Sport
4 April, 2022
Covid won’t knock taekwondo down
BOARDS were broken and heights were reached at Dimbulah recently with students of Xtrheem Taekwondo participating in their first grading of 2022.
Age is certainly no barrier when it comes to training in the Martial Art of Xtrheem Taekwondo and this fact was clearly evident with the promotion of high profile Dimbulah community member, author, bushman and business owner Owen Davies.
Davies loves a challenge and has lived a very exciting life, travelling all over Australia trekking and living in the remote outback.
Owen has been training in Xtrheem Taekwondo for the past couple of years and he was promoted to second grade brown belt on 28 March by Master Instructor Phil Quayle.
Owen displays great perseverance and humility in his quest towards achieving a martial arts black belt.
When Owen originally started training it was to improve his fitness, flexibility, co-ordination, and focus, however it wasn’t long before he recognized other benefits of training and is now a self-confessed advocate of the art, focused on achieving a Black Belt in his senior years.
Over the past two years, the Covid outbreak and resulting lock downs have not been helpful in allowing community health and fitness activities, general well-being and community cohesiveness.
“Covid has been extremely destructive in that regard,” Xtrheem Taekwondo secretary and instructor Gaye Taylor said.
“Dimbulah has an impressive record of 46 years of Taekwondo training in the Dimbulah Town Hall and we have lost several members who stopped training due to fear and Covid hype.
“We are certainly not going to give into Covid and its negativities and shut the doors on the Dimbulah training centre due to lack of training students at this time.”
During the past two years there have been occasions where members of Xtrheem Taekwondo have had to prop up the training centre financially with their own money as running costs such as cleaning, rent and insurance outweighed any income.
“We stoically believe that regular training in Martial Arts has many health benefits and our determination to always move forward and never give up is an important life skill that we have learnt over time and one we continue to practise,” Ms Taylor said.
“Training and teaching members of our community is a huge catalyst of why we continue to stay open.”
Youngsters like seven-year-old Mac Sivyer are another example of why the club won’t give up.
Mac was promoted to sixth grade green belt on the night due to his focus and excellence in technique with his display of breaking a timber board with his knife hand strike.
Mac’s tender age and smaller stature does not hold him back, he always listens attentively to instruction and as a result continually improves.
Nothing daunts him and watching him grow in confidence and ability is truly inspiring to everyone in the class.
