February 14, 2026

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Surprise party for ex-martial arts instructor’s 70th birthday

A POPULAR former martial arts instructor who thought he was filling for a class was instead given a surprise birthday party.

Baek Ho taekwondo club held a special demonstration for the former leader Master Bryan Whiley to mark his 70th birthday.

The club trains every Saturday at Teesdale Leisure Centre, in Barnard castle.

Instructor Jennie Lee said: “I surprised Master Bryan by asking him to come along and cover my Taekwondo class but little did he know that we were going to put on a surprise Taekwondo demonstration. The demonstration included all students from white belts through to back belts and consisted of basic technique, poomse, sparring and breaking wood.”

Club members also put on a buffet and student Karl Gibson and his partner special cakes to mark the occasion.