MEMBERS of Salamander Bay’s very own Him Do Tae Kwon Do Academy travelled to the Gold Coast recently to compete in the Pan Pacific Masters Games looking to bring home a swag of medals.

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Well, they did a bit more than that.

At the conclusion of the two-day tournament, the small contingent of seven had amassed an astonishing 49 medals between them.

“This is the most medals that Him Do Tae Kwon Do Academy has won in all our years of competition,” Master Ronald Bergan told News Of The Area.

The minimum age requirement for the Pan Pacific Masters Games is 30 years of age, while this tournament had over 130 competitors, including international competitors, with one competing at the age of 85, proving that it is never too late to try something new.

And going off the many events on offer, there is no lack of choice when deciding what that something new could be.

“We competed in many different events, be it in team, pairs or individual events that included Poomsae or Patterns, Board breaking power and technical breaking, Self Defence and Individual Sparring while I competed in 2 on 2 sparring. That was full on action,” Master Ronald Bergan said.

It was fair to say that the entire team was exhausted after the non-stop tournament, but it was their collective work ethic and discipline to training that enabled the team to be as successful as they were.

“We trained in the morning classes on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday with additional tournament training class on the Friday night as well as some Saturday classes to bring their fitness and skill levels up for competition.”

“I’m proud to say that all the hard work paid off,” Master Ronald Bergan said.

The Him Do Tae Kwon Do Academy has well and truly finished the year with a bang with the Pan Pacific Masters Games being the final event for the 2018 competition season.

The students of the Academy will now focus on their gradings in mid-December.

By Rachael VAUGHAN