A LAZY Sunday morning is not for the students of
Shepparton’s Koryo Taekwondo Centre, many of whom
turned out in uniform last weekend for a rigorous round of
grading under the guise of head instructor, Sammy Rachele.
With tension, sweat, and the risk of getting kicked in
the face (Taekwondo is a martial art, after all), students
warmed up, practice sparred, and were put through their
paces under scrutiny.
Taekwondo, one of the most systematic and scientific
Korean traditional martial arts, teaches more than physical
fighting skills. It is considered a discipline that shows ways
of enhancing the spirit and life of its practitioners through
training the body and mind. Today, it has become a global
sport that has gained an international reputation, and
stands among the official games in the Olympics.
Rachele, who has been training in taekwondo for
nearly three decades, said later he was pleased with the
performance of the students in what has been a difficult
year. Training was shifted online for periods under
lockdowns.
“I pushed them pretty hard but they all came out at the end,” Rachele said of the near-five hour grading.
“They did a fantastic job, though. I’m very pleased with how it all went.”
