Caithness Tang Soo Do students praised after grading in Halkirk

Caithness students of the Korean martial art of Tang Soo Do have been praised for their "fantastic" efforts in training and for putting themselves forward for testing.

Club instructor Stephen Mezals was speaking after Caithness Tang Soo Do hosted a grading at the Ross Institute in Halkirk on Saturday in front of Master Kelly Murphy, 7th Dan of Scotland Tang Soo Do.

Fourteen students attended and all passed their grading, earning them their new belts. They were Robyn Speirs (11), to blue belt; Mia MacGregor (10), to red belt; Kieran Wilson (10), to brown tag; Rebecca Henyel (12), Kayleigh MacDonald (10), Owen Munro (9) and Logan Barnett (7), all to green belt; Harvey Cargan (7), to orange tag; Alex Flett (12), Katie Carney (11), Mairead McIntosh (12) and Amalie Rowe (8), all to orange belt; Scott Henderson (5) and Alfie MacGregor (5), both to white tag.

The club, which started in 2018, has more than 30 students covering all belt levels and in 2023 had its first students promoted to black belt – husband and wife Eoghan and Kerry Speirs.

Eoghan successfully graded in April 2023 at a black belt grading in Inverness and Kerry successfully graded earlier this month, also in Inverness.

Their 11-year-old daughter Robyn is a member of the same club and has achieved her blue belt, placing her one step away from black belt herself. She hopes to achieve this in 2024.

Master Stephen Mezals, 4th Dan, said: "It's fantastic to see so many of our students training hard and putting themselves out there to be tested in front of such a senior master instructor and all doing so well, taking them one step closer towards black belt.

"As a club, it's such a proud moment to see our students achieve black belt which comes after years of hard work and dedication. Knowing that our first black belts are a married couple, and that their daughter is following very closely, is extra-special for us, highlighting that martial arts can be fun for all the family."

The Caithness Tang Soo Do website is caithnesstsd.martialartsuk.org.

Scotland Tang Soo Do's first club opened at Kinloss in 1993. There are now clubs across Moray and the Highlands as well as the central belt.

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