Tigers Taekwondo and Covid-19
2020 has been well and truly upturned by the current global
pandemic. Almost immediately on the back of our Victorian Bushfire Crisis, all
our communities were suddenly and directly affected by Covid-19.
Our club chose to close early, some two weeks prior to
actual restrictions being imposed, and just when poised to make a careful
return we now face more time to wait before we can safely resume training in
groups.
The YMCA has been faced with big challenges – staff layoffs
and shutdown of operations, and has been working with Tigers Taekwondo to
develop a new timetable/roster of classes aimed at providing families with the
most opportunities to utilise their existing credit account. We’ve also been
working out the details with the YMCA about what needs to be done to ensure a
Covid-Safe return to training. More information to follow soon!
Term two felt very long with the required changes and
restrictions, and also a sad one with the passing of our Black Belt Elder, Neil
Crammer. A special award will be created to be included in our annual club
awards to honour Neil’s memory.
Individually we’ve all been facing challenges both work and
personal, and some of them not easy at all if they involve loss of family
income or health/care issues. There are also the challenges our kids face with
online/remote learning and not being able to catch up with training buddies at
Taekwondo!
However, Taekwondo teaches us to persevere, and to maintain
spirit, to commit to strive and to improve. Tigers Instructor Gary Thorpe has
been the greatest example of this since the closure of our classes, winning a
silver medal representing Australia in the 1st Oceana Open Online
Poomsae Championships, and another silver in the 1st Online Daedo
European Poomsae Championships!
Now in term three and on the back of Gary’s international
successes and experience, he has brought to our club the opportunity for our
students to compete in our own, online Poomsae competition! This will be a
great way for students to ‘get remembering’ their forms during these extended
restrictions, have some fun and send in their best takes! More details will
follow soon.
In the meantime we encourage our students to keep stretching
and to keep exercising in preparation for a return to training. Martial arts
can be a lifelong journey as the path is always there – one must simply be
prepared to continue, but also sometimes, to simply wait.