The Excel group, run by Mr. Snow, has announcedthat they will start holding area exams every twomonths after the June exam. It has to be pointed out

that all members can only gradeif their fees are paid, insurance isfully up to date and they mustmeet the minimum time scalesthat are set by the I.T.F.Other schools members areallowed to grade at these exams,but permission MUST be soughtfrom your coach beforeapplying. Please ensure youruniforms are clean and pressedfor all exams, or you may berefused.

We kick together - We stick together

Double Whammy for Snows...

L.T.S.I. Senior Coach Mr. Snow was offi-cially promoted to I.T.F. 6th Degree atthe I.T.F. Midlands Championships on 8thMay by Master Harry, 8th Degree. On thesame day, Miss Snow won the MidlandOpen female junior Black Belt title.

Nearly six months after his promotion to6th Degree, Mr. Snow finally received hiscertification under the I.T.F. Thosepresent from the L.T.S.I. cheered to seeour senior coach get recognition under theI.T.F. Judging by his face, Chris waschuffed to bits at thefact that he wouldgain this accolade infront of the teamthere. I am sure Ispeak for everyonewhen we say, onceagain, well done.

On the same day,Miss Snow, 2nd De-gree, scooped anoth-er gold medal for the L.T.S.I. in the girlsBlack Belt sparring, Georgia Milnerscooped up a silver and a bronze medaland club mate Robert Mitchell won abronze in adult sparring.

All in all, a successful day had by all.

Promoting your school helpsThe L.T.S.I. needs your support. If you arereally happy with your clubs let your friendsknow, as promoting our clubs concretes the lifeof the school. If you want leaflets, ask yourInstructor and they will be pleased to provideyou with them. It is the ultimate gift when astudent says “I am proud of my club, so pleasecome along too”.

● 30th July - I.T.F. England Opens

● 11th Sept - Herts. Area 2 Exam

● 18th Sept - Black Belt Exam

● 25th Sept - Open Championships

● 4th Oct - Herts. Area 1 Exam

● 30th Oct - Senior Training

● 12th Nov - U.K.T.A. Opens

● 19th Nov - L.T.S.I. Awards Night

● 4th Dec - Instructor Course/AGM

● 6th Dec - Herts. Area 1 Exam

L.T.S.I.Editor: Tracey Leonard

Web: www.uk-ltsi.comPublish Date: 01/07/2011

Released Bi-Monthly

IMPORTANCE OF I.T.F.CERTIFICATION

The L.T.S.I. is an I.T.F. group and it is for this reason everyonemust understand only I.T.F. certification can be issued. We haveworked hard for 11 years to be accepted as an I.T.F. body andhave built up a reputation of being a quality group that will standup for you all.

I.T.F. certification means you are certified Internationally andcorrectly, therefore if you move to another country your grade isrecognised. You may think “I have three family memberstraining, so it costs me a lot” - when you joined us you knew weare an I.T.F. group, so you must accept we cannot just issue alocal grade certificate. The difference in price is only about £50anyway, so there is not that much in it. We cannot understandwhy some train for years, yet will accept an imitation rank.

Herts. area one starts two monthly exams... If you have been watching our National website, you will see that St. Albans is planning onopening classes five days a week in a numberof areas across the city.

The reason is that senior Coach Mr. Snow hasdecided to start new classes to get many moreyoungsters on the floor, as they are the futureafter all. It is hoped these will aspire to go tonational tournaments and help the reputation ofthe L.T.S.I. grow.It has been announced NEW members (under12’s) at Excel schools will be able to access thenew lower fee tariff not available to currentmembers, as this has been set to bring newrecruits into our ever growing family.

Damaging Behaviour......A recent conversation I heard Chris having at one ofhis classes made me want to add this to the newsletter. He stated that if during sparring you hit yourclub mates hard, you are part responsible fordamaging the club. Why? Well, that student decidesto quit, the club is one step closer to closure, so themoral to the story is save hard contact fortournaments and you protect your club. We are allfriends at the end of the day, so use skill, not brawn.

Martial Arts Online Superstore.......Not connected to the L.T.S.I., Mr. Snow (mypartner) and I created a Martial Arts onlinestore in June. This will be open soon and youcan visit it atwww.pulsemartialartssupplies.com. It has tobe pointed out that anyone from the L.T.S.I.schools should ask your Instructor if youwant to buy stuff, as further discounts will beallocated to L.T.S.I. members.

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New classes starting.....

© Copyright L.T.S.I. 2011

We stick together - We kick together

Grand Master Rhee IX Seminar...Mr. Snow, Miss Snow, Rhiannon Snow, Jordan Smithand Connor Wilcox attended the open seminar withFirst Grand Master Rhee Ki Ha, IX Degree, on the26th June.

