Korean
Martial Arts
Academy

Where Traditional Values Meet Real-World Experience
Founded in May 2011 as White Tiger Taekwon-Do & Self-Defence, White Tiger Martial Arts has grown into a full-spectrum academy. We are the only academy in the south west region (and only one of three academies in the UK) that are officially recognised by a true Pioneer of Taekwon-Do - Pioneer Grandmaster Kong Young Il, “Champion of Korea”.
We now offer:

• Traditional Taekwon-Do

• Korean Kickboxing (Kun Gek-Do)

• The highly popular Tiger Cubs pre-martial arts programme for children
  

Based in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, our academy provides top class martial arts training with a strong foundation in discipline, respect, self-confidence and personal development — for ages 4 and above.

A Trusted and Accredited Martial Arts Academy
White Tiger Martial Arts is proud to be recognised for excellence and professionalism through:

• Safeguarding Code in Martial Arts

• National Clubmark accreditation

• County “Club Standards” award

These credentials reflect our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of welfare, tuition, and safeguarding — giving parents and students peace of mind.

Our Mission & Values
At White Tiger Martial Arts, our mission is to develop the whole student — physically, mentally, emotionally and ethically.
By setting realistic and meaningful goals, we help each student:
Gain confidence, character, and inner strength
Learn self-respect, resilience and self-discipline
Grow personally, professionally and socially
Work towards becoming a Black Belt in life, not just in martial arts
Our teaching is grounded in the core tenets of Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-Control, and Indomitable Spirit— forming the foundation for lifelong success.

Traditional Taekwon-Do

Taekwon-Do is a Korean military martial art and the national sport of South Korea.

Tae means "to strike or break with the foot"; Kwon means "to strike or break with the fist"; and Do means "way," "method," or "art." Thus, Taekwon-Do may be loosely translated as "the way of the foot and fist" or "the way of kicking and punching”.

Taekwon-Do is the world's most popular martial art in terms of the number of practitioners. Its popularity has resulted in the varied development of the martial art into several domains, as with many other arts, it combines combat techniques, self-defence, sport, exercise, meditation, and philosophy. It is also used by the South Korean military as part of its training.
Gyeorugi, a type of sparring, has been an Olympic event since 2000. In 1946, When Choi Hong Hi (the founder) was a second Lieutenant in the Korean army, he became ashamed of teaching his solider's Karate which is a Japanese martial art. It was at this time that he developed his first technique, a Low Block.
Taekwon-Do was unwittingly used by Korean soldiers during the Cold War and it was not until April 11th 1955 that Taekwon-Do as we know it, was inaugurated by General Choi Hong Hi.
Formally, there are two main styles of Taekwon-Do. One comes from the Kukkiwon, the source of the sparring system sihap gyeorugi which is now an event at the summer Olympic Games and which is governed by the World Taekwon-Do (WT). The other comes from the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) which is the self-defence element that White Tiger Martial Arts follows. 

Kun Gek-Do (Korean Kickboxing)

Kun Gek Do-also known as Gwon-gyokdo is the Martial Art of Korean Kickboxing. In some parts of Korea, Korean Kickboxing is known as Kyuk Too Ki, but this is more of a rule-set than the actually Martial Arts style.

Two martial art styles that are commonplace in use in Korea are Muay Thai and Taekwon-Do. Each art has its own set of rules in it’s respective sport, so competition directly between Muay Thai and Taekwon-Do fighters was impossible. Kyuk Too Ki is the rule-set that came about from the aspirations of these two arts to compete. Once there was a rule-set in place that allowed moves of both fighting styles a new type of fighting was tailor made for this set of rules. That is how Korean Kickboxing got its start and began to develop its own style.
Korean Kickboxing uses the basic Taekwon-Do kicking style, but also adds in leg blocks and Muay Thai style striking with the knees and elbows. The less efficient part of Muay Thai, mobility, is disposed of and the art adopts a majority of Taekwon-Do footwork. Korean Kickboxing's footwork is made mostly of Taekwon-Do slides and quick steps. To dodge a punch in Korean Kickboxing, you use the moves of Western Boxing and slip the punch bobbing or weaving out of the way of harm. Also like Western Boxing, Korean Kickboxing does not use open-handed striking or blocking techniques.
White Tiger Martial Arts is the only academy in the Tewkesbury area that teaches this awesome Self-Defence programme. It is not Taekwon-Do sparring which some teach, it has it's very own syllabus and belt system.

The term “Kun Gek Do” stands for “The art of attacking and punching”, “Kun” (pronounced “Gwun”) means “Fist” or “ Punch”, “Gek” (pronounced “GYUK”) means “Attack”, and “Do” means the “Art” or “Way”.

Tiger Cubs - Kids Martial Arts

Our very own Tiger Cubs programme specifically caters for children between the ages of 4 - 9 years, concentrating on the physical and mental benefits the programme introduces. There are eight key Tiger Cubs Personal Development Skills including: focus (to improve listening and reaction skills); team work, control, balance (to improve coordination) and memory skills.
The Tiger Cubs programme is a detailed curriculum that focuses on improving pre-school age children’s basic motor and listening skills in Tewkesbury. These skills will help them enter society with a more confident and enthusiastic outlook. They will become better students at school, better listeners at home and more ambitious towards the future. We know the time between the ages of 4 and 9 are the most important years of a child’s development. Our programme will enhance positive development in a fun and motivating way.

The Tiger Cubs programme will also prepare your child for our main Martial Arts Programme in Taekwon-Do. In the Tiger Cubs classes, your child will be exposed to positive social interaction. They will learn how to work with others and follow directions from their instructors. Our Tiger Cubs instructors are good role models who are trained specifically to work with pre-school aged children and are enhanced DBS checked and qualified firstaider’s. They have attended nationally recognised courses that allow them to recognise your child’s needs and apply this to your child’s learning programme.  

Classes have a strict limitation on student numbers in order that each child has positive interaction with the instructors and are not left on their own for long periods as they are in large groups.

“TIGER CUB’S TODAY, LEADERS TOMORROW”

What else do we do?
Our Chief Instructor has a number of specialisms which have been proven to work during his 29 years as a martial artist and 20 years as a front line police officer. All of these specialisms have been learnt by either attending courses, seminars or have been self taught and practiced. He has removed a number of techniques which wouldn’t work in a realistic situation and replaced them with “what works”.
All of these specialisms have been handed down to his Assistant Instructors and Black Belts who continue to teach these to students. Some of these specialisms are:

• Korean Martial Arts

• Pressure Point Fighting

• Self-Defence & Applications
  

• Weapons Defence

• Control and Restraint