Inspired by his daughter’s martial arts efforts, MAN v FAT Gloucester coach Ryan Barkle got into action himself by appearing in a national Taekwondo Championships at the start of November.
Having seen his daughter take up the sport in September 2021, Ryan decided that it was time to lose weight.
And his efforts on the scales and on the pitch saw him shift over 5 stone as a MAN v FAT Gloucester player, before graduating to lead the club, held at Plock Court on a Thursday night.
Ryan told us: “Through the support, friendly rivalry and environment created at the club, I lost 5 stone before becoming the club’s Coach.
“It has provided me with lots of opportunities from playing at Sixfields for George Elokobi against Ian Holloway’s team to getting back to running.
“However 2024 has been a bit more difficult to keep the weight off due to ‘weak hips’ meaning football and running had become painful.
“This led me to try something new. I joined my daughter Abi at Sumners Taekwondo, as I could see the amount of flexibility and hips work that goes into it.
“Before MAN v FAT, I would not have had the confidence to attend and I would not have returned after the first session due to feeling too unfit, too judged or too embarrassed (there is no reason to feel this, I’ve found!).
“However my MAN v FAT journey has led me to try something completely different. Who would have thought you would start sparring at the age of 42?”
And Ryan achieved great success in the visit to the ITF British Championships.
He competed in two categories – firstly picking up gold in the veteran male 10th to 5th Kup veteran (over 36) male patterns.
Late spaces became available in the Adult male 18+ sparring 10th to 7th Kup category and Ryan was asked to participate and again excelled, picking up bronze.
He added: “The championships were great fun. I got to support my daughter and she got to cheer me on. We both came away with medals and both with mutual respect.
“Abi has always been really good technically but, due to her Leukaemia, the drugs to treat it has meant she has not grown as much as she should have.
“So sparring has been difficult for her as her competitors are generally massively compared to her. As a result, the pride to see her compete and get a bronze against girls of her own age was huge!
“What’s more, the pride she had of seeing her Dad get a bronze in the adult male category where the other competitors were 20 years my younger was matched. A great day for us both.
“I only started in September, so my next step would be to do my first grading at Sumners Taekwondo to yellow tag in December.
“Hopefully I could join Abi in the GTUK England squad training and, who knows, maybe join her at an International tournament!”
Congrats to Ryan from all at MAN v FAT – we’re right behind you at future tournaments!
