The Award Sections:
Physical

"To encourage participation in Physical Recreation and improvement of performance".*

Once again you can choose to spend either 6 or 12 months on this section depending on how long you want to take on the Skills section. A further 6 months must then be completed at either this section if you choose to spend 12 months on it or on the Service section.

Effort and improvement must be shown over time and progress made with increasing knowledge of the recreational activity. Throughout your chosen recreation you will be assessed on the following; application, technique, skill, tactics, fitness, rules and safety. There are many recreations to choose from and you do not have to be necessarily sporty to enjoy this section. For the ardent sports fans you could choose athletics, football, cricket, rugby or the more unusual sports such as rock climbing, parachuting or surfing.

For the less sporty minded, you could choose archery, dancing, yoga, bowls, ice skating or even carriage driving! For a complete list of the options, see the Award Handbook, alternatively go to www.theaward.org.

Personal achievement is a strong benefit to completing this section as well as raising your self-esteem, responding to a challenge, discovering new abilities and enjoying improved fitness.

*Quotation and section benefits from The Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award entrance pack.

Case Study - Amanda

As with the Residential, Skills and Volunteering sections, participants can either choose a new venture or develop an existing one. Amanda chose to become more involved in a sport she is passionate about for her Physical section.

"For the physical section of the Duke of Edinburgh Award I chose a Korean Martial art. This martial art is called Kook Sool Won. Kook Sool Won has countless techniques derived from the three branches of traditional Korean martial arts, (SahDoh MuSool, BoolKyo MuSool, and KoongJoong MuSool).

Kook Sool Won has been actively promoted worldwide by the World Kook Sool Association and it is also recognised in the martial arts community as one of the most effective and comprehensive Systems of traditional martial arts in existence today. This was a relatively new sport for me and I have now been participating for around 10 months. In this 10 months I have learnt all the basic skills and have progressed to a yellow belt with a blue stripe. This martial art club has a variety of people that attend and is suited to many age groups. The instructors are friendly and very supportive and overall this is enjoyable and challenging."