An island taekwon-do club based in Port Erin returned from the ITFU British Open Championships with an impressive haul of 15 medals last weekend.

Manx Taekwon-Do sent a small team of only six competitors to the 2026 edition of the championships, which took place at Repton School in Derby, and returned home with no fewer than seven gold medals.

The southern club is affiliated with the International Taekwon-Do Federation Union (ITFU) and operated from the Royal British Legion Hall in Port Erin.

The championships brought together approximately 320 competitors from schools and nations across the British Isles and beyond.

Despite the small number of entrants, the Manx team achieved third place in the overall country standings behind England and Wales, and ahead of Ireland, Scotland and a guest nation, Lithuania.

The club also placed sixth overall in the school rankings out of approximately 35 competing schools, despite fielding a squad a fraction of the size of many of its rivals.

The six competitors to represent the were: 13-year-old Michael Galloway, 16-year-old Ronan McGeown, nine-year-old Keanu Cassidy, 32-year-old Luca Ciappelli, nine-year-old Freddie Brown and 17-year-old Patrick McGeown.

The team returned with a combined total of seven gold, five silver and three bronze medals across the disciplines of patterns, sparring and special technique, with every competitor winning at least two medals.

Among the standout results, Keanu became the first Manx Taekwon-Do student to win a sparring gold medal at the British Championships.

Patrick, competing as a beginner, was placed in a division with far more experienced near black-belt grade competitors, after his scheduled opponents withdrew, and still won bronze.

Richard Cassidy, head instructor at Manx Taekwon-Do and a 5th Dan black belt, was full of praise for the team, saying: ‘I have been coaching for a long time and Saturday was one of those days where you stop being an instructor for a moment, take it all in and have nothing but pride for every competitor, for showing up and giving it their all.

‘The medals are a bonus, the character shown by all was far more important.

‘Cat [co-instructor Catherine Stead] and I couldn't be prouder of every single student who made that trip.

‘The medals are the result — but what we actually watched was six people making the choice to show up, compete, and give everything on the day.

‘That is what taekwon-do is about, and that is what this club is about.’

Stead, a 4th Dan black belt, added: ‘Every one of these students made a choice to compete, to train hard through the months and months beforehand, so that they could give everything on the day.

‘That kind of commitment is what produces results like these and it's what makes this club special.’

- Manx Taekwon-Do is currently welcoming new students, with all new members offered a free two-week trial.

Further information is available at www.manxtkd.com (http://www.manxtkd.com/) or by following the ‘Manx Taekwon-Do Association – ITF' page on Facebook.