“The only thing I’ve ever been good at is kicking people in the head”

“My mum took me to kickboxing and said ‘look this is what you are going to do. Forget football, forget rugby, I want to make sure you can look after yourself.’

Having grown up in a ‘very deprived community in Cardiff’, Joel Walsh’s mother made it very clear that self defence was crucial. But it didn’t take long for Joel to realise he had a knack for martial arts .

“From a very early age, I just won everything. I’d fight 40 of the 52 Sundays in the year, I’d win my weight, the weight above and win the adults so my early memories of martial arts are amazing.”

However as well as finding a talent, becoming a 10-time Welsh Kickboxing champion, Joel found a glass ceiling he couldn’t break through.

“I was at the top of my sport and I just plateaued. You win a title in kickboxing and it’s ‘well done, do it again next year.”

It was July 7th 2017, he can remember the exact date, whilst Joel was labouring for a friends uncle that he had a realisation. A eureka moment that proved to be the catalyst for his Taekwondo career.

“I was painting a door in a house we were renovating and I just thought I needed to do something with my life. I really needed to pull my finger out otherwise I’ll be sat here in 20 years wondering where my life went.”

“I was painting a door in a house we were renovating
and I just thought I needed to do something with my life.” 

Joel was at a ‘really low point in his life’ having dropped out of university and quitting his job, he did not know what to do next.

“The only thing I’ve ever been good at is kicking people in the head. I had a very small idea what Taekwondo was because of Lauren Williams ( GB Taekwondo Double European Champion) as we used to train in kickboxing together.”

Having followed Leif Thobroe, GB Para-Taekwondo World Championship bronze medalist, on social media, Joel decided to send him a message.

“He brought me down to a session in Cardiff and from the moment I got in there the coach from Wales told me I had a future in the sport.”

In fact, his exact words were  ‘You need to be looking to get on that Olympic Bus because you’ve got it in you.’

However, turning professional in any sport is not just down to talent. Funding was a major issue whilst attempting to get into Team GB.

“I was sneaking in to the local gym next door to me because I didn’t have a place to train. I would wait for the receptionist to go on a coffee break and run through the hall with my kit bag and train on my own.

“I knew it had it in me but I was so desperate for funding to take me to international competitions to let me see what I could do.”

Joel began to teach himself Taekwondo, picking up a job to finance his ambition of representing Team GB.

Even after starting to compete, winning the British National Championships, it was not an easy path for in his pursuit of a career in Taekwondo.

“I went on trial with the Irish Taekwondo Union. It was a good time in my life because I was still training and learning the sport.

“I spent my last pennies on heading over to Dublin and stepped up a weight class. Things just weren’t right for me, I got beaten like a dog in Ireland in front of everyone and at that point I’ve never been so close to just throwing in the towel.”

Whilst Joel did not give up, things did not get any easier. After flying to Athens for the President’s Cup, it looked as if Joel would be unable to compete due to the lack of a coach.

It took his brother-in-law flying out to Athens and registering as his coach to allow Joel to fight. After drawing an Israeli national team player and losing on points, you would expect a certain amount of disheartenment. Yet for Joel it was still the most enjoyable fight of his life as he had been competing on the world circuit.

After returning from Athens, his next goal was to get onto the Team GB programme and then ‘as if by some divine miracle’, the GB Taekwondo development programme found Joel through their social media initiative #Taekkers. Just as Joel had found the sport through social media, the sport had now found him.

“Within a month my life just flipped on its head. I came up for a trial and I was walking in and training with my idols.”

Joel believes there is no better time to be involved in the sport. As the World Taekwondo Grand Prix have just finished in Manchester, it is the perfect time to promote the sport.

“I can’t believe how much promotion it’s getting. When you look at Mancunian Way and the big LED electrical boards, there’s the big ‘Welcome to Manchester, Taekwondo Grand Prix’ and people are stopping and taking photos.

“Within a month my life just flipped on its head. I came
up for a trial and I was walking in and training with my idols.”

“My perception of martial arts before Taekwondo was that if you didn’t know someone in the sport or didn’t have a child in the sport, you’re not going to go out and buy tickets to a martial arts event.

“When I transitioned over to Taekwondo I realised it does happen. It’s such a high paced sport, the competitions are absolutely gorgeous and it’s on the up.”

As for Joel himself, he believes that as a Taekwondo athlete he is in a unique position for sponsorship. With Taekwondo, the large majority of fans are based out of the UK, with South Korea the birthplace of the sport.

GB Taekwondo are sponsored by South Korean Taekwondo brand Mooto and, as Joel points out, any sales they are not getting in the UK will bounce over the Pacific to Asia.

“It opens doors because all our fans are spread all over the globe, as well as the boys and girls out there in the Taekwondo clubs around Britain.

“I would like to reach athletes just like myself before I was on the world class performance programme.

“People are looking at you to see what brand you are associated with so i’d like to take that hope that athletes would look at me and think ‘If Joel Walsh is wearing this brand or using that product, I want to.”

This is all just the start for Joel. He is no stranger to adversity and mental challenge, but has little doubt that he is where he belongs.

“The biggest problem I’ve faced before I signed for GB was the mental side of ‘what if I can’t get up there, what if this doesn’t work, what if I’m chasing a goal that’s never going to pay off and  what if I’m chasing this goal and it’s not right for me, ’

“But it was and it is and deep down, I did know in the back of my head I would end up here.”

“This is nowhere near the end goal. This is a stepping stone to get me to the very top and to get to where I need to be. Now I’m here, and don’t get me wrong the world class performance programme is lovely, I want to take advantage to see where I could potentially take this.”

If you’re interested in sponsoring Joel, contact him on joel.walsh@gbtaekwondo.co.uk

If, like Joel, you’re an athlete interested in how caytoo can help you better connect with brands, register here.