew I would never lose the passion.

When starting LMC Taekwondo it was a little difficult transitioning to being a coach. Creating lesson plans and drills to suit a beginner were probably the toughest parts of it. However, as time went on I was learning as I taught. I have found and used great resources and watched great role models to develop my own teaching method and style. I believe that being physical and doing the drills and getting my sparring kit on really helps the children learn using a hands-on, practical method.

BT: What are your views on the next generation of members of your club and British Taekwondo?

MC: LMC athletes have incredible talent. They train a minimum of three times a week, and some come to sessions up to six times a week. The dedication from our members is fantastic. I am incredibly lucky to have such a good team around me that includes all players, player’s parents and support from other coaches.

The next steps for our elite athletes who compete at a national and international stage would be to aim for the British Taekwondo performance pathway squad or the GB Development squad. We currently have four members – Lily Hoy, Lia Chen-Wilson, Beth Witt and Isra Ilyas – in the British Taekwondo performance squad and one member – Phoenix Goodman – in the GB Development squad.

At the start of the year Lia won the LMC Scholarship for 2022 which financially aids her in UK Competitions. Lia now also wants to progress with the coaching side and will be undertaking the Assistant Coach Award course very soon.

A big worry for myself was my own development in the Poomsae and traditional side of Taekwondo and I’m privileged to have taken on Coach Witt.

Coach Witt is a massive asset to the club. Training in martial arts for 20 years in all a range of combat sports, from ITF Taekwondo to kickboxing and now WT Taekwondo.

Also, Master Mark Moores, from NTC, massively supports the club in traditional Poomsae and self-defence. At the end of last year, we hit a large milestone and had our first ever two black belts – Beth Witt and Misha Griffin.

To have Brandon Jewell, a long-time friend, who trains alongside me in the full-time programme has come in as a sparring coach. A truly motivational and positive influence on our members.

Lily Hoy represented LMC at the British Taekwondo U21 selection events and won Gold in the first event and silver in the second. This meant she was ranked in first place overall and has qualified for the U21 Europeans in September. It’s a fantastic achievement.

We recently had a silver medallist at the G2 Sweden Open. Phoenix Goodman represented the GB Development Squad, and she has also achieved her next goal to be selected to represent Great Britain at the Junior World Championships. Phoenix is an incredible athlete traveling to Manchester two weekends every month to train with the Development Squad.

We are so proud of our members working hard at training each week consistently medalling at domestic, national and international competitions. We are now working towards sending a large team for the British Taekwondo Nationals this September.

BT: Tell us more about your ambitions to grow the sport.

MC: LMC Taekwondo is fast growing with new members trying out and joining week by week. However, we have fantastic ambitions to grow our LMC brand. This past three years we have solely been focusing on Olympic Style Taekwondo and building our club, this year we have brought on a fantastic instructor –  Coach Matt Witt – to teach our Poomsae and self-defence classes. We run seven days a week giving everyone an opportunity to come and try one of our sessions, as our ideal numbers per session are maximum 20.

To facilitate the players coming through, the next step for LMC is to open our own Centre as soon as possible. A brand-new six thousand square foot combat centre will house our Taekwondo club, as well as a dance studio and other combat sports. We are hoping that this project will come to light by the end 2022 and we are working closely with Southampton City Council, Southampton University and local schools to create a fantastic sports facility for the next generation of athletes.

BT: You’ve been involved in community activities since the club started.

MC: LMC love to give back to the community and we will be taking part in annual village days holding demonstrations to see what Taekwondo is like for others to watch. Our most recent took place in North Baddesley, Southampton.

We also hold free lunchtime clubs in a local Southampton school to help develop and inspire younger people to take part in Taekwondo. The children enjoyed it so much that we decided to donate some equipment for them to keep permanently.

We are greatly looking forward to our first LMC Prize Fighter Championships being held on the 4th of  December. It will be held in Eastleigh and are hoping to host 240 players and many spectators. We wanted to give back to the Taekwondo Community for supporting our first-ever event therefore giving out Prize Money to the first-place ranking team, best male and best female fighter.

BT: You mentioned your work with schools, you’ve got great connections and have been helping to get young adults and children active again post-lockdowns.

MC: Post-lockdown it was a target for LMC to get children active again. We have created an ‘Inspires Programme’ where the club and coaches go into schools and instruct children during lessons, in lunchtimes and after school. So far, we teach at The Mountbatten School, Halter Worth School & Springhill Catholic Primary. However, Test Valley Council have selected LMC Taekwondo to become a part of the ‘Hampshire School Games’ to deliver over 50 schools Olympic Taekwondo lessons in Hampshire and surrounding areas. We are extremely grateful to be involved with this project.

BT: Have you got any funny stories from your time in the sport?

MC: LMC took the team paintballing for one of our team bonding days and even though we had two separate teams they all still aimed for me! As their coach it’s probably pay back for some tough training sessions I’ve put them through. Our next team day out is coming up and I wonder what’ll happen to me there!

BT: How old are your youngest and oldest members?

MC: Our youngest member is my three-year-old son, Harley, and our oldest member is 25. We have a good age diversity, which hugely benefits our beginners to our experienced members. Averaging 15-20 students per session we have great numbers for sparring classes and partnering drills.

Visit the LMC Taekwondo website to find out more.

Photos: submitted.

If you would like to share your Taekwondo story please contact Richard Gottfried, Marketing, Digital & Media Manager via marketing@britishtaekwondo.org or 07706 342156.