She started training in Exeter in 1994 where she quickly became involved in the competition circuit.

By 1996 she had won gold medals for both patterns and sparring, culminating in winning a gold at the Taekwon-Do Open European Championships.

Louise moved to Bristol in 1999 where she continues to train under Master Ray Gayle, 7th Degree Blackbelt. She has a keen interest in weapons training and self defence & grappling. She regularly attends seminars run by P.U.M.A.

As well as being Chief Instructor for Henleaze, Louise is a qualified paediatric nurse. She currently holds the P.U.M.A. child protection officer post and carries out all of P.U.M.A's instructor child protection training. She has forged links between P.U.M.A. and the NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit.

Louise is currently the only lady in the UK trained as a F.A.S.T. Defence Instructor.

During her competive career, some of the tropies she won include:

Southern Championship 1995 - Patterns Gold
Scottish Championship 1995 - Patterns Gold
British Championship 1995 - Patterns Gold & Sparring Silver
West of England Championship 1996 - Patterns Gold & Sparring Silver
Welsh Championship 1996 - Patterns Gold
South West Team Championship 1996 - Sparring Gold
English Championship 1996 - Patterns Bronze
Southern Championship 1996 - Patterns Gold & Sparring Silver
Scottish Championship 1996 - Patterns Gold
British Championship 1996 - Sparring Gold & Patterns Silver
European Championship Eindhoven 1996 - Sparring Gold

A selection of Louise's trophies.

Dik is a trained F.A.S.T. Defence Instructor and Bulletman.  He is one of only 4 people in the world qualified to teach new F.A.S.T instructor teams.

He is also one of the highest qualified Defendo instructors in the UK, a special forces method of self-protection.

He is also a firm believer in the P.U.M.A. ethos of inclusiveness.

"I want to make sure that my classes have something for everyone, whatever their age, sex, background or needs."

Dik continues his training in Taekwon-Do with Master Ray Gayle, Chairman of P.U.M.A. He is a qualified SCUBA diving instructor & has taught at national levels. He also holds qualifications in First Aid & Risk Assessment and currently holds the P.U.M.A. safety officer post.

Fran is Louise's assistant instructor at Henleaze and has been training since September 2001, one of our first students. Fran has achieved the highest possible awards in both her assistant and instructors Taekwon-Do exams. She is also a qualified first aider and P.U.M.A umpire.

She has attended many international seminars, including Master Choi Jung Hwa (son of the founder of Taekwon-Do).  She has participated in many F.A.S.T courses. Fran has also won two gold medals for patterns at local tournaments. Before Taekwon-Do Fran worked as an RSA aerobics teacher and fitness instructor.

Fran runs the Little PUMAs classes on Mondays and Thursdays at Henleaze.