ST. PETERS--Members of the King Yen Taekwondo will test their, strength, endurance, flexibility and form as they participate in the school’s First Quarter Belt Examination Saturday.
You do not sit a taekwondo examination. You run, break wood, demonstrate how to punch, kick and block attacks and at the higher levels spar.
Testing begins at 9:00am with white belt students hoping to earn their first stripe, yellow, at the Hillside Christian School Gym in St. Peters. The black belts take to the mat at 6:00pm and finish at 7:30pm.
The examinations will be conducted under the watchful eye of Grandmaster Theo Liu in accordance with World Taekwondo Federation guidelines.
Students start as white belts, move up to one yellow stripe and then two before promotion to yellow belt.
Yellow belts earn a green stripe before promotion to Green. Green belts earn a blue stripe and then move up to blue. Blue belts earn a red stripe and then get promoted to Red, while the red earn a black stripe and eventually pass the requirements for a black belt.
“This is yet another historic moment foe taekwondo on St. Maarten said the Grandmaster. “Not only have the students been training very hard to improve their taekwondo and their next stripe or belt, but many are also preparing for our next international competition.
The King Yen School will send out the National Team to represent St. Maarten at the 019 Global Open International Taekwondo Open Championship in North Carolina in May.
Last year The King Yen school was honoured with a Brown pelican award as Best overall team on St. Maarten. In March the St. Maarten athletes under Grandmaster Liu were named Best International Team at the Puerto Rico Taekwondo Open.
