Martinez Tribune The website of the Martinez Tribune.
A local Taekwondo competition team representing Dae Han Martial Arts Center in Martinez recently won four medals at the USA Taekwondo Grand Prix West held in Las Vegas. The team is coached by Master Christina Tam, a former member of the Peruvian National Taekwondo Team, Master Joon Tae Kim, Master Nadya Kim and countless other instructors.
Four members of the Dae Han team competed at the tournament. Elisa Kim, 8, took silver in her division, as did Victor Kim, 10, and Estella McGraw, 11. Jake Gonzales, 9, earned a bronze medal.
“It was fun to compete with my friends and cheer each other on. It felt great to have worked so hard in training and achieved something so amazing. It was definitely a lot of pressure, but I used that nervousness and turned it into power,” McGraw said.
Due to the pandemic, most in-person taekwondo competitions were cancelled for the past year. For many athletes, this meant taking a break from their training and participation in competitions. The coaches at Dae Han Martial Arts Center got creative; and found local, state, national and international competitions they could participate in virtually. Their ability to continue competitions during the pandemic allowed the athletes to continue to progress in their taekwondo training and conditioning.
The team members train up to six days a week to prepare for competitions and tournaments. In addition to the Grand Prix, these athletes have also medaled in the US Open, California State Championship, Summer of Poomsae and the Poomsae Lovers International Tournament in South Korea over the past year.
By participating in the USAT Grand Prix tournament, each athlete has qualified to compete in the USA Taekwondo National Championship in San Antonio August 4th-8th, the highest level of competition for Taekwondo athletes in the US. The team is looking forward to continuing their Taekwondo training and representing Dae Han Martial Arts Center at Nationals and other future tournaments.
