I started Taekwondo when I was in Grade 1 in February 2018. My friend Kevin invited me to his Taekwondo class, which I am thankful to him. I found Taekwondo interesting and exciting kicking the mitt on my first class, but worried that I may not be able to do well.
I started Taekwondo with two classes weekly. There is different focus each week, such as, sparring, poomsae, self-defence and board breaking. My favourite is definitely sparring!
Then, I have 4 classes weekly when I joined the warrior team. Training is hard work, but I am happy that I am progressing. I’ve learnt many sparring techniques which I am still trying to perfect them all. I love sparring with Master Bryanna and Master Benecia during warrior trainings.
I was thrilled when I won a silver medal in my first sparring competition at the Victoria 2019 Winter Sparring. I am delighted with my performance. This was a memorable medal because it was my first taekwondo competition medal!
It was a challenging 2020 last year due to COVID-19. We had our classes online and was especially challenging during poomsae lessons. I had one on one poomsae lessons with Master Brian and Master Bryanna when the lockdown was eased. These lessons helped me to correct my techniques, grew more interests in poomsae and I took the challenge to compete in my first poomsae competition at Mooto Gold Coast.
It has been an amazing journey for me over these past 3 years. Thank you, Master Brian, Master Joyce, Master Bryanna and Master Benecia for your guidance, patience and encouragement in my Taekwondo journey.
Master Brian, thank you for the interesting classes showing us the practical side of self-defence and poomsae so that we can appreciate and use in real life, and also for teaching me that sparring requires thinking and not just about kicking fast or kicking hard.
Master Joyce, thank you for improving on details of my stances, blocks, strikes and kicks especially during poomsae lessons. I appreciate all the nice photos you took, and sending emails to me reminding me of the upcoming events.
Master Bryanna, thank you for being patient with me as sometimes I may behave silly during classes and also in explaining to me whenever I don’t understand. I also appreciate you massaging my shoulder to keep me relax before going into a match and helping me on pattern 8, Koryo pair and team poomsae.
Master Benecia, thank you for pushing me to work harder during warrior training. I appreciate you rubbing where I got hurt and applying bandage on my blisters during training. Also, thank you for helping me on patterns 6 and 7.
Taekwondo teaches me to never give up easily in life, and whatever hard work you put in will be rewarded. It has been a fulfilling and rewarding journey for me. I hope to continue this journey with all my Masters and teammates and continue having fun and hard work during our classes and time together!
