Raw Taekwondo Cumbernauld hosts visit by Team GB stars Rebecca McGowan and Bradley Sinden

Scotland’s own Rebecca McGowan and the UK’s first and only ever male World Champion Bradley Sinden, now qualified for Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020, put them through their paces at the full-time Taekwondo Centre in Cumbernauld.

With sports specific drills for sparring, the Olympic Sports element of the martial art, it was a fantastic opportunity to learn from two of GB’s brightest young stars.

Rebecca started Taekwondo from a young age and has competed as a cadet since 2012. The teenager has built quite the name for herself in the sport and has medalled at a number of tournaments, including the Dutch Open gold in 2014 and 2015.

She was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2016 Junior World Championships, where a bronze medal was achieved, followed by gold in Luxembourg and at the US Open in Las Vegas.

Bradley won the Junior European Championships in 2015 and since then, he has cemented his place on the senior circuit by medalling at the Dutch, Austrian and Belgian Opens and most notably won bronze at the 2017 World Championships in Muju, which was followed by a silver medal at the World Taekwondo Grand Prix in London.

The Cumbernauld club’s head coach Master Robert Robertson said: “it’s an absolute privilege to have two of the most talented athletes in the world coach our kids in Cumbernauld.

“These athletes train day in day out at the highest level with a funding level of more than £8 million to make sure they are the most successful athletes in the world.

“And we’ll most likely see Bradley at the Olympics next year. So it will be really cool for the kids to see that. We also have them scheduled in to take more sessions next year.”

This session was great preparation for the young sparring team who were preparing to compete in the National Taekwondo Championships in Manchester which drew 1000 competitors from all over the UK.

And they were rewarded when two of the competition team medalled at the highly competitive event. Sophia Shields, age nine, received a bronze and Lauren Dunsmore, aged 11, earned a silver medal.

Anyone interested in Taekwondo and joining Raw’s growing team please contact head instructor, 6th Dan Master Robertson at [email protected]