Tae Kwon-Do students head to Spain for World Championships
Gena Paton photo
MACKENZIE FRANCOEUR
Elk Valley Herald Staff
On October 20th Ko-otenay Tae Kwon–Do will proudly be sending two students, Liam Arbuckle and Brett Carter, to the Tae Kwon-Do World Championships in Benidorm, Spain. The two black belts, Liam Arbuckle from Crowsnest Pass and Brett Carter from Cranbrook, will be flying to Spain to take part in the international competition that runs for 4 days. The boys will be accompanied by a parent and their Tae Kwon- Do coach, Master Saran.
Both Liam and Brett competed in Nationals, held in Quebec City in May; this is where they qualified for a place on the Canadian Team. Their time and commitment has been extensive. They have travelled to many tournaments in the past 2 years in order to gain the valuable experience needed to compete at their very best. These tournaments include the Pan Americans in Trois Riviers Quebec, Northern Provincials in Prince George, and others in Kamloops, Calgary and Lethbridge . Liam and Brett, along with other students from Kootenay, travelled to Brighton, England last October to compete in the World Cup.
The Canadian team is made up of two fighters from each weight class division; Liam Arbuckle qualified in first place and is in the Micro weight class and Brett Carter placed second in the Special Techniques Breaking.
It is unknown how many rounds of sparring and breaking they will compete in while in Spain; as long as they keep winning their rounds they will continue to compete. The boys will have a mandatory “weigh-in” when they arrive in Spain.
They must be in the weight category they are registered for or they will be disqualified. Once the weigh-in is complete there will be several days of training. Their results will be posted immediately following each round of the competition.
Over the past several months Master Saran has been holding special training sessions for Liam and Brett in order to keep them at their peak performance level and ready to compete in a world class competition.
“I am so excited to be in this competition, and it is an amazing opportunity for me to be able to go to Spain. It has been a lot of hard work, but I think it is well worth it”, commented Liam.
Liam has received support from several local businesses and service clubs including: Coleman Remedy’s Rx, the Knights of Columbus, the Blairmore Lion’s Club and Crowsnest Consolidated High school. Liam and his family would like to thank everyone for their support.
Also, Liam and Brett’s Tae Kwon –Do family has held a few fundraisers to help the boys on their way.
"This is the special part of our club; all of the students ban together to help the others. We don’t have to ask, everyone just comes out helps". says Coach Gena Paton.
If you see the boys out and about, wish them Good Luck.
