Master David Bailey of Carronshore’s Central Academy: A life in tae kwon do!

On March 30, 1980, I took part in my first-ever taekwondo class, and it changed my life forever. I was 18 and it was at Great Sankey Forum in Warrington with Grandmaster Shin –at that time simply Mr Shin. Two years later I took over as instructor at one of his classes in Runcorn; at the time I was a 2nd kup red belt.

In March 1983 in Cambridge I achieved 1st Dan Black Belt. I won the British Team Selection Championships in Bury and was selected to represent the UK at the sixth WTF World Championships in Denmark.

But a big year for me was 1985. I achieved 2nd Dan Black Belt and proudly represented UK at the World Games. They were held at Crystal Palace in London and covered by Channel 4. I was then selected for the 7th World Championships and had my first ever trip to Korea. It was a very different place back then, poor and under-developed. I remember buying doboks, our taekwondo uniforms, for a pound! The country was preparing for the 1988 Olympics and the Worlds were held in one of the venues. I’ll never forget the opening ceremony! Literally hundreds of Korean kids kicking and breaking boards with absolute military precision. Astonishing.

I then represented UK at European Championships in Austria, and came really close to a major medal. I had a great match against Spain, no electronic scoreboards in these days, so you had to wait for the ref to raise your arm at the end of the match. My coach convinced me I had won – I lost! I was devastated...and cried for days!

In 1988 I achieved 3rd Dan Black Belt in Darlington. That year I did my first Dutch Open, achieving silver after five matches. It was the first of six consecutive Dutch Opens (two silver, two bronze and two quarters). Four times I had five matches – it was always my favourite event.

I couldn’t afford to go to the Parks Cup in Germany, so I sold my television and went anyway. I drove with four of my students from Liverpool to Sindelfingen in a Fiesta 1.1 - it took 23 hours! But it was worth it – I beat a player from Poland in the semis and beat Thomas Myer from Austria in the final – he was one of the top players on the circuit at the time.

A major honour came when in 1990 I was appointed captain of the British Team for a GB vs Korea event in Manchester. The Koreans were all World and Olympic Champions...but I managed to go the distance with two-time World Champion Kim Chul Ho – and still have the bruises.

After gaining my 4th Dan in 1991, I was selected for the European Championships in Valencia, Spain,and I just missed out on the medals again! I misread the manual scoreboard in the quarter-final thinking it was tied I went for the winning point but was countered and lost – it wasn’t the case.

My last-ever competitive tournament was in August 1993 at the 11th World Championships. I spent eight wonderful days in New York and fought at the world-famous Madison Square Garden...humbled to think I was under the same roof as stars like Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Not a bad way to wind up my competitive career.

Away from taekwondo, I was working as a staff trainer in the Civil Service at the time and went to Sheffield for a training course. My wife Angie was doing a similar job in Glasgow and we met on the course, kept in touch after it...and the rest is history!

The following year I left Halton Taekwondo to Colin Madigan, one of my senior students, as one of the busiest in the country and moved to Scotland. It was another life-changing time.

From scratch, I started Central Taekwondo in Carronshore on November 29 with half a dozen students...one of whom was Angie! The start of a 27-year rollercoaster! In October 1995 I achieved fifth Dan Black Belt and became Master Bailey. If you’d told me that back in 1980 when I started, I’d have said “no way”!

Now sixth Dan, and having spent the previous four years having kids, I was back travelling to Korea again. I achieved 7th Dan Black Belt with Grandmaster Kim Soon Bae in Seoul in 2007. I was preparing the thesis for my grading when I came across details of the “Non-Korean Overseas Masters Essay Competition”. I entered and discovered I’d won upon returning from my first self-organised trip to Korea with students - one of the best.

The prize was a VIP trip to Korea as guest of the World Taekwondo Federation President. So, three weeks later, I was back on the plane to Seoul. Later I received a hard-back copy of a book which included my essay. Incredible - I couldn’t believe I was now a published author!

During 2008 I had a proud Dad day when all three daughters Paige, Asia and Ellise became black belts at the UTA Dan Grading at Carronshore under Grandmaster Shin. The next year, I was selected for the European Poomsae Championships as part of the overs male team. We came fifth.

In 2010 I won the Masters 2 category at the British poomsae nationals and then partnered my gorgeous wife Angie to win pairs too!

The next started with the Commonwealth Championships in Chennai, India – I was there as Head of Team for Scotland. I qualified as a poomsae International Referee in Sweden and was selected to referee at the European Championships in Genoa, Italy. Angie was competing for GB and at one point I was judging the Russian men’s team while Angie was featured live on the big screen – I couldn’t concentrate for watching her!

I went on to referee at the World Poomsae Championships in Vladivostok, Russia then as I was due to turn 50, I decided to mark the occasion by making a comeback in the ring at the first veteran British Championships in Manchester. I had three matches at -68kg and won. It felt a bit like slow-motion taekwondo and the bruises took a bit longer to heal but it was a really enjoyable experience. I still had it!

After nine months training and studying, I qualified as a Level 3 Personal Trainer & Advanced Fitness Instructor. It was hard work but the course was fantastic. I learned so much and it was all relevant to taekwondo training. It gave me a lot of confidence as a coach and so many things I could use in class.

By now Asia had started to make her mark on the international scene and became Junior World Bronze Medallist and soon she, and later Jordyn Smith, made their mark for Central on the grand stage.

The Olympic year in London 2012 saw both Angie and I were there for the duration of the Taekwondo event. Whilst Angie was right in there with all the competitors as a Technical Official, I had a minor role as a volunteer.

The following year I fancied getting back in the ring. The World Masters Games was being held in Italy. Veteran categories begin at over 35 but there was a further category for over 46...so I gave it a go! Fortunately everything went my way on the day and I beat guys from Denmark, Iceland and Canada and I was crowned World Masters Games Champion.

Then June 10, 2016 – a very memorable day when I achieved 8th Dan Black Belt at the Kukkiwon, the home of taekwondo in Seoul. It took 36 years to get to that amazing point. I felt very humble and grateful for all the opportunities that had come my way in that time.

The year was made even more special when Angie passed her fifth Dan grading in October and became Master Angie. The cherry on the cake was that I was appointed High Performance Coach for BT Poomsae and started taking sessions for the National squad.

In November 2018 we celebrated 25 years of Central Taekwondo Academy then Angie and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary in February this year.

Looking back over the last 40 years, there are a huge number of things to be proud of, both on a personal and club level. Taekwondo has been my obsession, my way of life since I was a kid. I’ve visited 37 countries, and met thousands of like-minded and fantastic people.

Not many people say they love going to work but I genuinely do. The over-riding emotion, after all these years, is one of feeling unbelievably lucky to still be able to practise the art I love and pass it on to others on a daily basis.My ambition is to continue for another 40 years. I’ll consider hanging up my dobok after that...after all, I’ll be almost a hundred!