Martial arts glory for Blundell's student

A pupil at Blundell’s School in Devon has fought her way to the top to become a double national champion in taekwondo just over a year after she took up the sport. 16-year-old Sapphire Reed-Yang, won her awards at the British Championships, which were held recently in Telford. Competing in the 14-18 age group, she triumphed in the team sparring competition, where competitors engage in mock combat, and individual patterns, where they must demonstrate combinations of moves and kicks. Sapphire also picked up a bronze in an individual sparring event.

To reach this level, Sapphire has been incredibly dedicated. Despite studying for GCSEs, she also takes part in the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme and is a member of the school’s chamber choir. Despite all this, she spends the majority of her spare time training and finds it quite challenging to fit in her taekwondo amongst her studies. She said: “I train twice a week with the Tiverton Taekwondo Association of Great Britain and then most evenings to keep up my fitness. As soon as I get home, I do my prep instead of watching television and when that’s done, I start training.”

Sapphire is not the only Blundellian to have reached championship level. The school currently includes national, regional and county champions in several sports. She is now looking forward to the South West Championships in February and says she would like to join a taekwondo demonstration team and to be a member of a future Olympic squad. In the meantime, she’s working hard at both the sport and her studies, with the aim of one day becoming a surgeon or forensic scientist.

Taekwondo was originated in Korea, where it is viewed as the national sport. A basic translation means “the way of the foot and the fist” and has over 70 million practitioners worldwide. Taekwondo is famous for its high-impact kicks, and is considered one of the most lethal and hard to learn disciplines in martial arts.