My Story
MitchellFamily
After my initial retirement from competitive martial arts in 1996, I found I still needed some form of physical challenge. It was in 1996 that I decided to start playing Rugby. Having never touched a ball and only 10 stone at the time, I spent the first season on the wing in the 4th team learning the game. Early on I decided the wing was not for me and after moving into the centres for a brief period I found my position as a nine....scrum half. By this time I was second team Captain. Although I now only play irregularly, I still like to have the odd run out. I have many great memories of my time with the club but winning player of the year in 1996-07 and winning the Test Valley Invitational League Championships in 2006-07 stand out for me.
Still teaching martial arts during this period I became active on the circuit again in 1999 and represented Team GB at the 1999 IAKSA World Championships in Madrid. It was then back into retirement again until 2008.
Name: Gordon Trevor Mitchell
Birthday: 20th January 1968
College: Thames Valley University
Major: Computing Technology
Profession: Martial Arts Coach
Hobbies & Interests:
-Martial Arts
-Rugby Union
-Snowboarding
-Scuba Diving
-Digital Photography
-Computing
Born to Geoffrey Trevor and Susan MuiKheng Mitchell in Tywyn Wales, I spent most of my school years as a pad brat in what was then West Germany. I spent my primary years in Dortmund and then my secondary at Edinburgh Military School in Munster.
In 1986 my father retired from the army after serving his 22 years. We moved back to the UK and settled in a little Hampshire town called Andover. Here I attended Cricklade College studying Electronic and Electrical Engineering with every intention of joining the Royal Navy as an Engineering officer.....had to be a commision because I didn’t like the flairs that sailors wore.
My Childhood
My College Years
Coming from a mixed race background had its challenges back in the late 70‘s and early 80‘s, particularly in a military environment where there wasn’t a lot of ethnic minorities at the time. Those experiences made me want to explore my Chinese heritage and it was during my trips back to Singapore that my interest in the martial arts took hold. I used to watch every Bruce Lee and Jacky Chan movie I could lay my hands on. I remember a new martial arts phenomenon coming out of china in the shape of Jet Li and knew that I had to take up Kung Fu. So at the age of 17 the first thing I did upon arriving back in the UK was to join a local Lau Gar Kung Fu school.
By the age of 23 my love of Martial Arts had become my priority...hence the reason I never went into the Navy. At this point in my life I had studied computing technology at Thames Valley University, achieved my first degree black sash and had been selected for the Lau Gar A team, one of the best competition teams in the country. I was very lucky in that my Martial Arts coaches through these formative years had been Humphrey Broomes, Kevin “The Jedi” Brewerton and Neville “The Devil” Wray, all top class Lau Gar A Team fighters. This competitive background had a strong influence on the direction my martial arts career would take.
Favourite Quote
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Early Years
I spent the first 14 years of my working career in IT. First in the defence industry developing small arm simulators, marine radar simulators and Navy command team trainers. After two years I realised where the money was and moved to the city where I worked the next twelve years for the Reuters New Agency. I started with the company as a programmer working on interfacing Reuters systems with Stock Exchange datafeeds, I then moved into project management and finally into product management and product development. By the age of thirty three I was an international programme manager ensuring usability and branding was part of the product development lifecycle for all Reuters products. During these 14 years I had taken on the role of Head Coach for Andover and formed the Fighting Falcons; on the competition front I had competed at international level for Great Britian at Three World and Two European championships before retiring in 1999. More importantly I had married and now had two Beautiful daughters Paris and Shannon. The marriage didn’t end well and by 2001 I was divorced. The divorce itself was an unpleasant period in my life and not one I shall discuss here. Lets just say that at the end of it I found myself reborn with the opportunity to start again from nothing.
Clash of the Titans Champions
Reuters Fleet Street, London
1995 IAKSA World Championships Ottawa, Canada
Reuters Times Square, New York
TVIL Champions 2006-07
Thirty Something
My thirties have been a very full ten years. Lots of travel, new skills, new hobbies and a whole lot of fun. Upon leaving Reuters I used my severance package to study for my MCSE at a 10 day boot camp. 13 exams later I was the only one of 20 who passed every exam first time. Only two of us actually qualified. Although I didn’t go back into computing I found real use for my newly acquired skills in IT networks and security.
Now living with my girlfriend of four years Su, my next big adventure was to go into business with the family. In 2004 we acquired a Craft Bakery. This meant getting to grips with employment law, health and safety, food hygiene as well as learning to use SAGE accounts and Payroll. To top it off I realised that the biggest risk to this enterprise was that we had no knowledge of the baking process and therefore our business was reliant upon our staff. Being a control freak this was not a position I was happy with so Su and I spent the first 12 months hands on in the bakery apprenticed to our Master Baker. By the end of our first year I had learnt all of the baking and how to make dough & pastry products. Su had focussed on the confectionary and was now finishing all of the cakes and learning the craft of celebration cakes. We were now in a position where we could run the bakery on our own.
In 2005 Su and I married in Hawaii, two years later our son Cassius Jefferson Mitchell arrived. Since that time I have rebranded the Fighting Falcons and focussed on following my dream of teaching Martial Arts as a full time occupation and not just as a hobby. Su has started on a PGCE.
Cassius is now four years old and training in the Martial Arts just like his daddy. Paris now lives with me and I have extended the house to build a fourth bedroom for her. Shannon still lives with her mum but comes round to visit when her busy teenage schedule allows.
December 28th, 2007
Shannon Bonita
Paris Katelyn
Hobbies & Stuff
The geek is strong in this one and so I have used my MCSE to setup networks at both my home and at the Bakery. Both the Fighting Falcons and the Village Bakery have their own websites and the arrival of facebook and twitter has just served to encourage my activity on the IT and Digital Photographt side of things....much to the annoyance of my now wife Su.
On the more active side of things Su and I snowboard and we both have our PADI Advanced Diver qualifications which enables us to enjoy the delights of the sea whenever we are on holiday. We don’t dive in the UK, too cold.
Hawaii 2005
Forties and the Future
Back in 2008 I came out of retirement...again...and took our team to the Irish Open. In 2009 we travelled to the New England Open and in 2010 I won the WAKO British Title and a Bronze at the WAKO European Championships. In 2011 the Fighting Falcons moved into a new full time club and my students and myself have fought in both the WKA and WAKO National teams. 2011 proved to be a hugely successful year with WAKO, WKA and ISKA national titles for the Falcons and voted the Andover Sports Awards, 2011 Sports Team of the Year.
This year we have 10 fighters qualified for the 2012 WKA World Championships and another 9 going to the ISKA World Championships. The team has won a total of 19 National Titles and are looking to go that next step later in the year at both World Championships. On a personal front I am now part of the coaching team for both the WKA and ISKA England Teams.
The future looks bright. Su hopes to be a newly qualified teacher by the end of the year. I aim to reach 100 students at the club and will be looking to move to larger premises. We will be travelling to various internationals as well as being competitively active on the domestic front.
At 44 this may well be my last year in competition....although I have said that before. Either way I will continue coaching and will look to take our team to ever higher levels of achievement.
Snowboarding in France
2011 Team Falcons
