Sport
11 May, 2026
Black belt for Davies
DIMBULAH’s Xtrheem Taekwondo held its first grading night for the year recently, which saw Owen Davies earn his promotion to 1st Dan Black Belt.
Davies is a well-known member of the Dimbulah community, a local property owner, builder of his own homestead, a pilot, a bushman, an on-foot adventurer to many remote areas of Australia, and the published author of two books.
Xtrheem Taekwondo Master Instructor Phil Quayle, who has been training Dimbulah students twice a week for the past 33 years, was delighted to promote one of his students to black belt.
“At age 69, Owen demonstrates that age is no barrier to anyone who is focused and prepared to put in the work required to achieve a 1st Dan Black Belt in the martial art of Taekwondo,” he said.
“Owen has trained consistently over several years and conditioned his body and mind to achieve the 10 levels of proficiency (coloured belts in the martial art) on his journey to the ultimate goal of black belt in Taekwondo.
“On grading night Owen demonstrated his proficiency, performing 1st grade/black tip pattern Choong-Moo, which comprises of 30 individual dynamic movements followed by several rounds of high energy free-sparring with various opponents.
“He also showed his effective self-defence ability, successfully breaking a total of 10 timber boards on the first attempt with front kick (2 boards), turning kick (2 boards), side kick (2 boards), shoulder level forearm smash (2 boards) and downward palm hand (2 boards).
Davies is now the 66th student to achieve black belt level at the Dimbulah Taekwondo Training Centre.
“This is a huge achievement for a small rural town like Dimbulah, with a population of just a thousand residents,” Quayle said.
“Congratulations to all students who attended gradings on the night and achieved the next level in the art of Xtrheem Taekwondo. It’s a great honour to be Dimbulah Centre’s Taekwondo Master Instructor and grading examiner.”
