train, fight, win!

Walsall Elite Marshall Arts lies behind an unassuming metal lock-up door on an industrial estate opposite the Manor Hospital.  It's home to Tae Kwan Do world champion, Emily-Jane Arms and fittingly the sign above the door reads, 'Train, Fight, Win'

I had the privilege of interviewing Emily a few weeks ago and here's just a small part of her story.

What's the background to the club

The club goes back a long way but we've been here on this site about four years. My brother Jason is Chief Instructor and I'm Senior Instructor.

We used to train at the club and when the previous owner emigrated to Tenerife he asked Jason and I to take over as managers.  He transferred the club to us when he decided he was going to settle there permanently.

Where do your members come from?

We do advertise and we've got a Facebook page, but most people come to us through word of mouth. We've got three current black-belts, three silver champions and a former champion on our books.

Just this weekend we took a team to a competition and we won three golds, two silvers and a bronze.

The club's open to all ages. Our Tiny Tigers start at three and our oldest student is fifty five. In all, we've got about a hundred members and we're open seven days a week.

How did you first get into Tae Kwon Do?

I've always been very competitive. I grew up as one of four children in a very close family. At school I loved sport - rounders, netball, hockey, rugby, football - you name it, I played it!

My brothers, Jason and Christopher, they're black belts. I got started in 2001 because they were both into it. I was eighteen when I went to my first tournament. Jason came back with a massive trophy. I watched the heavyweight ladies and thought yes, I could do that. I started fighting the following year.

My dad taught me a lot about self-discipline and that's really helpful. My mum is more laid-back but she comes and supports me at every championship.

What was your journey to becoming a world champion?

I picked up my first medal in Glasgow, a bronze, and it's still my favourite! I was a white belt but I started fighting ladies two grades up. I continued going up the belts and got a silver medal in the British championships the next year.

I won fourteen straight gold medals in a row and advanced to blue belt.  My first world championship was in Wales in 2005 and I came fifth. Five years later I became a world tag-team champion and won silver in the tournament as a whole.

The next world championship was in 2013. I couldn't compete as I'd just had a C-section, but in 2016 I became a world champion in my own right. I won gold in the ladies' black belt continuous sparring division at at the 11th Open World Tae Kwon Do Championships. It was in front of a home crowd at the BarclayCard Arena in Birmingham.

I beat Hazel Bracken, the Scottish Ladies champion, in the final.  She's six inches taller than me and I'm 5'10"!  To cut a long story short I ended up breaking Hazel's foot and carrying off the championship belt.

Have you ever been injured when you've been fighting? 

I've had my share of minor injuries, but fortunately nothing serious.  I've had lots of bruises, my nose was broken in training and I've had the occasional broken rib.

It hasn't stopped me fighting though!

What do you most like about your club?

I'm really proud of our work with the girls, particularly those from the Muslim community. Tae Kwon Do gives them confidence to do other things in their life.

We give them a safe place where they can be themselves.  One Muslim lady moved into the area from Swindon and she's now an instructor at the club.  She runs the boot-camp for girls and is a world tag-team champion in her own right.

If you enjoyed this article you might also like to read my interview with another Tae Kwon Do world-champion, the legendary Warren Vice!

Confessions of a Humble Man - the Warren Vice Interview

A Definition

"To put it simply, Taekwon-Do is a version of unarmed combat designed for the purpose of self-defence. It is more than just that, however. It is the scientific use of the body in the method of self-defence; a body that has gained the ultimate use of its facilities through intensive physical and mental training."

General Choi, Hong Hi


The House played host recently to a World Champion. He's a humble man who wakes early each morning to work in a factory. A young man who's travelled the world, a young man crowned world champion five times over. A young man disciplined in the art of Taekwon-Do. So here's the Warren Vice interview in full.

What's your first memory, Warren?

I guess my very first memory as a young boy was falling out a of tree. But my first memory of Taekwon-Do, that's special.

I was bullied at school, but Dad knew just what to do. He always knows how to look after himself and his family. I remember wearing my black track-suit bottoms for that first class, the ones with the purple stripe down the leg.

I still have the same instructor twenty years later, and I still look up to him. I knew, aged six, I wanted to be the Champion. Just like my hero, Jackie Chan - he's funny and he's good.

What do you most admire about your parents?

Family's really important to me.

My dad's always worked for everything. Something goes wrong, he buys the tools and fixes it. He sets his sights on something and he gets it, one step at a time. And mum, she's a real hard worker too. Started as a cleaner, taught at a playgroup, she works in a hospital now. And it's not just me who's into Taekwon-Do. My mum, my dad, my younger brother - they're all black belts.

I guess the thing I've learned most is respect and courtesy for people. I remember this Czechoslovakian student who joined my High School in the second year. I befriended him, and helped him to learn.

Respect and courtesy, that's what it's all about. And from Taekwon-Do ... integrity, perseverance, self-control and an indomitable spirit.

So how did you become a world-beater, Warren?

I really didn't concentrate on other things at school, all I wanted to be was World Champion. I was ten years old when I realised I had the potential, and five years later I became one.

From the age of six to ten I went into every competition, but never won anything. I didn't even get past the first round. And then I became the best junior at school. There have been times in the past when I've hated it, but once I'm there I'm alright.

I became a black belt at the age of ten, and I won everything from then on. Do you know, I'm still friends with my best mate at that club.

What does it feel like to fight?

Five minutes before the fight begins I get a rush of adrenaline. It's the 'fight or flight' thing. You either get so nervous you can't fight properly or you harness that energy so you can do anything. And I know how to control fear.

I watch people throughout the competition - the fight before and the fight after. That's how you learn. You get to the stage when you know what your opponent's going to do, and then you can put them in the position you want them to be in. I make them do what I want them to do.

And I like fighting defence from time to time, because it sharpens me up.

It's your funeral. What do you want to hear said about you?

Strange question!

I guess I want to be known as a good guy, a caring person. I want my wife to say I'm loving, my kids to say I'm loving. I don't want to be remembered about my Taekwon-Do, just about the person I am.

I might sign lots of photos and autographs, but I still have to get up early to go to work in the factory. It keeps my feet on the ground.

What's the best experience you've had so far, and what have you learned from it?

I enjoy winning.

I remember my first World Championship, and the last. I remember coming back from Australia and having three months to train. Meditating - what did I have to do to buck myself up. But I went on to win it.

It's the little things that count. Like the kid I taught, and all he wanted to do was to go to London Zoo with me for his birthday.

I love coaching people. I remember once in Australia helping an autistic child get onto a trampoline. I've coached lots of people in my time.

I know someone too who is Downs Syndrome. He's mischevious and funny as anything, and very loving. His hands are all mashed up, his fingers swell if he plays on the computer. Everyone else molly-coddles him, but I don't. I played against him once on the Wii, sword-fighting. He didn't win, and he sulked. Do you know what happened next time I saw him? He ran up to me to say he was sorry.

Respect, courtesy, integrity. That's what it's all about.