ST. PETERS--Two adult and 18 youth athletes have passed their quarter examinations to earn a new belt at the King Yen Taekwondo school held in the Helmich Snijiders Hillside Christian School gym on Saturday.
White belt - One yellow stripe
Earning their first promotion a White belt with One yellow stripe are Philip Chang Sing Pang and Duran
Persaud.
White belt - Two yellow stripes
Jacuro Flanders, Kimar Persaud and Roeniel Sarabdjitsingh all earned a white belt with Two yellow stripes.
The exams were held in accordance with the rules and regulations of World Taekwondo (WT) and the Kukkiwon in Seoul South Korea under the auspices of the St. Maarten Taekwondo Federation and officially authorized and tested by their local recommender Grandmaster Theo Liu.
Yellow belt
Kimar Persaud earned a Yellow belt.
Yellow belt - Green stripe
Four athletes earned a Yellow belt with a green stripe. Earning the new higher -level belt were Kendrys Fuentes,
Sunil Mankaran, Jhavid Persaud-Ramcharan and Jayden Tennant.
“Despite the difficult situation caused by the Covid pandemic the students have done very well,” said Grandmaster Liu.
Grand Master Liu was assisted by his SXM growth black belt holders Master Lee-Ann Liu (2nd Dan), Julien Fleming,
Green belt
Thashan Khemraj and Reomar Jeffers both earned green belts.
Green belt - Blue stripe
Lucas Brouwer, Shailen James, Key-Mari Richardson and Rique Lee Rosalia-Liu earned a Green belt with a Blue stripe.
“Like the cycle of life that is all around us every day, each coloured belt stands for a different stage of life in Taekwondo athlete,” said Grandmaster Liu.
The students underwent a battery of physical tests that involved the demonstration of martial arts Forms (Taeguks), several defensive and offensive techniques and sparring. The testing concluded with the students having to break boards and do free sparring.
Blue belt
Jacquelle Johnson earned a blue belt.
Red belt
Leomar Dolphin earned a red belt.
Green belt
Adults Luisa Perez – Vera and Rosnel Charlot earned their senior Green belts.
The scoring of the examinations are based on proper order, beauty, grace, rhythm, accuracy, confidence, power, technique and attitude. The total points together with regular class attendance and good behaviour determines if the student may advance to a higher rank.
“In general it is very important for parents to support their children in whatever activity or hobby they are involved in," said Grandmaster Liu. The grandmaster went on to congratulate the parents on their children’s accomplishments and thanked them for the support in these stressful times.
