First, I would like to thank all my amazing students for their commitment, hard work and dedication and all parents and guardians for their continuous support to the club during 2012. It has been a fantastic year to say the least!!!
For me, the best moment of the year by far, was to get my first Black Belt students in Liam Sloan, Harvey Stockford and Joseph Davies. I cannot tell you again how proud I am of the boys and their achievement.
As far as the colour belt gradings, we have had a very good year again with lots of A passes and more students getting closer to the Black Belt level. The Little Tigers Graduations of 2012 were also once again very successful. The little ones keep on displaying great skills and continue to improve with every session, with a few of them making the transition into the Junior Taekwondo classes.
I also had the chance in 2012 to take part in some amazing seminars and training sessions with some great martial artists, Taekwondo World Champions (Warren Vice, Gordon Fearn, Joseph Schembri), BJJ World Champion (Braulio Estima), Grand Masters (CK Choi) and even an Olympic Champion (Jade Jones)!!! All of them being very inspirational and helping me to keep the motivation to practice hard and improve.
Getting my blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was also a fantastic moment for me after countless hours of very hard training on the mats, and I would like to thank all my training partners and Instructors again.
As an Instructor I would like to encourage my students to set goals and challenges for themselves, never give up and be humble. I will in return, try to set a positive example and role model by continuing to set challenges for myself and support all my students achieve their personal best.
We have an exciting 2013 ahead of us and a lot to look forward to! Both National and International competitions, more Taekwondo gradings and graduations for the Little Tigers, a new class for advanced students, seminars and training camps...
I would like to say well done and thank you all once again for your support and dedication, and I know that we will all have a very successful 2013.
Happy New Year!
Neil Gimbel