Martial artists from one of Cochrane’s premier Taekwon-Do dojangs proved their skills are among the best from around the country after bringing home nine medals from the 2023 CTFI National Taekwon-do Championships, held May 6 and 7 in Vernon, B.C.
Head coach for Trinity Taekwon-Do, Cameron Macdonald, said a team consisting of six colour belts, two black belts, and two umpires (Brenda Peacock and Tim Wuthrich) took part in the national tournament, which hosted approximately 600 competitors from across Canada.
Colour belts Nate Baker, Lex Baker, Kye Bullock, Norah Macdonald, and Max Macdonald each took home a bronze in sparring, with Nate and Lex taking home another bronze in the pattern events.
Black belts Josh Wuthrich and Nathan Peacock also competed in Vernon, with Peacock winning gold in sparring.
A standout from the event involved a group of three green-belt athletes who ended up in the same division.
“They all worked very hard, and one of the standouts, McKinnon Draper, went all the way to the gold-medal match and ended up coming home with silver, so that was pretty exciting,” Macdonald said.
Cochranite and black-belt Nathan Peacock secured gold in adult men’s sparring after passing the single-elimination bracket and going undefeated in the semi-finals.
“Mr. Peacock did phenomenal and in the round-robin, he beat all three other competitors and it was just really good,” Macdonald said. “Each round is a two-minute round, so it ended up being a total of pretty much 20 minutes of continuous sparring.”
In addition to securing the gold, every second year, the CTFI tournament also serves as a qualifier for athletes to have the chance to be part of Canada's national Taekwon-Do team.
“So, head coaches from Team Canada were scouting athletes throughout the weekend, and Mr. Peacock was scouted by the coaches and invited to the training camp that will take place at early June in Regina, to do the formal selections for the team that would go represent Canada at the upcoming World Championships in Finland this September,” Macdonald said.
Peacock said participating in national tournaments is never easy. Although he took home the gold, he doesn’t consider reaching the top spot on the podium to be an end-goal, and believes there’s always more to do.
“There’s always more to improve, and despite having all of these experiences and whatnot, there’s always something to take back,” Peacock said. “Just because I came back with a gold doesn’t mean I’m perfect.
“It so just happened that this time I took home the gold, and I loved it,” he added. “But the fact of the matter is that there’s some guys who want to take that from me, so I have to keep improving because [otherwise] they will.”
Alongside his medal, Peacock shared his thoughts on being considered for a spot on Canada's national Taekwon-Do team.
“I’d be lying if I said it’s not a lot of pressure,” he said. “It’s a huge honour to be even considered for the national team to represent Canada on the international level.
“It’s gratifying. At this point, it’s been 17 years of my life that I dedicated to this sport, and then it’s finally hit a point where people can see that and it makes me proud and extremely thankful for all those who spend their time to help me train and improve.”
He would also like to extend his utmost thanks to head coach, Macdonald, for being his instructor.
“He’s definitely the one who’s set me on that path, and I’m eternally grateful for that,” he said.
Peacock said he is proud to be a martial artist and to represent Cochrane. He aims to stay true to the tenants of the student oath that is recited before every class at Trinity Taekwon-Do.
“The first oath is that we shall observe the tenants of Taekwon-Do, those being courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, and indomitable spirit,” he said. “As a martial artist, I would say that, that alone is the most important aspect in the sport and in the martial art.
“If not, then it’s just mindless fighting.”
Macdonald is proud of all members of the Trinity Taekwon-Do team and of Peacock’s achievements at the CTFI tournament.
“It’s not all about winning, but a lot of martial arts is about having the right character and right values,” he said. “I think Nathan is just a really good example of the values of martial arts and Taekwon-Do in particular.
“He’s a very humble winner and I think that will probably take him farther in life than Taekwon-Do ever will.”
Although Trinity tends to wind down for the summer months, Macdonald said it is possible for Peacock to represent Canada at the international stage in the World Championships in September. The next planned tournament Trinity will appear at is the Western Canadian Championships, taking place in November.
