Master Bailey 7th Dan World Taekwondo Federation
Interviewed by Alan Dunsmuir – Editor Scottish Taekwondo Magazine
I took up Ju Jitsu when I first left school. I moved to London when I was 16 to get work. Whilst there I tried a couple of different martial arts, Karate and Kung fu. When I returned from London I found Taekwondo in
Warrington with Master Shin. It was streets ahead of any other classes I had attended and decided right
away it was for me!
Who did you originally train with?
Master Shin has been my instructor since day one. I am very proud of the fact that I have stayed with the same instructor throughout my career.
Like most students my aim was to get to black belt. I started running classes when I was red belt and soon the competition side of Taekwondo was high on the agenda. Once involved in teaching and competing there was always another goal to achieve.
Where was your first competition and how did you get on?
I won a couple of national patterns competitions when I was green and blue belt. My first attempt at WTF
sparring in competition was as a red belt in 1982 in Plymouth. This was the first time I ever had to weigh in!
I won 3 matches and took the gold. I've still got my matches on video. Things looked a bit different then, no head guards and really long hair!!
How did you break into the British Team?
The British Team Selections in 1983 was only my second WTF competition. I won two matches and found
myself in the final with the current team player Martin Baker. He was an established national team player
who had fought at the previous world championships in Ecuador. I went in just hoping to survive the match and ended up winning. As a result I had to travel to London twice per month for training with the then national team coach Master Chung. There was still some dispute about who would be selected for the world championships in Denmark and it was not until about 2 weeks before the event that I was told I was in the team.
Had you ever fought internationally before being involved with the UK squad and where was your first
International match, who did you fight and how did you get on?
My first international match was at the World Championships in Copenhagen in 1983. I had only fought in 2
WTF tournaments prior to that and I had won both. I was under the impression that was going to continue
and I would be World Champion. Denmark was a real eye-opener. I couldn't believe the number of countries
there and the high standard of the players. I was out of my depth and lost in the first round to Germany
(albeit only 1-0). The experience I gained was invaluable. I knew what standard had to be reached to be able to compete at that level, so I started to compete as often as possible at national and international opens around Europe.
How would you compare the current UK team training facilities with those available to you during your time
with the Team?
Obviously things are more professional these days but some things haven't changed. To remain part of the team requires incredible commitment. There is money available today which wasn't there in my day but the vast
majority of players still have to travel up and down the country and around Europe to train and compete at their own expense. Without attending all the major events there is no way you could be part of the national squad. Manchester (where the national team is based) is a long drive from Scotland, so Scottish players are always
going to be at a disadvantage. In my day the national team training was in Watford. A 4 hour drive from Liverpool. Training was fortnightly and having driven for 8 hours to train for 3 we still had to pay training fees to attend!
If you didn't attend you lost your place!
Is it true you once sold your television to get to an event ?
Parks Cup 1988. I really wanted to go but couldn't afford it. Due to training and travelling I was hardly ever
home so the TV had to go! I drove to the tournament in Stuttgart in a Fiesta1.1L with a few of my students.
Got lost somewhere over the German border and it took 23 hours to get there. It was all worth it though
because I beat Austrian and Polish national team players and won the gold.
Did you once break your foot at a tournament in Holland but still win the event, get player of the tournament and then drive home to Liverpool ?
That's a long story. It was the Oldenzaal tournament in Holland in1991. I was driving down south for the ferry
with a couple of cars following, decided to stop for petrol in Ipswich and was too busy watching the cars behind
me and drove straight into the petrol station wall and wrote the car off. Luckily no one was injured so we decided
to carry on by taxi! Unfortunately we missed the ferry and had to get the overnight one instead. This meant we arrived in Holland an hour before the weigh in with a two-hour train journey to the sports centre. Anyway we got there just before the weigh in closed. Apart from crashing the car and missing the ferry, the overnight crossing
was really rough and I didn't get any sleep. Needless to say I didn't feel at my best and there was a really strong pool of -58kg players, including he Dutch European Bronze Medallist and national team players from Germany and Denmark. I went in to my first match just hoping to go the distance but ended up winning easily. I did some of my best ever technique in the next game against a Greek player and made it through to the semis against the
German. It was really close but I won the game at the expense of my foot. I whacked his elbow and my foot
swelled up
like a balloon. Fortunately, I was friendly with the Dutch team doctor and he said with a lot of
strapping I could
have a go in the final. He had to shave my leg to strap from the calf down. Anyway, just the
final against a really impressive Danish player remained. I didn't rate my chances as I only had one good foot and he had won a couple of his games by clear knock-outs! All day I had the “nothing to lose” mentality which always seems to work for the underdog. Not only did I win the tournament I received the best player trophy, which considering the quality of the players there, must go down as one of my best ever results.
During your sport competition days what would you say was your greatest achievement?
