At their first tournament of their competitive season, Cochrane’s Trinity Taekwon-Do dojang hopes to keep their momentum going into the new year, following their performance at the Western Canadian Championships that took place in Calgary on Nov. 29 and 30.
Head instructor for Trinity Taekwon-Do, Cameron Macdonald, explained that this is usually the first tournament of their competitive season, which generally kicks off in fall.
“The event had 427 colour belts and black belts competing in four different events,” he explained. “We had from our Cochrane and Water Valley clubs, 17 competitors, three coaches, and five full-time umpires.”
From the two days of competition, Macdonald said the athletes secured five gold medals, seven silver medals, and 11 bronze medals. He is proud of their performances, adding that his students showcased their skills.
“We’re really happy with the results, and we had some people competing for the first time, which is always cool,” he said. “And obviously some of our regulars are our avid competitors, so we had a wide range of experience at this event.”
Looking to the new year, Macdonald said their next series of competitions is already lined up. With a busy year ahead of them, he looks forward to see his budding students grow in the realm of competitive Taekwon-Do.
“I think going forward, we are going to have a good turn out going into the new year,” he said. “We use our Trinity in-house tournament to give the new students a bit of perspective, because just going to the Westerns is a big undertaking. So, kudos to those that did it.”
Following their tournament in February, he adds that his athletes will be gearing up for the national competition in Quebec. But before that, he outlines that they are gearing up for the provincial competition in Airdrie, which is set for April.
“Airdrie will host the provincials, and I suspect we’ll have a large team because we’ll have had several months to prepare,” Macdonald said.
He hopes his athletes keeps this competitive momentum going into the new year. He believes that even when they’re off the mat, that these tournaments translate into life skills that his students can carry into the future.
“We highlight a life skill every month and for November that skill was competition, and all the good and positive things we can learn from ourselves in the form of competition,” he said. “And not just in Taekwon-Do. When things get easy, we aren’t growing, and to put ourselves in uncomfortable and unfamiliar situations, like a Taekwon-Do tournament really provides great personal growth.
“So, my message to my members going forward is to use these specialized events as seasons of growth.”
