Tae Kwon Do students earn new belts

Tae Kwon Do pupils traded in their old belts for new ones after being tested by Master Dwayne Russell from Stephenville at Centre Educatif L'Envol in Labrador City, June 11.

The eighteen students from Labrador Tae Kwon Do earned coveted belts including: six yellow, two green stripe, four green, one blue stripe and five blue.

All the main blocks and kicks were tested, said Harry Cormier, Labrador Tae Kwon Do president and teacher, adding that students showed progress.

"During the fighting we look for how do they apply the techniques, like kicks, that they learned throughout the year," he explained. "We don't want them to throw one kick all the time, we want to make sure they're using two legs."

According to Master Russell, who visited Labrador West for the first time, the group he tested had a really good grasp of the basics.

"What I've seen is that the ones in training are enjoying it," he said, "And seems like they're going to stick with it for a while, hopefully, and bring something out of it."

Coming from a large family with 12 siblings, Russell said Tae Kwon Do kept him away from the streets and on the right track.

He excelled at the martial art, even skipping a belt at one point, but he expressed students shouldn't take things for granted because, even if they are blessed with talent, there's always someone who could teach them something new.

"Tae Kwn Do's a sport where you always need to work on something," said Cormier. "You're always learning. Even myself as a fourth dan black belt, there's always room to learn something. If it's not a new technique, there's coaching involved, how to referee, how to judge."

He said the Number One thing he tries to teach at his school - to students going up through the ranks - is respect.

Cormier said he also insists students make education their Number One priority.

"At the end of every class we say 'have a good night', but most importantly, 'don't forget your homework'," he added.

In addition, he hopes to pass on other qualities like perseverance and modesty.

Furthermore, he said his program's the same whether his students are four years old or 50.

Ultimately, he explained, Tae Kwon Do is a way of life and everybody has a different story and way of doing things.