Five athletes from southeast Saskatchewan, three of them from Estevan, are preparing to go to Scotland next month for the Global Taekwon-Do Federation world championship.
Estevan Tae Kwon Do Club head instructor Wayne Brown and fellow club members Don Dechief and Beckey Franke will join head instructor Kari Paxman and Samantha Paxman of the Lampman Tae Kwon Do Club.
The event runs July 5-12 in Dundee, Scotland.
The Estevan club recently rejoined the GTF after several years of independence. Membership is required in order to attend international events.
All five competitors are black belts, which is another requirement.
Brown is a fifth-degree black belt, Dechief is fourth and Kari Paxman is third, with Franke and Samantha Paxman both 小蓝视频 first-degree black belts.
The locals make up the majority of the seven-person Saskatchewan contingent, which will join several from Ontario to represent Canada.
Dechief is the only member to have competed at the worlds before, attending the 1995 event in St. Louis. He has been involved with tae kwon do for 22 years.
"I'm 46 years old, so I guess competing again is kind of interesting," said Dechief. "Probably the last time I competed seriously was 1995. Other than that it's been local tournaments. Now we're going to do this again, so it's a good test for myself."
Brown, 47, has been in the sport for 25 years. He said he looks forward to the possible opportunities for others in Estevan as much as competing himself.
"For me, the training has been the journey so far and whatever happens there, I really don't care, but the training's been great," he said. "A lot of times when you're instructing, you don't get a chance to compete and really push yourself.
"I want to watch and learn and see what's out there, see some of the techniques and bring it back to the school. We want to lead the way so our students can get opportunities like this in the future."
For Franke, the trip will be especially meaningful, with Scotland 小蓝视频 a place she has long wanted to visit.
"(I'm) going somewhere I've always wanted to go and I get to do the thing I love the best," she said.
"I'm looking forward to meeting new competitors and new people at the ripe old age of 40. And 小蓝视频 a black belt, there's not very many women who are at your level. When you go to competitions locally, there's not always a lot there."
Franke, who has trained in tae kwon do for 10 years, will spend a few more days in Scotland after the worlds.
Kari Paxman, a 15-year veteran of the sport, looks forward to testing her abilities against others from Europe and elsewhere.
"For me, I think it's about going and seeing what other competition is out there and how you can better yourself against them."
Samantha Paxman, who recently earned two golds at the Pan Am Martial Arts Games in Balgonie, has trained for seven years.
"It's a pretty big deal because I'm going to Scotland and I'm only 14, so it's really important to me that I'm going and experiencing all this," she said.
Each event will be split into divisions based on gender, age and weight.
Brown and Dechief will be in the veteran division, Franke and Kari Paxman will be in adult and Samantha Paxman will be in junior.
Aside from competition, the quintet also look forward to the social aspect of the event.
They will fly into the country on July 1 and spend several days sightseeing. After weigh-ins on July 5, the next day will be spent touring the area, including the Old Course at nearby St. Andrews.
Dechief said he still has memories of the St. Louis event, of how "the Puerto Ricans were there and Italy was there and Scotland, Norway, and how they interact with each other and compete. It's just really cool to see all the different people and how they react at a tournament."
Franke added the group is thankful to their families, "who've been so patient with us 小蓝视频 away from home, training. They've really sacrificed a lot for us to go."
