Fifth-degree black belt Cameron MacDonald and 18 of his students from Trinity Taekwon-Do will compete against as many as 350 athletes at the 2017 Alberta International Taekwon-Do Provincial Championships this weekend in Edmonton.
“Little Kickers” as young as five will participate, along with athletes up to adults in pattern and sparring, with some black belts also competing in board-breaking events, said MacDonald.
“We’ve just been gearing up some of our classes a little more toward competition … honing in on people’s patterns, practising board breaking over and over,” he said.
MacDonald said travelling to competitions like the ITF provincials is healthy for the camaraderie of the club, since the sport is primarily an individual one.
“We try and generate a team spirit for it,” he said. “Usually we do a get-together either up at the event or once we get home – a dinner or something – to try to all hang out and talk about the experiences … We sit together and hang out together and make it a team atmosphere.”
Trinity will also compete at the ITF nationals in June.