The troop travelled from St. Albans to Kent to takepart in the event being hosted by SwanscombeU.K.T.A. They arrived at 1pm at the Leisure Centreand were met by David Norris, the organiser of theevent, who thanked the group for attending.

After changing into do-bok, the troop waitedeagerly for G.M. Rhee’s arrival in the hall whilestretching out in preparation for the seminar. It hadbeen nearly a decade since Chris himself hadattended an event under the Grand Master and, tohis amazement, Masters and Seniors alikeapproached him to catchup on old times and sayhello. At exactly 2pm, theclass were asked to line upand called to attention.The double doors openedand in walked the GrandMaster, relaxed and smil-ing, thanking everyone forattending. On to someamazing drills, the G.M.walked around the 150+practitioners advising andgiving constructivecomments. Students and Instructors sat mesmerisedby his stories of past and present while, at thesame time, taking the time to include even thelowest grades and youngest practitioners. At5.30pm, the seminar came to a close and allL.T.S.I. students were buzzing from the seminarscontent. It is this reason the L.T.S.I. intends ontaking part in these events yearly, as the substanceof the skill helped all in many ways.

New Examining SealsThe L.T.S.I. has changed the seals that are added toexams certificates to signify levels achieved. Infuture, those that get a grade under ‘L’ will beawarded a bronze seal, O’s and O+ will get a silverseal and Gold seals will only be awarded to ‘A’levels. It has also been decided that one studentfrom each exam will gain a ‘Best student of the test’certificate from now. This will be issued on bestattitude only.

L.T.S.I.Editor: Tracey Leonard

Web: www.uk-ltsi.comPublish Date: 01/07/2011

Released Bi-Monthly

NEW CAMPAIGNIn 2004, we created the L.T.S.I. and, within a few years, the family grewfrom 120 to 580 members. Things were really good, but issues made byone U.K. group meant that a number of our Instructors left to join them.We have no real issue with those that left us personally, as that’s theirchoice and path they follow.Today, we have 250 members and are growing with only three clubs. Wehave learnt the hard way (that is a fact) and will never trust others as wehave in the past.As of July, we have launched a fantastic package to assist coaches. Weonly accept I.T.F. Instructors from outside the L.T.S.I. but, even then,they are on a years probation (they cannot buy our uniforms until we havefully accepted them and we see they are following our syllabus andrules). All we ask is they wear the official badge on their I.T.F. doboks.We are looking for Instructors to help us grow, so if you are a red beltaged over 18 interested in running your own club, speak to yourInstructor. Help us get our family back to full strength.

We decided to add some true stories to our newsletters that may help others in life and, this month,Chris will give you a very personal but poignant story that has affected him for over 30 years. Thisstory is one of many that comes from the book he has been writing for nearly two years about his life

called ‘Memories of a stolen childhood’.

In 1982 after months of upheaval in my young life, going from one home to thenext due to my mothers mental health, I found myself in a three weekly boardingschool at the age of just nine. The wing master was a real evil man and nowconvicted paedophile who took his life in 2010. The treatment we suffered inhostel 4 at the hands of him was harsh and has left many scars - not going into toomuch detail to protect the book I’m writing, he made our lives hell and did thingsthat many would be disturbed about until I turned twelve years of age and left. Inmy first few weeks at the school, a young Latvian girl with long black hair calledHeather befriended me - we would hang out together and be good friends,laughing and playing, but I secretly wanted to be part of the older boys gang thatplayed on the tennis courts at break times. One day, a month or so after being putinto that school, one of the lads asked me to be on his team to play football. I wasover the moon, dropping my friend Heather like a brick, which I would soon

regret for the next 30 years. Heather saw that I was accepted into the new gang and came and asked ifshe could play too - the boys were really nasty, telling her to go away as football is a boys game,calling her many names and even pushing her. I was so stupid and joined in the name calling, makingher cry and hurting her feelings. That afternoon and night, I was riddled with guilt, as I had turned onthe one person that had been my true friend (who, by now, would not speak to me). I decided that, thenext day, I would say sorry to Heather and stop being friends with those that made me hurt her so badlywith my cruel words. The next morning, I awoke with an enthusiasm, looking forward to saying sorry.In this school, you had to go to breakfast in your uniform in the morning. As I sat at the table, Heatherand the other children in hostel 5 arrived in the hall - my heart was pumping fast and I was excited. Tenminutes into the breakfast, I heard a sound and saw teachers running towards her table - she hadcollapsed and had to be taken back to the hostel 5. That morning, I was extremely worried about her. Iwas in the English class when I saw the ambulance arrive. Five minutes later, I see Heather beingcarried out of hostel 5 on a stretcher. As I looked out of the window, the rain hitting it, I noticed shewas not moving on the stretcher - my heart broke there and then. At 12 noon that day, at dinner, ourHeadmaster came into the hall and asked for us to be quiet. It was here I would experience real pain, ashe gave us the sad news that Heather had suffered from a clot on the brain and had died that morning.30 years later, I still think about my actions and how I treated her. As a result of this, I have found ithard to make friends through fear of losing them too.The moral - Friendship is special so, if you are lucky to have a true friend that likes you for who youare irrespective of your bad habits, skin colour or race, let them know they are special to you, as regretnever goes away. When they are gone, it is just too late to turn back the clock.

