Lincoln mum dreads her Tae Kwon Do twins going head-to-head
Two boys stand toe to toe, preparing to fight for a prize only one can win.
The parents of both boys are unusually quiet, and neither of the young competitors can hear their name being cheered above the noise of the crowd.
This is a situation which has become a common dilemma for Helen Taylor, from Lincoln, as her twin boys Jack and Thomas begin to make their mark in the semi-contact sport of Tae Kwon Do.
The 13-year-old twins have been forced to fight against each other in competitions over the last few weeks.
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In the North Midlands Tae Kwon Do Championships, in Derby, Jack beat his brother in the final as they took gold and silver respectively.
However, the previous week Thomas triumphed as he beat his brother on the way to the gold in the final at the Midlands Championships in Kettering.
While the boys might enjoy the occasional meeting in competitions, for mum Helen, it brings a moment of dread as she deals with the emotional turmoil their competition battles bring.
"My hands shake and I do find myself biting my nails," explained Helen. " I sometimes feel like those women you used to see on TV at the wrestling on a Saturday afternoon.
"It is nerve-wracking, but to be honest I am more nervous when they are fighting other people. Obviously I don't want either of the boys to lose, but whoever wins, the other one is always very sporting about it.
"When they meet each other in a competition, you think 'oh no, how will it be for whoever doesn't win?'
"But they want to do it, so we support them. They really enjoy the sport and they both have the bug for competing."
The boys, who both attend the Priory Witham Academy, in Lincoln, took up the sport following an incident which left Jack with a black eye just over three years ago.
Having recently moved to the area, the lads visited the local park and were watching a group of boys who were performing tricks on skateboards.
"They were attacked for no reason," explained Helen. "Jack was put in a headlock and punched. It really upset them both and they wanted to be more confident in situations like that.
"No one wanted them to learn a martial art so they can go out and use it to hurt people, but it's important they are confident in defending themselves if they need to."
The twins have been members of the Lincoln South Tae Kwon Do Club, based at Moorlands Community Centre.
They practise the TAGB (Tae Kwon Do Association of Great Britain) version of the sport and, after three years, have each reached blue belt level.
Thomas and Jack will be in action again at the British championships in Coventry in November.
Comments
by taekwondojack
Sunday, July 22 2012, 1:07PM
“sorry about spelling lol
*are
**opponent
*** lightly
****confidence
***** arguments
****** think
******* case
******** understand
********* get
there i think i have corected them all”
by taekwondojack
Sunday, July 22 2012, 1:02PM
“Simonlincs what rre you on about? Tae Kwon Do is a semi-contact sport meaning you dont go punching your oppon the hardest you can you just punch lihtly trying to score a point. There is nothing bloodthirsty about it, it is just a hobbie of mine which has given me cnfdence. I am not violent kid and i have been in argments in school but i have never used tae kwon do. Tae Kwon Do teaches discipline something i thin you know nothing about. In Tae Kwon Do you dont go around hurting kids and you only ever use tae kwon do in self defence never to start a fight. In ase you didnt undesrtand simon i as attacked whist watching this skatebord competition, i wasnt in it i was just watching when some kids started attacking me! Ges your facts right!
Tae Kwon DO = Self Defense , it is a martial arts but a nice one Tae Kwon Do translate as Foot Hand Art not go and attack people and prove how hard you are!”
by TomTaeTaylor
Friday, July 20 2012, 3:17PM
“Hi Thomas Taylor here!
Simon there is no blood, and never will be one of the first things you learn is Tae Kwon Do is it is self defense, blood-fighting is an animal sport which clearly isn't what we are or do. The fact that it is in the Olympics clearly shows that it is a sport that is well liked and does not get many injuries. If other wise don't you think that the health and safety would stop it!.”
by Sssssh
Tuesday, July 17 2012, 5:28PM
“simonlincs - you need to read the story correctly my reference to skateboarding. I quote "The boys took up the sport following an incident which left Jack with a black eye just over three years ago. Having recently moved to the area, the lads visited the local park and were watching a group of boys who were performing tricks on skateboards." "They were attacked for no reason,".
You replied "when you're skateboarding the aim isn't to inflict physical damage on your opponent". Oh and "plus you're unlikely to get smacked in the head".
I think you need to back track a tad? Oh - and 1 nil to me.”
by Gnome_Chomsky
Monday, July 16 2012, 8:54PM
“Astonishing that these two blood-crazed psychopaths have been locked in battles to the death so often recently, yet both look relatively unscathed.
I think a bit of discretion might be in order. Tae Kwon Do is not no-rules cage fighting.”
by FreedomSpeech
Monday, July 16 2012, 3:27PM
“"Whatever !!! Nobody will ever convince me that teaching bloods ports to children is a good idea and I can't believe how any sane and rational person can defend it"
That will be because you clearly don't have a clue what a blood sport is. Nothwithstanding the fact that the term blood sport refers to animals, watch the Tae Kwon Do during the Olympics then come back and tell us all how much blood you see.”
by Bill_Door
Monday, July 16 2012, 12:55PM
“Unfortunately a closed mind is never accompanied by a closed mouth.”
by simonlincs
Monday, July 16 2012, 11:57AM
“Whatever !!! Nobody will ever convince me that teaching bloods ports to children is a good idea and I can't believe how any sane and rational person can defend it,hopefully one day they will all be banned !!!”
by bobkippuz
Sunday, July 15 2012, 7:54PM
“simon go tidy your room and stop posting nothingnessmoominpoo”
by Lincolnblue
Saturday, July 14 2012, 5:04PM
“"no doubt when these kids get into an argument at school they don't bother trying to use their brains to discuss problems but instantly rely on their fists "
Haha, you obviously don't know these two! You couldn't be further from the truth.”