Today its my wife Sue's birthday and tomorrow its my instructors birthday Mr. Bob Howe, so today a bit of a history lesson: Bob was the first chairman of the TAGB when it was formed and many of you will have met or seen him at TAGB events and functions over the years, but what you won't know is that he was the first person to be awarded a black belt in the UK from the United Kingdom tae kwon do association, the original tkd organisation in this country, he was graded by General Choi, the founder of the ITF and Rhee Ki Ha, the chief instructor of the UKTA. Bob was also elected chairman of the UKTA, in his competition days he was British, European champion, this is in the days when you had to win all three elements, the patterns, sparring & destruction to be crowned champion and there were no weight divisions. He went on to be the British and England team manager, winning the ITF world champs in Argentina and the European championships in Italy. He was also the Tae kwon do representative on the martial arts commission, the first recognised national governing body for the control of martial arts in the UK. So Bob had a huge influence on my own career in tae kwon do and I am glad to say that we are still best friends today, so happy birthday Sue and happy birthday for tomorrow Bob, I hope you both have a good one, and as Bob would say when he was my instructor: its no good talking the talk if you can't walk the walk
