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Quin Taekwon-Do member honoured with fourth-level dan black belt

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LAURA Cullen, a member of the Quin Taekwon-Do Club has become the sixth woman in Ireland to be promoted to fourth-level dan black belt at the Irish Taekwon-Do Association’s (ITA) black belt testing held in Ennis recently.

 

The testing was held at the West County Hotel on Sunday, December 16 when 35 people tested to receive their first dan black belt.
There are nine levels of Black belt in tae kwon do but it takes time to progress through as there is a minimum waiting period between each testing. It takes 18 months to progress from first to second dan, two years to go from second to third and three years to go from third to fourth and so on. Over the two days, 43 people were successful out of the 49 tested.

Laura Cullen’s promotion holds significance as she is now considered an international instructor as well as an examiner. There have only been five other females in the Irish Taekwon-Do Association to be promoted to this level – one of whom is Anne-Marie Kinsella, instructor in Ennis TKD.

When asked about her recent promotion, Laura said, “It is great to do it for the girls. A lot of higher grades in tae kwon do across the world are men so it is nice to try and improve the gender balance. It is important for girls to keep up their involvement in sport throughout their lives and I hope I am demonstrating that.”

Clare had record numbers testing from various clubs in the county; Ennis, Quin and Shannon with the exception of one competitor who had to withdraw due to illness, all Clare candidates were successful.

The testing involved all elements of tae kwon do including fundamental technical movements, patterns, sparring, power breaking (breaking timber boards), special technique (breaking timber boards while jumping) and theory.

From the Shannon club, Dean Cooney, Sarah Hogan, Sarah Lynch, Ching Man, Easa Man, Yee Kae Man, Eoin McEnery and Adam Merriman were successful in progressing to first dan, while Dave Lynch progressed to second Dan.
Meanwhile, Liam Phillips and Dylan McGerr from the Ennis club progressed to first Dan, Ciarán Pfiffer, Naoise Stack and Naoise Stack progressed to second Dan, while Angela Keane was successful at achieving third dan.

Further to this the Quin club were successful also with Emma Moriarty progressing to first dan, Sarah McMahon and John Burton progressing to second dan and Laura Cullen going onto fourth dan.
Preparations will begin in January for the next group of students intended to grade next June.

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