COMPETITORS from Beerwah travelled to Korea to compete in the Taekwondo Korean Open and to train with one of the best teams in the country.
San Training Centre owner Cameron Taylor competed alongside his wife Kasia and young black belt Charlie, and although none of them won their fights, they chalked it up as a great experience.
“It was really good we’d been in Korea for about two and a half weeks, we spent one week training with a professional team and one week of competing in the Korean Open,” he said.
Cameron and Kasia competed first against China and Korea over the first few days of their trip, followed by Charlie, competing for the first time overseas, towards the end of the week.
Another Taekwondo event was taking place as well, which is compulsory for Korean students to compete in, so Charlie’s division had no Koreans, automatically placing him in the finals.
Following the competition they were able to train with one of the best Korean Taekwondo teams for a week.
“The training was really excellent, the team just won the national championships last week after we left so it was pretty nice to be there in prep mode for their competition,” Cameron said.
“We were actually super lucky to go there, I think we were the first foreign team to be allowed to train with them.
“It was a challenge for us and nice to be one of the first teams there, but they are always super friendly, by the end we were getting uniforms, belts and gifts, so it was a great experience for us.”
Cameron said the best thing about the training, was showing some of the younger students the standard of excellence needed to succeed in Taekwondo.
“I think the real benefit for the team was how hard the best people in the world are working so it just kind of gives you a benchmark for these guys,” he said.