Well, that's it, then

Grading number nine, and my last club grading, took place on Thursday. The bruises on both feet a testament to the level of sparring needed to move up to a Taekwondo black tag. Sparring with TWO black belts at THE SAME TIME was not something I had envisaged, but attack is the best form of defence in circumstances like that, so by the end of it they both knew they'd been in a fight.

I'll miss grading at the club, the nerves, the camaraderie, the honest of all concerned. I'll still be able to help out in the future, so I'll still be there and it'll be my turn to give something back.

My next grading will be up in sunny Doncaster in roughly six months time, and that will be the big one, the step up to Black Belt.

Gulp.