OUR INSTRUCTORS
The club has helped many students achieve Black Belt status and leads by example, teaching that, with hard work and dedication you can achieve your goals.
This hard work and dedication, from both students and coaches, has led to the club producing Taekwondo Champions, of all ages, both nationally and internationally.
M. A. SEDIQI
FOUNDER, HEADCOACH
- 7th Dan Master
- Registered instructor at British Taekwondo
- Over 30 years experience in Taekwondo & Kickboxing
- Sports coach UK, safeguarding & protecting children certificate
- Global official member
- International Coach Certificate Level 1 world Taekwondo
- Level 2 world Taekwondo
Master Sediqi is a national and internationally recognised instructor; he began practicing Taekwondo (ITF) (WT) in 1989 at Haidairy Taekwondo association in Afghanistan under Grand Master Zia-Ul Haq Bakhshi.
In 1996 he moved to Islamic Republic of Iran, and began practising full contact kickboxing (WKA). In 2001 in the UK, he joined English contact karate association (ECKA) under Grand Master Dev Barrett who is a former world champion. Moving back to Taekwondo in 2004 under Grand Master Neil Guest (Heart of England Taekwondo), he opened his own classes in 2005.He has also been fighting in national level in Kickboxing and Taekwondo with several wins.
He has many years experience leading teams in competitions, wining trophies & medals for the club. He has been teaching and developing students from all age groups and aims to take them to competitions to make them better athletes.
C. AKDENIZ
- 5th Dan
- WT International Coach Certificate
- WT Level 1 Para Taekwondo Coaching Certificate
- WT Level 2 World Taekwondo Coach Certificate
- Continental Coach Licence
- Former Turkish Taekwondo National Team Coach
- Registered Instructor at British Taekwondo Instructor & Referee Certificate (British Taekwondo)
- 4th Level Senior Trainer Certificate (Turkish Taekwondo Federation)
- Over 25 years experience in Taekwondo
- Global Official Member
- Safeguarding & Protecting Children Certificate
- FA Emergency First Aid Certificate
Coach Akdeniz started taekwondo in 1994. He has fought and represented his club and country for over 20 years. He established his first club in 2014 ( Birlesim Sports Club – Turkey). And due to popularity, quickly followed up with a second one in 2016, Oykum Youth and Sports Club, and the third one in 2018 (Ahmet Sari Youth and Sports Club).
Coach Akdeniz had more than 2000 students in Turkey before emigrating to the UK in 2019 to join Five Lions Taekwondo Academy.
Coach Akdeniz has been the Turkish National Team’s coach since 2016.
Obaidullah Rahmani
Assistant Coach
British Taekwondo Class II Referee
Obaidullah started Taekwondo in 2015 under Master Sediqi. He has competed at a regional and national level in Kyorugi, with several wins. Obaidullah is a high achieving academic as well as a committed student and coach at Five Lions Taekwondo Academy.
He has experience of coaching students at competitions, including coaching many that have gone on to win gold at various tournaments. He continues to work on his personal development both in Kyorugi and Poomsae and encourages all students to excel.
Dale Forde
Assistant Coach
Dale been training in martial arts from the age of 16 doing various different styles and studying Taekwondo since 2018 under Master Sediqi. He has also previously studied other styles including Muay Thai and Lau Gar Kung Fu.
In his Taekwondo career he has accomplished many things including competing in several tournaments at a local and national level, winning silver medals at National level in 2019 and 2022.
He has enjoyed his experience coaching and training people of all age groups and continues to deliver high quality teaching and training.
Mohammed Baefat
Assistant Coach
Mohammed has been practicing Taekwondo far longer than he cares to admit. He originally started his Taekwondo journey in the early 1990’s in his home country Iran before moving to the UK and continuing his practice under Master Sediqi.
He has a variety of experiences in both Kyorugi and Poomsae and has the capacity to develop rapport with both students and parents alike, in turn helping the development of the students to excel in every session.
He has experience in successfully coaching students at a number of tournaments and continues to work on both his own technique and skills to ensure that his teaching skills are of a high level.