User:TKD-London/sandbox/Chris Telesford

LinkedIn ProfileChris Telesford was born on the 11 October 1980 with a eye sight condition called a bilateral coloboma of the optic disk with nystagmus.

Despite his visual impairment, Chris grew up in the East Ends Canning Town and was never treated any differently which lead to Chris needing to find ways to adapt in order to continue being treated no differently to his peers.

Chris first started training in Taekwondo and Kung Fu at the age of 3 years old and at the age of 16, focused on Taekwondo as he believes that '"when you have limited eye sight, keeping your opponent at a distance is the best tactic to implement as weapons are not always possible to see so, by focusing on Taekwondo, I know that my leg is going to be longer then an opponent's arm".

Chris is also a Para athlete for British Taekwondo and Team GB Taekwondo and is currently undefeated in his Para Poomsae category (P10 Visual Impairments). In addition to this, he is the only registered blind Taekwondo fighter in the world who fights against those who do not have any form of disability and wins.

In January 2020, Chris was featured in the international Magazines: The World of Martial Arts and is currently developing a TV production.