How important is friendship and why you must value them - Chris’s story

© Copyright L.T.S.I. 2011

Black Belt Criteria Change...

We must point out that, 8 months back,all students of 1st Kup and above wereinformed that they must attend variousevents and courses, or they would not bepermitted to take future gradings. Also,to clarify, if you want to grade, youMUST have an unbroken training record(i.e. be at class a minimum of once aweek, or no promotion will be allowed).This rule WILL NOT be bent for anyone.Some have requested to grade, but theywill be refused due to not following theabove rule.

Black Belt I.T.F. Pattern Master ClassAs all Black Belts are aware, you mustattend the amount of courses of yournext rank to be allowed to grade up. So,if you are a 1st Dan looking for 2nd Dan,it would be two courses. We are arrang-ing a Master Class with world renownedMaster Sohota in October. The minimumtime you should attend is two hours andthe cost is £15. Times and date will be online soon. If you want to attend all fivehours covering all patterns, the cost is£35.

Summer RecessMr. Snows’ schools are closed from 31stJuly until 15th August for the summerrecess. The L.T.S.I. Head Office will alsobe shut during this time.

Thank YouWe thank all of you that have supported usand continued to attend classes during thehard times. Those of you that have nevermissed classes are true practitioners andare a real asset to our organisation.

Editor: Tracey LeonardWeb: www.uk-ltsi.com

Publish Date: 01/07/2011Released Bi-Monthly

TOURNAMENTS

Five students, accompanied by myself Chris Snow, 6th Degree, and Stuart Smith,4th Degree attended the London I.T.F. Opens on 10th July 2011.Travelling with the team were Lauren Snow, 2nd Degree, Jade Doran, 1st Degree,Derek Britten, 1st Degree, Daniel Doran, 2nd Kup and Connor Wilcox, 7th Kup.Supporters were team coach Darren Doran, 1st Kup, Mel Chapman and Mrs. Britten.Despite the low numbers attending this year, both Stuart and I were proud of theteams attempt to win their spoils and all definitely gave their best at going for gold.The first award of the day came from Lauren Snow, taking a bronze in Black Beltpatterns. On to sparring, Connor Wilcox fought in his section which had as many as30 people in, but still won a respectful bronze medal. Setting the pace of the day forthe rest of the team, Daniel Doran fought his way to silver position, losing to a veryformidable contender. Next up was Jade Doran (sister of Daniel), one of theL.T.S.I.’s top tournament contenders, who picked up a very respectable silver in the13 to 17 years old female section. Jade is only 13 and lost to a 17 year old, so a goodmatch indeed considering she has not long moved up. Over on ring one, club mateDerek Britten lost in the first round to a very hard fighter, but he held face byshowing real skill. To us, he’s a winner for attending and having a go. Lauren Snowhad her division merged and fought hard to win a very respectful bronze medal,losing to the current European champion. Lauren said she was fast as hell and hithard but loved mixing it up, despite a slightly bruised eye from a well timed reverseturning kick!As usual, all L.T.S.I. Black Belts (including Stuart and I) assisted at this event allday, as we do at every event we go to. As we looked around the arena and saw manyBlack Belts and Seniors not bothering, it left a bitter taste in our mouths especiallywhen we had arrived at 9.15am and did not leave until 6pm. Sadly, the host was nothappy with our departure, but we had done our part as far as going the extra mile assome had only worked half the day.It was great to see Masters that we had not seen for a year or so, even if I did not getthe time to have a quick chat and catch up, but I am sure they understand events arevery busy.Never the less, the U.K.T.A. put on a great event as usual and proved they are stillone of the best tournament organisers in the U.K. (next to the L.T.S.I. that is!).The L.T.S.I. are attending the I.T.F. England Nationals on the 30th July, so we willonce again bring you a brief report on the event.We ask all L.T.S.I. members to have a go at this, as it is going to be a good dayespecially if you’d like to get your talent noticed. After all, it’s not all aboutwinning, but about getting on the mat and having a go.

Written by Chris Snow

We stick together - We kick togetherL.T.S.I.

Team L.T.S.I.Roar at 2011LONDON OPENCHAMPIONSHIPS

© Copyright L.T.S.I. 2011