Phoenix Martial Arts - Cardiff & The Vale

Ma’am also competed.

It was a loaded black belt category with some incredibly inspiring people. I walked away with bronze in patterns and gold in sparring.

It felt really good to be out there again on the mats.

Sometimes it’s scary (even for us lot that have done this a lot) but out of your comfort zone is where you grow. Go do it 💪

Huge thank you to .uys.photography for the amazing photos as always. 📸

Last weekend 5 Phoenix students and Ma’am went off to compete in the ITF Open Welsh Tournament, a top level home competition hosted by ITF Wales.

The team were incredible and showed show much improvement, growth, courage, humility and decorum on those mats. We’re so proud of them.

Willow took her first competitive win, Sienna won her early rounds too, Joey took bronze in sparring in his first big competitive spar but regardless of medals I watched the team out there being so much better than they’d ever been before and it reminded how much you take from competition irrespective of metal!

Well done Poppy, Willow, Sienna, Lily & Joey. We’re so proud of you 👏💪☺️

🖤❤️👊🐦‍🔥❤️🖤

1:1s have been in full swing for the weeks in the lead up to grading.

I love a 1:1. 30 minutes personal contact time makes so much difference because the entire session is tailored to you. We get to trouble shoot problems and look at the little details that take you to the next level and it never fails to amaze me how much progress is made in such a small amount of time.

We’ve looked at fixing knee and foot positions which completely transform your knee spring, loading the front left before hooks to change trajectory of the punch, twisting out of bending stance into side kicks for the extra jab of the heel into the ribs, the correct measurements for different techniques, we here to land the foot after drill to be able to use hands effectively and so so so much more. It’s the small details that matter, that make BIG differences.

12 1:1s completes this round and each one was awesome thank you.

When 1:1s get released they tend to get snapped up within 15 minutes so if you want one, be quick! 🥰

If you really want a 1:1 or set of 1:1s outside of grading cycles, reach out and we will see what we can do!

It was our ladies-only social at Phoenix last weekend at it just so happened to be International Women’s Day!

No better way to celebrate strong, talented ladies than throwing some axes, playing some games and of course throwing some sweet combination earlier in the day 🥊

We throw punches better than axes but we weren’t bad at that by the end either. Watch out people ;D 🪓 💥

Having this year become part of the coaching team, had the absolute pleasure of taking these guys down to the WKU on Sunday.

Was fab watching them step out on the mats and be your coach. Wicked haul. On to the next comp! ☺️

It was a truly fabulous day for PMA at the ITF Open.

For 3 of our 4 competitors it was their first competition and of 4 competitors, we got 5 Medals: 3 gold + 2 Bronze across all 3 disciplines; sparring, patterns and special tech.

I was so proud as always of how PMA students and parents work so hard to put their best versions of themselves out there on the mats, improve so much in such an short space of time, step up when they’re scared, perform fantastically and of course how you conduct yourselves.

Privileged as always to be your coach PMA ☺️🖤👊

Anybody here want to take up a bad/ass, stress-busting, calorie burning new hobby in 2026?

We have spaces in all our adult and teen classes: ladies only kickboxing, mixed kickboxing & senior Taekwon-Do.

(All Little Dragons & Junior classes are completely full at the moment but you can join our waiting list if you think your littles might like to give it a go)

Classes in Penarth on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday for ages 12+.

Kickboxing & Taekwon-Do are for everyone. We know it can be scary picking up something new and especially a combat sport but we make sure that our family friendly club caters to everyone; your pace, your needs, your level of comfort.

You are never too old to take up something fun (especially when it’s good for your mind and body too). It also makes you a pretty cool parent to look up to by my books too.

First two weeks free and HALF PRICE sign up in January.

It was our last grading of the year and it was an awesome one!

Congratulations to all who got their new belts this week. Absolute rockstars 🌟

(P.s it was was Christmas week, we don’t usually wear t-shirts and Santa hats 😂)

Hope you had fun doing flying side kick, and stunt kicks and 360s and relay races and the absolute chaos that was class this week. Oh and of course - King@of the Hill! What a fun end to the year.

That’s all classes over and out for 2025 everyone. See you in 2026 for more TKD & KB fun! 🤩

Nadolig Llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda pawb! 🎉🎄🥂

Christmas Party & Awards Night 2025

Oh what a night! 🎶 Thank you so much to everyone who came to sing, dance, share a bite and a glass with us to celebrate Christmas and each other’s achievements this year.

It was a lush night and seeing all the different classes and families come together was a real highlight.

Our award winners were thrilled and it was so lovely to see how hard everyone cheered for their friends and loved ones.

Here were our 2025 winners:

Outstanding effort: Nimu Bhudia
Outstanding effort: Noah Elbashir
Outstanding effort: Jacob Smith
Little Dragon of the Year: Guto Godfrey
Taekwon-Do student of the Year: Lily Hewings
Kickboxer of the Year: Harriet-Jane Line
Newcomer of the Year: Nicole Price
Most improved student: Delyth Jones

We have such fantastic students at PMA that some of these were so hard to decide and just know that even if you don’t have something tangible to show for it, Sor and I see all your efforts and improvements and we’re really proud of you as I hope you are of yourself. (If you ever need proof of how far you’ve come, take a look back at where you started ;D )

Lastly a huge incredible thank you to all the parents who became assistant instructors this year. Ma’am’s and Sor, You have no idea the difference you make and how much we value you. Thank you Naomi, Charlene, Claire, Leanne, Kat and Dave and the biggest thank you to Mr FG for his unwavering support and commitment to the club year after year.