The club was founded in 1997 by Gerry Reilly. Gerry is now a British Taekwondo and Kukkiwon recognised 7th Dan Black Belt. Prior to founding the club in 1997, he trained under Master Pat Donnelly of Westbourne Tae Kwon Do and Grandmaster Mark Biddlecombe of Southampton City Tae Kwon Do. He has had the privilege of also training under many senior instructors including Grandmaster Park Hae Man, Grandmaster Shin Byeong Hyun, Grandmaster Cha Sok Park, and Grandmaster Vincent Cheong.
All our coaches are registered and insured through British Taekwondo and hold enhanced DBS checks. The club’s approach is expressed by our vision:
“to be a centre of excellence for the Korean Martial Arts by continually striving to provide the best teaching, facilities and coach development”
Our team of class leading coaches are:
Master Gerry Reilly, 7th Dan
Master Gerry Reilly started training with Southampton City Taekwondo Club under GM Mark Biddlecombe in 1988. After moving from Southampton, he launched Overton Taekwondo in 1977 which are now running as the separate clubs of Bluewave Korean Martial Arts and Overton Taekwondo. Gerry passionately believes in continued personal development and still trains regularly seeking out opportunities to further his own and the club’s progress. He holds a Kukkiwon 7th Dan Black Belt in Taekwondo, a World Taekwondo Chungdokwan Federation 8th Dan and also a 1st Dan Black Belt in Hapkido. Gerry is a Class 3 International Poomsae Referee. Gerry is a member of the British Taekwondo Elite Poomsae Squad and has competed at European and World Championship levels.
Master Coleen Reilly, 6th Dan
Master Coleen Reilly was a founder member of the club as a 7 year old in 1997. Coleen has developed alongside the club being the first student who started with the club to gain 1st Dan Black Belt in 2001 and then to progress to 6th Dan in 2023 and is a British Taekwondo Qualified Level 2 Coach. She has developed a strong technical base across Taekwondo which is further strengthened by her BSc in Sport Science. Coleen continues to personally compete in Poomsae at National Level and now leads the development of the club’s Poomsae competition squad. Coleen is a member of the British Taekwondo South of England Poomsae Squad.
Master Lynne Firth, 5th Dan
Master Lynne Firth started her training in 1987 with Southampton City Taekwondo Club under GM Mark Biddlecombe. Lynne also trained with Master Graham Jones at Southampton University Taekwondo Club. Lynne has continued her own personal training though her Taekwondo career successfully grading to 5th Dan Black Belt and is a British Taekwondo Qualified Level 2 Coach. She has played a central role in the development of the club in particularly around the progress of our facilities and first class administration. Lynne holds a B.Sc. in Sports Injury and Treatment and a MRes in Sport & Exercise from the University of Winchester.
Master Sian Reilly, 5th Dan
Sian started training with the club over 20 years ago and the age of 4, and has since graded to 5th Dan. In that time, Sian has competed as a Poomsae and Sparring competitor. Sian’s passionate about promoting sport for all, and ensuring we are a safe place for everyone. Sian is one of our Welfare Representative so is on hand to help with any welfare concerns. Sian is a member of the British Taekwondo South of England Poomsae Squad.
Darren Miller, 3rd Dan
Darren started training with the club in 2009, and was the first of our three generations families with his children and now his grandson also training! Darren leads our Friday night 12+ / Adults class. His passion is focusing on all round technical skills including basics, poomsae, self-defence and one-step.
Mujahid Baksh, 3rd Dan
Mujahid joined the club as a junior back in 2007. From the beginning he showed enthusiasm for the sparring competition side of Taekwondo. He has competed many times both as a junior and adult, and continues to do so. Mujahid leads the Sunday Sport Taekwondo/Competition Sparring class and is the lead sparring/Kyorugi coach for Bluewave.
In addition to our class leading coaches we have an enthusiastic group of black belts who play an active role in the club through their own training and assisting the team of class leading coaches. Our full list of active black belts is:
7th Dan – Master Gerry Reilly
6th Dan – Master Coleen Reilly
5th Dan – Master Lynne Firth, Master Sian Reilly
4th Dan – Master Corey Payne, Master Teddy Wong
3rd Dan – Darren Miller, Mujahid Baksh, Gini Brown, Amy Stock
2nd Dan – Sam Stone, Caelan MacDonald, Sushant Shrestha, Isaac Li
1st Dan – Ahan Sen, Shubhashis Shresth, Sin Wang Cayden Chu, David Flanders, Hei Yee Chan, Adam Williamson, Kai Lou, Ronan Lee, Ho Yin Wong
The club’s Health and Safety Officer is Master Coleen Reilly.
The club’s Welfare Officers are Master Sian Reilly and Liz Walsh.