Tae Kwon Do

TWO Collie Tae Kwon Do competitors were awarded black belts recently.

Bailey Moloney, 9, and Jayme-Lee Smith, 12, got their belts after participating in a grading in Perth.

In Tae Kwon Do, a black belt signifies seniority.

Both competitors are trained by Brad Emmett at Eclipse Studios.

Moloney and Smith said the grading went for about an hour and a half.

“In that hour we did four different patterns, kicks, self defence, one-step counter-attacks, two-step counter attacks, four rounds of sparring, four rounds of hand sparring, then we had to break two different wooden boards with two different kicks,” they said.

Moloney started Tae Kwon Do in the Little Dragons program when he was three years old.

“The main thing I enjoy about Tae Kwon Do is sparring because you get to do lots of kicks and it is more entertaining. Plus you get more cheers from the audience. I like using back kicks and jump reverse kicks,” he said.

Although she started Tae Kwon Do only three years ago, Smith has quickly advanced.

“I really enjoy participating in competitions because it is a chance to see where I am at compared with others and it gives me an idea of what I need to improve on,” she said.

Smith said she also enjoys back kicks because they are valuable in a competition.

“They are worth two points instead of one and they also weaken the opponent. But you have to have the right timing for them to work.”

Smith trains five nights a week, while Moloney has had to drop back to four nights a week because of a busy schedule.

“On Mondays and Wednesdays we train for our next grading, do patterns and train for upcoming competitions. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we practice patterns, train for gradings and do sparring,” they said.

Both Moloney and Smith have been busy this year competing around the globe.

They competed in the Brisbane Nationals, the Australian Open and the Malaysian Open with impressive results in all.

Smith and Moloney received bronze for their pairs pattern and Smith got gold in creative patterns and sparring at the Brisbane Nationals.

Moloney placed third in the sparring at the Malaysian Open, first in individual patterns, first in pairs with Smith and second in sparring in the 26-40kg weight division at the Australian Open.

Smith got gold in individual pairs, bronze in creative patterns and gold in two fights at her first black belt tournament at the Australian Open.

Both will try for their second dan next year.