With the British International Open held at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester for the second consecutive year, it is important to reflect on how far the sport has come in the UK.

This particular section of Manchester is no stranger to an international-level visitor. Whether that be European opposition travelling to the Etihad Campus to face one of Manchester City’s world class teams or world-renowned artists taking to the stage at the adjacent Co-Op Live.

However, Saturday the 25th April saw the continuation of a revamp for one of the UK’s more niche sports, one that usually only generates interest when The Olympics are involved.

And yet, here it is with well over 1,000 spectators and over 500 concurrent viewers online. As well as nearly 600 athletes travelling to participate in the qualifying. All for a classification Grade 1 event- the lowest on the global calendar.

Unlike other sports, UK Taekwondo is not experiencing this through the lens of some unattainable star.

After all, Jade Jones MBE, winner of two gold medals at the London and Rio Olympics, announced her retirement from the sport last year. Instead, taekwondo has made itself as accessible as possible to those from all backgrounds.

Speaking to Caden Cunningham, Great Britain’s shining light in the taekwondo sphere and an Olympic silver medalist at Paris 2024, you begin to get a sense of what taekwondo meant to him:

“As just a normal lad the sport offered me the chance to grow,” Cunningham said.

“Meeting people from all different backgrounds helped me keep myself accountable.”

For Cunningham, from a working class background in Huddersfield, the internal discipline preached by an ancient sport like taekwondo offered him an avenue to be great.

The extensive infrastructure offered by the sport, with Cunningham’s home gym, Quest Taekwondo, one of those set up after the boom of London 2012, facilitated that.

“Without seeing other people like me doing it I wouldn’t have believed it was possible.”

The boom in taekwondo membership since 2013 has been remarkable.

There are now over 500 gyms across the UK, up from an estimated 150 pre-2012, and over 10,000 individual members according to Taekwondo UK.

With nine Olympic medals won over the past four Olympic Games, the sport has received £8-9 million of funding per Olympic cycle, which has largely been funnelled into taekwondo’s Talent ID programs, like Fighting Chance, which has run intermittently since 2013.

Jade Jones might have lit the touch paper, but sustainable growth has been the aim for taekwondo.

The 2022 University Games highlighted this in a different way. Taekwondo was the UK’s most successful sport at the games, and eight of the GB athletes who competed in the senior event at the British International Open originated there.

Beyond this, emphasis on other forms of taekwondo have created a diverse body of participants.

Poomsae or non-contact taekwondo, offers the opportunity for more senior and junior entry, without the necessity for violence. Virtual taekwondo holds a similar attraction.

In fact, despite expensive kit possibly presenting a barrier for entry (new electronic tunics can cost upwards of £200) taekwondo’s issue in the UK has been retention.

British Taekwondo’s current 10-year strategy (2021–2031) specifically highlights the need to fix this retention issue, with over 50% dropping the sport after primary school age (11 years-old).

“Taekwondo’s uniqueness as a sport is that it has created two separate audiences,” President of British Taekwondo and Olympic Bronze medalist Sarah Stevenson said.

“One that is entirely casual and loves the sport for self-defense, and one which wants to compete at the elite level.”

That’s where events like the British International Open come in.

Offering low cost access to incredible, high tech venues making the sport easy to watch from a distance, the competition can unite those two branches of the sport.

Even to the international audience, events like that show that the UK is taking taekwondo seriously:

“It’s such an amazing arena, I’ve not competed anywhere like this at this level before,” said 2024 US national champion Danny Lee.

Lee is an internet sensation, garnering over 390,000 Instagram followers, and yet he recognises the potential UK taekwondo has.

Losing to Brit Matthew Howell in the semi final, Lee acknowledges the British team’s elite status.

“They have such a small team but its amazing how good all these guys are.”

As they look forward to the future, British taekwondo can be proud of an elite event which displayed the attraction of taekwondo for all on the global stage.