Husband and wife team Neil and Shirley Whiteman have been running a Tae Kwon-do and self-defence class for just over a year now and the club is going from strength to strength.

The classes, run in Kilburn Village Hall and at Horsley Woodhouse Church Hall, are aimed at giving people self-confidence and defence skills and with 35 members ranging from five to 59 in age the idea has really taken off.

Shirley Whiteman said: "The exercises help you to deal with somebody grabbing you from behind and other forms of attack. We teach people how to deal with an attacker much bigger than themselves. A lot of women these days feel concerned out on the streets, say when walking back to a car in a car park at night, but they can get a lot of confidence from our classes knowing what to do and what not to do.

"It's all about building self confidence in people."
Tae Kwon-do originated in Korea and is a martial art relying predominantly on kicks, but the Kilburn and Horsley Woodhouse groups combine this with a self-defence system pioneered by Derby man Gary Stringer.

The group regularly tours the borough to put on demonstrations of their martial arts, raising awareness of the group and money for local charities. They will be appearing at Holbrook Village Fete and Ambergate Carnival over the summer.

To add to the family feel of the class Neil and Shirley's 15-year-old son Martin is also an instructor. The trio have learned martial arts together over the last eight years, becoming keen after originally starting out looking for a hobby to do together as a family.

Shirley said: "Our members mainly like to show what they can do against each other rather than in competitions. They like to progress at a personal level and build their self-confidence.

"We have whole families coming along, I have mums and dads bringing their kids. Everybody is very supportive of each other and help out if somebody is struggling with a particular move. There's a fantastic atmosphere."

Leader of Ripley Town Council Juliette Blake said: "Two of my boys go to the club at Horsley Woodhouse along with my husband.

"Shirley and Neil are absolutely lovely. You could not get two more friendly and supportive people running a club. The confidence they give to my children by their really dedicated teaching is second to none."

Training sessions are held twice a week on a Saturday and Tuesday.

Class fees are payable at the start of each lesson at a cost of £4.
Anybody is welcome to attend, contact Shirley or Neil on 07779812468 for more information.