A British Taekwondo member story.

It’s wonderful hearing stories from our members and the reasons why they do Taekwondo. In this feature we find out more about Nico and Luca Ferrentino of Free Spirit Taekwondo in Seaton, Devon.

Me and my son Luca saw an A-board while walking past our local cinema in Seaton, and it was advertising Taekwondo training with Free Spirit Taekwondo club.

At the time I was looking for a class for Luca, he is autistic, and we wanted to try something to build his self-confidence and to find a sporting activity he would enjoy doing.

We have tried many sports in the past, including tennis, rugby tots, and football, but without success. After few sessions at each of these Luca would either find it hard to follow the sessions because they were too strict, or he would lose interest because the sessions were boring.

We came across Taekwondo by chance and after a couple of messages with Master Damian Burton at Free Spirit Taekwondo, he suggested we go along for two free sessions to see if it was something Luca would like to do.

Damian also suggest that I come along so to give me and Luca a chance of doing something together.

Since the first day I can’t look back and be more thankful to Damian to have opened the door of his club to me and Luca!

Luca truly enjoys training sessions, especially the sparring ones where he is allowed to bring a Bongo drum to create the perfect atmosphere for the fights.

He and Damian have a special relationship, Luca always try to sneak a kick to his Master while he is walking around running the session and Damian is always more than happy to block and “play the part” with Luca.

During these last 18 months Luca has made huge progress with his confidence and often he helps the new starters at the club to get involved.

From my side I have enjoyed every minute of my Taekwondo journey.

At the start I didn’t even know what Taekwondo was and just wanted to be there for Luca. Now 18 months down the line we have both managed to get our Green belts, have had the honour of training with Grand Master Shin twice, and I won a gold medal at the Southern County Championship this year for my category!

I have lost loads of weight and I’m feeling much healthier following Damian’s advice on stretching and meditation techniques.

But more than anything we have made loads of friends. We regularly see kids and family from the club for social events and we are just so happy to have joined the Taekwondo family.

You can find out more about Free Spirit Taekwondo on the club’s Facebook Page.

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

Photos: submitted.