United Taekwondo held its first Tamworth Regional Grade Test for 2018 on Saturday, March 3 at the Carinya Christian School Sports Hall.
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More than 50 students of all ages ranging from four years to 50 plus years of age from the four United Taekwondo schools in the Tamworth region tested for their next colour belt ranking on their journey to black belt.
Master Paul Mitchell, 6th degree black belt and founder of United Taekwondo from Sydney made his way to Tamworth to conduct the grade testing. Master Paul’s vision is to inspire people to have confidence in themselves through self-belief and not physical contact.
Master Paul and United Taekwondo’s motto is to “Build people, not fighters”.
This vision is carried out by the Tamworth Regional Branch Instructors; Instructor David at Oxley Vale, Instructor Jarrad at Nemingha, Instructor Larissa at Calala and Instructor Leanne at West Tamworth. United Taekwondo also has Instructor Shane at Gunnedah and Manilla.
"The great thing about being a part of the United Taekwondo family is that we are united. When joining United Taekwondo at the location nearest to you, you are also welcome train at any of the other branches at no extra fee, meaning you can train five days a week if you wish," Instructor David said.
Through my Taekwondo training, I started to feel more confident within myself and learnt self-control and not to freeze or panic when confronted by bullies thus not becoming an easy target.
"Each of the United Taekwondo Instructors have their own unique styles and abilities and are more than happy to share this knowledge with their students."
Taekwondo is a martial art with its origins from Korea. Taekwondo translates to English as “the way of the foot and fist”.
It is a dynamic martial art with many benefits to the practitioner. It encourages physical activity where you train the components of fitness such as strength, balance, flexibility and co-ordination, as well as cardiovascular fitness.
Taekwondo can increase your self-esteem and confidence, it fosters self-discipline and instils respect. Though Taekwondo can be seen as an individual sport, students also learn team work as they train together assisting each other as training partners. In Taekwondo you also learn self-defence and it encourages a non-violent resolution to a conflict situation.
Instructor David from the Oxley Vale Branch has been studying Taekwondo for 35 years.
“I first started training when I was 16 years old and living in a bad area of Sydney,” Instructor David said.
“I started learning Taekwondo to protect myself. Through my Taekwondo training, I started to feel more confident within myself and learnt self-control and not to freeze or panic when confronted by bullies thus not becoming an easy target.
“I could stay focused and calm, and just let any bully’s teasing go, and leave the situation.”
Taekwondo, as well as being a traditional martial art, is also now an exciting Olympic sport. For those who do enjoy competing, United Taekwondo holds inter-branch competitions with non-contact sparring where the emphasis is self-control and focusing on your techniques. There pattern competitions where you display your pattern or formwork that is learnt for each coloured belt.
The next United Taekwondo Regional Tournament will be held in Muswellbrook on Saturday, March 24.
If you are interested in learning taekwondo, Master Paul can be contacted on 0421-710-945, email; unitedtaekwondo@optusnet.com.au or visit www.unitedtaekwondo.com.au/ to find your nearest branch.