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. Gerry completed the 12th Class 3 Foreign Instructors Course held at the headquarters of Taekwondo, The Kukkiwon, in Seoul, Korea in July 2006.
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 instructor 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 (later to become Overton and Basingstoke Taekwondo and now running as the separate clubs of Bluewave Korean Martial Arts and Overton Taekwondo) in 1997. He has overseen the development of the club from its inception in 1997 to currently being a strong technical and competition club with the some of the best facilities in Hampshire. 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 Chair of the British Taekwondo Poomsae Referee Department and a Class 3 International Poomsae Referee. Gerry is also a qualified Level 3 Personal Trainer, holds a Level 3 in Nutrition for Sport and Physical Exercise and a Level 3 in Emergency First Aid for Sport. Gerry is a member of the British Taekwondo Elite 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 leads the club’s specialised programme for our youngest students and works closely with coaches from outside of Taekwondo to develop effective drills and coaching methods especially for the younger age groups. In addition to being a qualified British Taekwondo coach, Lynne also holds a Level 2 award in MultiSkills for Sport. Lynne holds a B.Sc. in Sports Injury and Treatment and a MRes in Sport & Exercise from the University of Winchester.
Master Coleen Reilly, 5th 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 her current grade of 5th Dan in 2017 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. In 2016, Coleen was appointed to be a Coach Tutor for British Taekwondo. Coleen was also the 2019 Basingstoke and Deane Volunteer Sports Coach of the Year. Coleen is a member of the British Taekwondo South of England Poomsae Squad.
Master Sian Reilly, 4th Dan
Sian started Taekwondo aged 4 with the club over 20 years ago, and has since graded to 4th Dan. In that time, Sian has competed as a Poomsae and Sparring competitor and refereed across the UK and internationally, which led to Sian being awarded Junior Official of the Year for Basingstoke and Deane multiple times. Sian has also coached other sports, and previously qualified as a Trampolining coach. Sian was the Well-being Representative for her University’s Trampolining team. 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.
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
5th Dan – Master Lynne Firth, Master Coleen Reilly
4th Dan – Master Jonny Hainsworth, Master Sian Reilly, Master Corey Payne
3rd Dan – Pradeep Lalung, Darren Miller
2nd Dan – Jonathan Paduanelli, Giordano Baquero-Easton, Mujahid Baksh
1st Dan – Sam Stone, Danyal Dabhelia, Annabel Poynter, Sushant Shrestha, Shubhashis Shrestha, Brandon Koh, Maciek Nowak, Caitlin MacDonald, Sam Dodds, Kieran Pern
The club’s Health and Safety Officer is Master Coleen Reilly.
The club’s Welfare Officer are Master Sian Reilly and Liz Walsh.