Taekwondo schools prepare for provincials with training tournament

Mackintosh said the provincial tournament will be held Feb. 25 in Osler, and may see as many as 200 competitors entered. Many of the local clubs, he said, are getting together for similar training tournaments before heading to the biggest tournament in the province.

According to Mackintosh, it’s often the adult students who struggle most with their first experiences in a tournament setting. Because he did not take up the sport until age 36, Mackintosh said he was extremely nervous the first time he competed.

“I learned how to overcome it over the years of course, but I was a wreck,” he said with a laugh. “I was an adult and I didn’t want people to see me make mistakes and all that silly stuff.”

Wylie Antle, head instructor at Flying Dragons Academy of Taekwondo in Prince Albert, said four clubs were represented at yesterday’s tournament. In addition to hosts Flying Dragons, Antle said students visited from Willow Taekwondo in Prince Albert, Dragon Caoin Taekwondo in Osler and McDowell Taekwondo in Warman.

With Taekwondo, Antle said, things like age and physical abilities aren’t important.

“Taekwondo training can be for anybody,” he said, sporting his black belt proudly despite his own blindness. “It doesn’t matter about your physical limitations.”

Yesterday’s sparring competition was won by Hunter Monseler of Willow Taekwondo in the blue belts and up category, while Justin Martens of Flying Dragons took home the gold in black belt pattern demonstration.

Taylor MacPherson is paNOW’s court reporter and weekend editor. He can be reached at Taylor.MacPherson@jpbg.ca or tweet him @tmacphersonnews.

by Taylor MacPherson

Taekwondo schools prepare for provincials with training tournament

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