The youngest athletes from Trinity Taekwon-do got an opportunity to show off their skills early in the month (December 2) in Crossfield.

The club sent 18 junior athletes, ages 4-7, from Cochrane and Water Valley to compete in the annual event the Rising Sun Shadow Warrior Invitational. Cameron Macdonald,  founder and head instructor of Trinity Taekwondo Cochrane, says it is a smaller tournament exclusive to the Lil Kickers. "It's a cool one because it's one of the only two tournaments this age group can participate in, in the training year." 

Macdonald shares there was definitely a range of abilities and confidence."We do our best to encourage those that need encouragement and help those that get stuck, nervous or shy. It is a good learning experience for this age group for sure." 

Getting children into martial arts at a young age has many benefits, says Macdonald. Besides giving children a physical outlet to burn off excess energy, other components of martial arts are also taught. "Kids at that age are learning their first lessons on discipline, paying attention, learning from another person and so it is a really good program for starting out those skillsets. The elements of discipline and respect are foundational for most martial arts and in Taekwon-do, we have five principals that all students learn those are courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, and indomitable spirit; those are the core values and start as young as age four "

There is an opportunity for more Lil Kickers to join Trinity Taekwon-do in January, and information can be found here. Trinity continues to see strong growth and Macdonald shares they enjoy what they do. "We are a fun place for people to come and train and do something unique, that has always served us well."

Older Trinity athletes enjoy a more relaxed December but gear back up strong in January as they train for a tournament in March hosted in Bearspaw followed by Western Canadian Championships in April.