14 years ago...

14 years ago today, we started a Junior Tygers class at Newington Village hall. We had handed out flyers at the school gate the week before and were pretty nervous waiting to see if anyone turned up. We had about 12 kids in the class and it was 45 minutes of nervous teaching and kicking pads and seeing what worked with this age group. It must have gone ok because they all came back the following week and we were off.

We opened Iwade Junior Tygers just 3 weeks later and then Teynham just before Christmas. At the first Teynham class we must have had 25 kids. Wow, I was not prepared for that.

So after 14 years, we have had well over a thousand children and adults through our doors, we have won countless medals and trophies and even been awarded by the council for our services to sport in the community.

We have had superstars, we have had amazing volunteers, we have had complaints (not many) but mainly we have had words of encouragement and enthusiasm for what we have achieved and what we still do.

We have had over 50 people pass their black belt with us and many more have been influenced by our club and gone on to do amazing things in other sports.

We have been camping for the last 11 years with amazing memories, we have been to the beach for the past 7 years to see if the sand dunes get any easier to run up and down. We have met some of the most fantastic people who have touched our lives and made us stop and wonder how some people can be so fantastic. We have had students start with us at 5 years old and only leave because University got in their way.

We have British champions, English Champions, South East champions, local champions and great people to champion our club. If you have ever been to the Dojang or ever stepped onto the training floor to give it a go, we salute you and would like to say thank you. The last 14 years have been amazing and we are just getting started.

Happy anniversary to us.