Wells TKD Chief Instructor

The Ch'ang-Hon Taekwon-Do School is ran by Mr Jason Burgess who is currently a 5th Degree Black Belt. He is a fully qualified & registered instructor, umpire, referee & 1st aider.

He offers professional tuition in all areas of the martial arts from traditional training to kickboxing; practical self defence skills through to groundwork & grappling; breaking techniques to pressure point applications; philosophy & the history of the martial arts.

Mr Burgess founded the Taekwon-Do school in Wells in May 1996 after many years of training, following a successful tournament career, winning many national titles in both sparring & traditional forms.

The school forms part of Global Taekwon-Do International (GTI), a UK based association that follows the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) style.

The GTI is affiliated to the ITF (headed by Choi Jung Hwa -General Choi's son) via UK-ITF & the student body has access to the official ITF national, European & World championships.

Mr Burgess offers professional tuition in a class setting & also provides the opportunity for members to take private lessons. He is also available for seminars.

All training is conducted in a safe & friendly atmosphere, with an emphasis on learning & enjoying one's training in a structured & disciplined lesson.

The Wells Ch'ang-hon Taekwon-Do School is a part of a professional association & has in place the correct policies that are required by a UK sports club. These include an equal opportunity policy & a child protection policy (these can be viewed by clicking the links above). All instructors have been checked for their suitability for working with children through the Criminal Records Bureau. All venues & activities that take place are also suitably risk assessed. 

The Wells club is an affiliated member of IAOMAS (International Alliance Of Martial Arts Schools) a non-political organisation that is made up of clubs around the world. All current students who belong to a club, which forms part of IAOMAS, can train for free when visiting a fellow IAOMAS member club.

The IAOMAS network allows all martial artists to continue to train wherever and whenever they travel.

[click here for more information & participating schools] 

A personal history

My passion for the martial arts was instilled in me many years ago. I cannot recollect what was the actual event but I guess it was a combination of the "Kung Fu" TV series in the 1970's, Burt Kwouk as Kato in the Pink Panther films & the legend that is Bruce Lee which inspired & thrilled me, but whatever it was, I knew that I wanted to learn about the Oriental fighting arts. I had always been fascinated by the Far East & loved reading about China & Japan (I did not know much about Korea at that time) & I was addicted to Shogun, the TV series starring Richard Chamberlain.

In 1981 I decided to take the plunge & I joined a local Judo club. I was 13 at the time & I really enjoyed the training. I found it had given me greater confidence in myself, especially when dealing with the school bullies. However, after a year or so I joined the Army cadets & my loyalties shifted & I left Judo for a new passion.

It was a few years until I came back to the arts, and I started training in Wado-Ryu Karate. I realised I had found my passion in life, I decided that I wanted to achieve that coveted goal, the Black Belt. I stayed training with Karate for a couple of years until a local Taekwon-Do club opened up, and I trained in both styles for a while. But, as much as I enjoyed Wado-Ryu I decided that I would focus all my energy into Taekwon-Do.

I had a distinguished career in TKD winning many national titles along the way & held the titles of British champion, English champion, Welsh champion & Midlands champion in the discipline of traditional Korean patterns, or forms, as well as holding the same titles in the sparring divisions. One of the high points in my tournament career was when I first won the black belt patterns division & the black belt sparring division in the same tournament.

In 2000, I trained for selection & ultimately was chosen to represent Great Britain in the GTI national squad, where I fought in Italy, narrowly losing out to the (then) Italian national light-heavyweight champion. I remained a squad member until my retirement from the competition arena in 2001 due to a repetitive ankle injury.

I feel that training in the martial arts has moulded me into a better, more rounded person. Over the years I have come to realise that the martial arts is more than a physical form of self defence & self expression, but it transcends many boundaries & can change peoples lives for the greater good. I certainly feel that it has made a great difference in my life. The martial arts can mean many things to different people, to some it may just be about fighting, to others it may be a path to spiritual enlightenment, this is the paradox of the martial arts. As an instructor I wish to pass on my knowledge & my experiences to others so that they may benefit & reap the rich rewards that the martial arts can bring. 

I have been influenced by many people through my training career from my family, who have always been supportive of my endeavours, to the late, great Bruce Lee, who was an innovator and a real, thinking martial artist, a man ahead of his time. He was possibly single handedly responsible for the sudden surge of interest in the martial arts in the 1970's, which has made it so popular today, whether that is a good or bad thing depends on your point of view. Another shining example of martial arts expertise is Grand-Master Cho (a Korean 9th Dan based in LA, in the USA), who is still out there "doing the business". Another innovator, he helped to make Taekwon-Do a little more practical for use on the arenas of the modern martial arts tournament and the street.

Geoff Thompson of the UK, helped to open my eyes to the necessity of training for realism in martial arts & inspired me to develop my personal self defence skills. He is a prominent figure in the UK martial art scene, and has written a great many books on the nature of self defence. Mr Thompson has increase the awareness for reality training & this has prompted many discussions on the subject with practitioners both for & against these methods of training. Whatever your views on the subject I think it is a good thing to bring self defence & the martial arts to the forefront to be discussed.

Other personal influences are too numerous to mention them all, but special mention must go to a great friend of mine, Jeannie Cathcart (2nd Dan) who helped me out throughout my training & was a constant driving force to keeping the club running in the early years. Other mentions must go to; Sarah Nash (4th Dan) who encourages me to strive to improve myself. Master Clive Harrison (7th Dan, former Chairman of the GTI) whose technical knowledge is second to none. Also, Two times world TKD champion, Mark Weir (who, in 2003, won a title at the 1st Ultimate Fighting Championships in the UK at the Royal Albert Hall with the fastest ever KO in the UFC’s history). Mark taught me a huge amount about the sparring aspect of TKD, and set the spark for me making great advances in my training. This man has an immense amount of ability, but is one of the most humble people you could meet.

Finally, a few more people I want to mention; one would have to be Tony "the Iceman" Sewell (6th Dan), who was (& still is) a very impressive fighter who racked up an incredible amount of titles; including 3 World titles & convincing wins over "the Jedi" Kevin Brewerton & many other named fighters. Also, a mention must go to Frank Murphy (6th Dan), who inspired me to try and out-do anything that I saw done (a case of anything you can do, I can try and do better!) after I saw him perform a jumping twisting kick through a piece of wood 8' in the air. Last, but certainly not least, one person that I would credit with having made a distinct impression on me is Paresh Bhadeshia (5th Dan & Chairman of the GTI). I have not met many people who have an "aura" about them, but this man really does; he just seems to have great presence & many people have a huge amount of respect for him & he is one of the most down to earth & nicest guys your are likely to meet.

As a last note to any budding martial artists: learn from anyone, at anytime; anything -knowledge, as they say, is power. Be hungry for knowledge. Never remain static & continue to grow as a martial artist.

Licence renewal forms

Competition entry forms

Click on the above to download

For all new prospective students a free two week trial is offered if you book via this site

[click here to book you place NOW!]