Megan Abel Interview
Megan is 12 years of age and a Black Belt 1st Dan in Sports Karate. She will be grading for her 2nd Dan in May this year. Megan has so far won seven world titles and numerous honours across a range of governing bodies, including WAKO , WTKA, WCOMA and WKA.
She trains a minimum of four days per week at Sheffield Dragons College of Martial Arts in Woodhouse, Sheffield, under the tutelage of Master Terry Johnston - supplementing this with gymnastics training twice a week at the The Steel City Gymnasium, Heeley, in Sheffield where she goes to develop her musical forms / Extreme Martial Arts (‘XMA’).
Because Sheffield Dragons is a Sports Karate club with no ties to a particular style of martial arts, Megan has developed a range of skills and therefore is able to compete in Hard Style Korean (Taekwondo) and Japanese Katas and Soft Style Chinese (WuShu / Kung Fu).
Megan also competes in semi-contact fighting and Musical / XMA Forms. She is currently also working on her weapons skills and aims to compete in Freestyle Samurai Sword later this year. A pupil at All Saints R.C High School in Sheffield, Megan also takes part in PE and Drama classes and she loves singing and dancing. Ultimately her ambition is to be a famous actress or stunt woman when she leaves school. She is already planning the layout of her Hollywood mansion and watches MTV Cribs for ideas.
Megan loves eating out and going out with her school and Karate friends. She loves to do active sports and hobbies as such as swimming, ice skating, roller blading, trampolining, tricking and even climbing at a local indoor climbing wall. she has two younger sisters - Lauren aged eight and Alicia aged six - both of whom attend Sheffield Dragons honing their martial arts skills. his year Megan’s focus will be on attending freestyle competitions and events as well as semi contact points fighting. Ideally, she wants to travel to the US open to compete there next year.
Megan’s major titles to date include:
Seven [count ‘em] World Titles -
WTKA World Championships, Italy 2009 - Winner, Points Fighting.
WTKA World Championships, Italy 2009 - Winner, Open Hand Wushu.
WTKA World Championships, Italy 2009 - Winner, XMA Freestyle Form.
WTKA World Championships, Italy 2009 - Winner, Taekwondo Korean Kata.
WTKA World Championships, Italy 2007 - Winner, Points Fighting.
WTKA World Championships, Italy 2007 - Winner, Open Hand Wushu Form.
WCMA World Cup, Mexico 2007 - Winner Freestyle Musical Form.
Runner up - World Championships.
WTKA World Championships, Italy 2009 - Runner-up, Japanese Kata.
WTKA World Championships, Italy 2007 - Runner-up, XMA Freestyle Form.
WCMA World Cup, Mexico 2007 - Runner-up Points Fighting.
Other British Championships:
KTBF British Series Championships - 2008 - won 12 Gold medals during the series (Points Fighting, Korean, Japanese and Chinese Katas, XMA Musical Freestyle);
British University Martial Arts Championship (BUMAC) - Freestyle Champion 2006, 2007 and 2008.
WAKO British Championship, Solihull, West Midlands 2007, Winner Points Fighting.
WAKO Judgement Day, Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield, UK, 2008 - Winner XMA Freestyle
Megan is a member of Sheffield Dragons Team Elite, a martial arts performance team and they have performed at high profile venues including the Sage Theatre in Newcastle, Harrogate International Exhibition Centre, Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield and The Lowry Theatre, Salford Quays, Greater Manchester. Team Elite regularly perform at award ceremonies, local charity events and even on Britain’s Got Talent.
Megan was both proud and surprised to be invited to join the MAI Magazine’s Hall of Fame earlier this year, making her the youngest to be granted the Honour. The award ceremony took part during the prestigious team fighting event The Clash of the Titans in Huddersfield. On the evening Megan opened the show with her latest musical form which was followed with a team performance by her fellow Sheffield Dragons Scott Elliott and Anton Simpson-Tidy. Anton also received the Rising Stars prize on the same evening. Megan said “I can’t believe I was picked for this alongside so many high ranking Karate experts... What a shock, but also a lovely surprise, thank you to MAI and to Master Bob Sykes in particular.”