Probably the fact that I fought at 3 World Championships. I came really close to a European Bronze on two occasions. In 1986 in Austria I lost in the quarter-finals against Spain but the coach at the time was convinced
I had done enough to win easily. There were no scoreboards then and I had knocked my opponent down a few times so I, along with many others was expecting to get the decision. In 1992 I threw away a quarter final
against Sweden. I was winning with seconds left but decided to attack one more time and the Swedes counter
was enough to give him the match. So having missed out on a major medal getting to the last sixteen at the
World Championships in 1993 is probably the best achievement.
What would you class as your best performance?
I once beat the captain of the Chinese Taipei national team at the Belgian Open. He was world class and it was a great match. I thought I would go on to win the tournament after that but lost in the semis to a guy from Manchester and had to settle for bronze.
The New York World Championships in 1993 was your last ever match (I believe), was it just the right time to
hang up your hogu or did you not know at the time it was going to be your last ?
I was 32 when I went to New York. The players in my category were getting younger and faster and I was
finding it hard to maintain 58kgs. I had 10 years of competing at the top level and decided before the championships that it would be my last. I knew it was my final chance and trained hard. I beat Russia and
Viet Nam but lost to the Phillipines player (who was only 17) in the last 16.
What would you say is your greatest honour out-with competition Taekwondo?
In 2007 I was one of 14 masters from around the world to receive an award from the WTF. I won the Overseas Masters Essay Competition. I went on an all expenses paid trip to Korea to receive the award at a televised
award ceremony at the Ritz Hotel in Suwon. I received VIP treatment for 4 days, met the Kukkiwon President
and had dinner with the WTF Vice President. It was a very special trip. I was amongst the first foreign visitors
to see the sight of the Taekwondo Park. The essays have since been published and I was very proud to see my Taekwondo journey in print.
When and how was the Central Taekwondo Academy set up?
I moved to Scotland at the beginning of November 1993 and started Central Taekwondo Club 3 weeks later. It quickly grew to twice per week and then we added a second venue. I changed the name to Central Academy in 2000 after I became 6th Dan. We now have 10 registered instructors and classes in Carronshore, Falkirk,
Brightons, Denny, Edinburgh University and a number of Primary Schools in Larbert. Membership is around 350.
We must be one of the biggest clubs in the UK.
These days you focus a lot on the poomsae side of things having taken on the role of Regional Poomsae coach for Scotland, how does this compare with the sport side of the Art?
I enjoy studying Poomsae and researching the best methods for each individual technique. It is much more accessible than sport TKD. Anyone of any age can compete against their peers. I suppose the training is less demanding and you do not have to worry about weigh-ins! However, to compete amongst the best still takes enormous commitment and dedication.
Recently there has been a much bigger push to get poomsae competitions recognised on a more global scale, do you think it will ever reach the level that sport taekwondo has and could it ever become an Olympic sport ?
I can see Poomsae competition gaining more and more importance over the next few years. I think the world championships will soon be on a par with the gyorugi worlds. However, I think Olympic recognition is a long
way off. It was 15 years after the first sport TKD world championships before it became an Olympic demonstration sport and a further 8 years before it was a full medal sport.
How would you compare the current sport of taekwondo with the game as it was when you were in your heyday ?
It was less tactical and more fun in my day. These days because the stakes are so high there is a lot more
caution. It would be great to be involved at Olympic level but it's not so great for the spectator.
You have had nearly 30 years in Taekwondo, who would you say has been some of the biggest influences on your taekwondo career?
Apart from Master Shin of course, I have been lucky enough to train with some great people. When I first started Mark Richardson was a red belt and he was unbelievable. I always wanted to be able to kick like him. I travelled
to major tournaments with Chris Sawyer and Lindsay Lawrence who were the pioneers of WTF competition in the UK. I have been to Korea six times and some of the training sessions I've had over there have kept me going for years. I have come across many masters, none the least Master Shin, who completely inspire just by defying age.
It is fantastic to see masters of advancing years who can still move like they are in their twenties!
Purely hypothetically and as a bit of fun, if you could have one match against anyone fighter past or present and regardless of weight divisions who would it be and why?
I fought against the twice World Champion Kim Chul Ho when he was at his peak (lost on superiority). I fought against the Spanish Champion Jesus Alonso in Italy, just before he won the world title in 1991, (I lost that match
2-1). I think the best player I ever fought against was Joseph Salim of Denmark. We met in the semi finals of the Dutch Open and he won 6-3. He was fantastic to watch because he used every technique available and he was
the fastest player I'd ever seen. Playing against these top players was a great experience. I would like to go back in time, play them again and reverse the scores!
Finally what are your plans for the future?
I am working on introducing Taekwondo into schools. I already have a number of after school clubs running but
I'd love to see kids doing Taekwondo as part of their PE lessons. The more main stream Taekwondo becomes the more popular it will become. On a personal level I want to continue training as long as possible in the hope that I will still feel 25 when I'm 85!!
COMPETITION RECORD
32 International Competitions in 14 different countries
Including:
3 World Championships
1 World Games
2 European Championships
1 European Cup
6 Dutch Opens
4 Belgian Opens
73 International matches
50 wins
23 loses
9 Gold's
7 Silvers
4 Bronze