Alex has been practicing Taekwondo for about 18 months. When he first started I was a bit worried that doing Taekwondo would encourage him to be aggressive, but in fact the opposite has happened and he has much more self control and greater confidence to deal with difficult situations.

The classes are really positive and teach the children self-discipline and focus. As well as learning bully techniques, the sessions emphasise personal safety and teach the children stranger awareness and ways of dealing with bullying, which are really useful skills to learn.

Doing Taekwondo has given Alex's confidence a huge boost. He used to be very nervous about performing in public, but now he is happy to give new things a try. The instructors are very professional and always give loads of encouragement, and have a ‘can do' attitude, and this really helps the children to believe that they can succeed at anything.

When they grade for their next belt, you can see that they all put in their best effort, and they are so proud when they do well: there is a real sense of achievement, which is brilliant for their confidence. Alex loves Tae Kwon Do, and complains if he has to miss a session!

He is getting really fit, and has made loads of friends. All the children get on well together and help each other to succeed. Alex is really proud of his belt.

He's very enthusiastic about training, and keen to get all the way to black belt! We feel that doing Taekwondo is a great experience for him, and I would encourage anyone, whatever age or fitness level to give it a go.

I joined the Association of Real Martial Arts because I felt the class structure was varied, challenging, contemporary and practical with the main focus being on real life scenario based training, unlike any other school I had experienced.

Before I started training I was relatively unfit, generally inactive and had no real interest in any type of sporting activity, now I feel healthier, more confident and am fascinated by the physics and principles of the art, it really has positively influenced my life.

Classes are always fun, different and challenging both mentally and physically and there is always a positive sense of camaraderie and support between all the students in class. You are never in competition with anyone else, just yourself, so different people with varying levels of fitness and ability can join in the fun.

Even socially is great fun and I have made new friends through social events organised by the Academy.