My name is Jacob Barnett. I am fifteen years old and have trained with Master Mike McKenzie’s Quest Taekwondo since I was six years old.

I started taekwondo because I was always full of energy, I wasn’t really into football and my friend asked me to train with him, so I thought I’d give it a go. From that first lesson I knew Taekwondo was for me, with all the different techniques and dynamic movements that just amazed me and I wanted to be able to do them straight away! So I practised and practised until I could do the things that the black belts could do. I passed my first black belt grading when I was nine years old and passed my second Dan black belt grading in 2010, aged fourteen.

I competed as a pee wee and cadet in the Children’s International Championships in Germany in 2004, 2006 and 2007, where I won two bronze and two gold medals. When I moved up to the Junior category in 2010, I found it quite challenging being a young -68 player. I would often compete against people much older than me, as I was quite tall for my age. I didn’t win as much as I wanted to but I gained a lot of experience from these matches. In 2011, as a junior, I have had success and medalled in both Opens and 1-2-1’s. I think my best performances were at the Ultimate 1-2-1 in September, when I fought the British National, Silver Medallist (John Steele of Ultimate Taekwondo). Although I lost, I took him to 18 – 19. Another time was at the Ultimate Open in October, when I was up against the 2011 British International, gold medallist (Shem Ehigie of Bozdag Taekwondo) in the final, losing by only 2 points. I was very pleased with my performance against these tough opponents. I loved both of these matches, even though I didn’t win in the end, they were very exciting and challenging and it brought out the best in me.

During the past two years, I have increased my training with Rick Simpson, a brilliant role model and coach of Quest Taekwondo, to four times a week. Every lesson he challenges me to improve my skills and ability. I also train every day at home, to increase my flexibility and fitness.

I’ve got a very busy and exciting year ahead of me in 2012. My goals are to improve my ability even further, to perform well and medal at international competitions such as Sweden, Holland, France and many others. I want to improve my taekwondo game as a whole and go as far as I can with the sport. I am also in the last year of my GCSE’s at Titus Salt School in Baildon and I aim to get the grades that I need to study Maths and Science at A Level. It will be a challenge to do both my taekwondo and studies but I am very focused and extremely determined to achieve all of my goals. I’m very grateful as I get a lot of support from my club and my school.

In my spare time, I like to do the usual things, like spending time with my friends, watching films and listening to music. I love skiing and snowboarding but don’t want to risk injury as taekwondo is my true passion. I also play the guitar and I’m not too bad on the drums either!

I have really enjoyed and got a lot out of the Sarah Stevenson Inspires workshop and would recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their game and take their training to the next level. It’s a great atmosphere and good opportunity to train with people from other clubs that I wouldn’t normally train with.

Sarah is very friendly and welcoming and is a skilled trainer with lots of experience that everyone can learn from. If I am unsure about anything, I find Sarah and the GB coaches very easy to approach and to ask why or how I would do a certain technique. I felt really comfortable in the training environment and I would love the chance to train there again.

I’m really looking forward to this year and seeing what I can achieve in 2012. I feel that the Sarah Stevenson Inspires workshop has helped build my confidence and inspired me to want to be, the best I can be. Thank you to Sarah and the Inspires team.