Harmony Taekwon-Do showed that age is no barrier and town size is no barricade to success as they brought home two gold medals, a silver and a bronze from the national championships held in recently in Calgary.
Fourteen-year-old Thomas Glanz competing in the blue belt heavyweight division and Fred Hudson, 54, in the heavyweight black belt, each took the top honours in their respective sparring categories. In addition, Hudson brought home the silver in patterns.
Not to be outdone, the club’s other contestant Benjamin Glanz took the bronze medal in the 12-year-old lightweight sparring division.
Hudson, who coaches the boys, was very pleased with the results.
“It was an exciting competition. I am extremely proud of Benjamin and Thomas. They both competed hard and showed excellent sportsmanship,” he said.
With close to 600 competitors, the contest was the largest national championship that the organization has hosted in many years as it was a qualifying event to make the national team that will represent Canada at the upcoming World Championships to be held in Germany.
First-place winners in the black belt junior and senior divisions automatically make the team while second-place finishers will be invited to a selection camp in Quebec to complete the team. Hudson said that neither he nor Glanz were eligible due to age restrictions.
He added that one club member who would have been a serious contender for national team status could not attend the nationals due to an injury.
