TKDCoach Academy

02/09/2026

3 setups everybody must have in ITF to be able to close the distance with the front leg.

Without these everybody will escape your front leg and easily avoid

20/08/2026

Started Taekwon-Do a bit later in life? This one's for you. Instead of chasing speed & flexibility, do this 👇

I'm working with a good few over-35 fighters at the moment and the same things keep coming up.

You won't out-stretch the 19-year-olds. You're not scoring five head shots a fight any time soon.

Fine 👍

What you can do:

Make every session count. You haven't got the time the kids have, so walk in knowing exactly what you're fixing.

Keep yourself safe first. Build a wall — the gap, front leg, front hand held long. Stop getting bombarded and you finally get room to think.

Squeeze space, don't chase it. Like a car in a crusher. Gradual, relentless, until they have to react.

Forget speed. Hunt timing. The moment their foot lifts is your window.

Break the straight line. Matador, not the bull. Angle off and circle back to the centre.

None of it needs flexibility. None of it needs speed.

You're not too late — you're just playing a different game, and it's one you can win.

15/08/2026

I've coached students to European and World medals both in person and online. Here are 5 things the best ones all have in common — and none of them are talent.

1. They build campaign to campaign.

The best don't train in a straight line forever. They aim at an event — say the Euros — compete, take a short break, then use that as a platform to build on for the next one.

Every campaign starts higher than the last. Peaks and build upon that structure.

2. They do more than everyone else.

Not one of my best students has ever done the bare minimum. If you do two classes a week like everyone else, you'll quietly fall behind — you're just ticking the minimum-entry box.

To be at a higher level you have to do more than the people around you. It sounds obvious, I know.

3. They train outside of class.

Regular classes are built for everyone in the room — general Taekwon-Do, covering everything.

If you want to be genuinely good at one thing, like sparring, you have to also work on it outside those sessions.

This is the single biggest thing you can do: get two or three buddies at a similar level — they don't even have to be better than you — who want to improve, and put in extra rounds/sessions together.

Make it your business to enjoy it. That's how my friends and I got to European and World level.

4. They're students of the game.

They're always asking questions. Always curious. Always looking for new ways to solve a problem.

"How about this? What do you think of that? Would this work?"

They don't just want to be told what to do — they want to understand the sport. That curiosity compounds faster than any drill.

5. They know their game — and double down on it.

The best are completely aware of their own strengths, weaknesses, and style.

They work on the weak spots, yes — but they never stop sharpening their strengths and bringing them to the forefront.

They know exactly who they are as a fighter and they lean into it.

None of these require more talent than you already have. They're all choices — and you can start making them this week.

15/08/2026

My biggest pet peeve in Taekwon-Do?
Watching people work incredibly hard on everything except the thing they're actually trying to get better at.

They want to be better at sparring, so they… do more push-ups. Add a stretching routine. Book another gym session.

And I get it — those things feel productive, they're easy to measure, and nobody gets embarrassed doing them. But there's no push-up round in a fight.

If your distance, timing and fundamentals are nowhere near where they should be, more mobility isn't the answer.

It's a comfortable way to feel like you're improving without doing the harder, messier work of actual sparring work.

The rule I'd give you 95% of the time: to get better at the thing, do the thing.

Want to spar better?

You probably need to spar more. And here's my honest guess — most of you aren't even getting 15 to 20 minutes of real rounds a week.

If that's you, and you're hunting for the answer in the gym or through physical development, you're not preparing. You're hiding.

Do the thing first. Let everything else support it after.

13/08/2026

Keep getting dominated by everyone else's front leg ?

1️⃣ Spin the kick. Make sure to rotate your hip inside the direct line of their kick. Stay low, get your back down, keep your knee nice and tight.

2️⃣. The front hand make sure to step in and close down their space as soon as the leg just lifts off the floor.

Maximum extension is key rather than a back fist. This takes their balance and allows you to be in prime position for phase two of the exchange.

3️⃣ The back hand. Make sure you're in and out prior to make sure you create the opportunity instead of sitting, holding, and waiting.

As their leg lifts, step into the range to close the gap. Connect your front glove to their boot and maintain and hold this connection as long as possible as if they are two magnets. Do not swipe, swat, or push at the leg.

4️⃣The hook kick you must get your body as low as possible. Get your head down towards the floor. Take your hip inside the line of their kick. The more you lean back, the closer you can be and still get this kick off.

11/08/2026

You don't need the perfect fight. You need the simple one done well. Here's what that actually looks like.

06/08/2026

05/08/2026

These have nothing to do with talent or ability! Anyone in ITF Taekwon-Do can apply these and improve tenfold.

The bonus at the end is a trap to avoid; 99% of ITF fighters fall into it. That's why you're not progressing as you wish.