Medicine Hat taekwondo club hones discipline and confidence ahead of weekend tournament

Coach and 3rd degree black-belt Jaret Darley said that the sport teaches more than just self-defense.

“You can teach anyone how to kick or punch. It takes a lot of discipline,” Darley said.

It depends how you think. If you think I can’t do it, well then unfortunately you’re not going to be able to do it, but if you think you can and have that mindset with the discipline, you’re going to be able to achieve it,” he added.

“We can take a white-belt and give them a black-belt, but if they don’t have that ability of thinking that they can be a black-belt, then they might not be able to do it. I want to see everyone have that tenacity and have them say, like I can do it, I can be a black-belt,” he said.

When it comes to martial arts, some may be confused about the some of the major differences.

Second-degree black-belt Ryan Ruwsck is confident he’ll perform well at the tournament and took time to explain some key differences between the sports.

“Taekwondo is more acrobatic than karate and stuff and also you use your legs a lot more. Hands are a back-up. With karate, it’s hands that are the main thing, legs is the back-up. So basically you use your legs more, it’s more acrobatic and other stuff like that,” Ruwsck said.

Fellow second-degree black-belt Max Glasgo says more people should try Taekwondo and that’s it’s helped him build his confidence.

“Like I said before, it’s good discipline, it’s fun, you know you can self-defense so if someone ever tries to attack you, you can defend yourself,” Glasgo said.

Conor Whelpley, a first-degree black-belt, achieved his rank in roughly 12 months and says he expects his second degree in the next three months. For Whelpley, part of the attraction is what the sport and peers have to offer.

“It teaches me discipline and I get to learn how to defend myself and I’m getting to make some more friends,” Conor said.

Macallan Whelpley, Conor’s older brother, is a second-degree black-belt and credits his coach for helping him gain confidence and stand up to bullies.

“He’s nice. He helps us, takes his time out of his job to help us train us for our tournament,” Macallan said.

Darley said that, regardless of the outcome, he’s proud of his team and believes their tenacity will be shown throughout the tournament.

“Words cannot describe enough. They put in hard work, determination and seeing them progress through the ranks and all that and where they’ve been even 3 months ago let’s say for example, they’ve increased so much and even the determination in them,” Darley said.

“I think Connor has some eye on gold right now, so I think he has something got some boys going really hard, Connor, Mac, Max and Ryan, I think they’re going to do really well at this tournament coming up,” he said.

Darley says he hopes a large turnout happens for the tournament to help the sport gain more popularity in the province.

After this tournament and further training, all black-belts are looking to earn their next degree as they set their sights towards the national level.

by Adrian St.Onge

Medicine Hat taekwondo club hones discipline and confidence ahead of weekend tournament

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