It is said in sport that to compete on the world stage, it takes around 10,000 hours of practice and preparation.  In bite-size portions, that’s five hundred hours a year for twenty years – amounting to more than eighty minutes a day, every day.  And if you want to have Sundays off, plus Christmas, New Year, birthdays and a summer holiday, you can add a couple more years of graft in there before you make it to the top.

So, basically, if you are reading this and you are beyond your early teenage years, you are probably saying to yourself, ‘that’s my chance out the window then.’

Well, maybe not.  There is salvation for those of us who left it too late, or, more likely, were too distracted by other temptations and pleasures to fully commit to an athletic career in our formative years.  Just ask Lee McAdam, one of the world’s best taekwondo fighters.

Born and raised in Coatbridge, outside Glasgow, Lee had never really taken part in much competitive sport.  But then, at the age of 24, Lee and her brother Mark were tempted by a newspaper ad to go along to their local taekwondo club.  And she quite enjoyed it.  So much, in fact, that now at the age of 31, she is preparing for her second World Championships in three years. 

That’s a pretty impressive a turnaround, redoubled by the fact that when she went to her first World Championships in Korea in 2004, Lee had only gained her black-belt the previous week. 

But what is unique about Lee’s experience is that she isn’t strictly unique.  She is a champion among champions at her club, which is a hotbed of Scottish, British, European and World Championship medal winners.  And that is why Coatbridge Puma Taekwondo Club is In The Winning Zone’s Team of the Month for July.

Tagging along at a typical training evening at the club, based in St Andrew’s Sport Complex, In The Winning Zone realised that fighting and medals are only the tip of the iceberg in a sport that has much deeper roots.  Because this isn’t only a sports club; it is a community, it is a school, it is a home from home.  Taekwondo is simply the glue that holds them together.

“The club is like a wee family,” explains Lee.  “There’s a good network of people.  We have a good team, and even outside taekwondo we all socialise together.  Though there’s no drinking – you’ve got to look after yourself!”

She isn’t joking when she refers to the club as family.  Lee and her brother Mark form the cornerstone of the Scottish team that hope to travel to Birmingham for August’s Taekwondo World Championships (www.itfworldchampionships.com).  Her niece, Mark’s daughter, Emily, has just finished her kiddie’s class, where she enjoyed some expert coaching from Donna Murphy, the club’s 22 year old European gold medallist.  Donna’s father Davie is the head coach of both the club and the Scotland men’s team who will compete in Birmingham.  So at this club, blood really is thicker than water. 

But asides from the family values of the club, (made all the more fitting considering Lee has just returned from maternity leave) what is it about taekwondo itself that so compelled late-starter Lee? 

“I like all the different aspects of it – the training side, the self-defence and the competition.  Not all martial arts have that.”  Poignantly, the three traits that come from these aspects are what make a sport like taekwondo so valuable in everyday life.  With training comes self-discipline, with self-defence comes self-respect, and with competition comes respect for others.  A pretty solid foundation for any athlete to build from, and perhaps an insight into why Lee managed to develop into a world class fighter so quickly.

When Lee went to the 2004 World Championships, she was the only Scot travelling.  This time, however, a Scotland team of ten plan to be making the journey to the Birmingham National Indoor Arena for the August 1st Opening Ceremony.  And of that ten, seven representatives will be from the Coatbridge club. 

Mark McAdam explains why he believes the club has managed to produce so many elite competitors:  “We work very hard, mentally and physically.  We do a lot of training for tournaments, and we do it as a team, together, so we all develop together.  This club has had a lot of success over the years, and that gives you a mental lift.  You believe you can do it too.”

What is evident here is that Mark has been absorbed into a club that breeds a winning culture.  They work hard, they train hard, and they believe they can win.  And they have the record to back it up.  To say the club has had a lot of success over the years is no understatement.  They have been Scottish Champions for seventeen consecutive years, explains Davie Murphy, instructor and mentor to the many talented athletes involved with the club.  He agrees with Mark’s theory on why they are so successful.

“I think it is just the spirit in the club.  Everyone helps each other and we get on well together. There is a social bond.  It’s not like we just walk in, bow, sweat, and leave again.  We spend time together.  It’s about personalities, getting everybody involved.  So it’s not ‘my club’ it’s ‘their club’.”

There is without doubt a palpable soul to the club.  There is an easy mix of light banter and strict discipline when appropriate.  And this translates from the knee high nippers to the grand masters.  Every member looks happy and comfortable, which is made all the more impressive whenever your sparring partner is just as likely to bring a fist as they are a smile to your face on an average day.

While Lee and Mark McAdam have only been around for a few years, there are a few other more experienced fighters doing the rounds as well.  At only 22, Donna Murphy, has been doing taekwondo for seventeen years and is a third degree black-belt.  She has won gold medals at every level she has competed in, and hopes to continue the trend in Birmingham.

Scott Morris and Garry McGuire, both second degree black-belts, have been studying the art for twelve and fourteen years respectively, and have both been British champions.  However they explain that the lessons they have learned from taekwondo reach far beyond putting their opponents to the floor.

“Taekwondo teaches you to defend yourself, but there is a syllabus that comes with it as well, teaching courtesy and integrity,” Scott explains in an unmistakably North Lanarkshire accent.  “They are not just teaching you how to fling a punch.  There is a code of conduct.  It isn’t just about when you come to the hall.  You are thinking about it through your day, the integrity.  It’s not just about telling the guy who has taken your car-parking space that you can do taekwondo.”

Garry continues the point: “I think it keeps you out of trouble.  It is great for kids.  There aren’t many sports where you have to bow to each other and shake each other’s hands, and call your instructor sir or mister.  And they do take the values into everyday life, into school.  They respect each other and they respect their elders.”

So in a geographic hotbed of football such as Coatbridge, what is the appeal of taekwondo to Garry?  “It is a skilled sport.  It isn’t just about the sparring.  You need balance, fitness and technique, and it takes a lot of training.  It is about mastering the techniques.”

Coatbridge Taekwondo Club is a perfect breeding ground for winners.  This goes without saying.  Their record is phenomenal.  But there is a cruel twist in this tale.  Taking a team to the World Championships in Birmingham is a costly business.  £7000, to be precise, and the money is proving hard to come by.

“We have applied to loads of local businesses but we’ve not heard anything back from them.  They’ve made raffle donations but that’s it,” Donna Murphy told us.  Davie added: “We applied to the local sports council, and they said they would give £250.  But that wasn’t per head, it was altogether!”

The club will be engaging in several fundraising events this month.  For more information, or if you feel you can help, please contact either Donna or Davie on 01236 429739.  And help our team of the month help Scotland to become team of the tournament.

RO

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