The News!

NEWMARKET wins the 2026 Championship Trophy with 9 gold — 6 silver — 3 bronze ahead of long-time rival  (and defending champion) Kenmore.  Congrats to Master Shirly and TEAM NEWMARKET!

NEWMARKET with 31 players, wins the 2026 PLAYERS TROPHY with 80.65%! THE GAP and TOOWOOMBA each needing  three more medals to overtake. Congrats to Master Shirly and the team!

Midori Mihara 2026 Club Champion!

Flynn Travis highest kick 255 cm!

May McIvor highest kick for the female division at 235 cm!

6 Teams

Poomsae
Power Breaking
High Kick
+23 black belt officials!

PHOTO ALBUM
 & VIDEO
INCLUDED BELOW

Report Summary

24th CHAMPIONSHIP!

This is the 24th Club Championship event! We thank our host and sponsor — Grandmaster Bradley — thank you for making this event possible!

For a complete history on past winners you can click here: Past Events

THE TEAMS

The Sun Bae KMA Taekwondo Championship was held at Mt Gravatt, Brisbane, Australia, Saturday 17 October 2026. The teams are:

• Team Kenmore: Master Shirly (defending 2025 Champions/Players) (46 players).
• Team Newmarket: Master Shirly (runner up 2025) (31 players).
• Team The Gap: Master Ben/Instructior Nicole  (21 players)
• Team Toowoomba: Master John (13 players).
• Team Middle Park: Instructor Brendan (16 players).
• Team Mt Gravatt: Master Ben (26 players).

Our players enjoyed perfect weather conditions.  

The poomsae division (patterns) was conducted on four courts  — 148 players — all Sun Bae students. This is an invitation only event for Sun Bae members.

Six teams competed in knockout style, in 23 divisions, the eventual winner requiring a broad range of player performance.

PATTERNS — EXPLAINED

CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY

Matchplay patterns — knockout until a victor is declared.  The largest division required five matches to win, another two matches afterwards to declare the Club Champion — a true test of fitness and mental strength. Luck of the draw is no stranger to the event, sometimes with the possibility of facing the eventual club champion in the first round. How is your karma?

The Championship Trophy only includes the contest for patterns. The winning team is declared by the highest number of gold medals. Silver and bronze are still utilised, but only in the event of a tie (refer to 2022 result!). A medals tie is decided upon the lowest number of DQ players. Failing that, a further tie is decided upon the lowest number in a team. 

PLAYERS TROPHY

The Players Trophy is decided upon the highest percentage (per team capita) of medals won: gold, sliver, bronze. It includes all events: patterns, high kick, tile break! 

Example: 10 medals from 20 in a team = 50%.

The Players Trophy is designed to afford smaller teams a stronger chance to compete. This winner was NEWMARKET — fielding 31 players —  narrowly snatching the Trophy from The Gap & Toowoomba by three medals.

Every player entered is important.

CLUB CHAMPION — INDIVIDUAL

One champion per rank: black, red III, red, blue, yellow and white.

Each final is represented by the best in junior, intermediate, adult and masters.

Note: Club Instructors are not allowed to compete in the patterns or be crowned as "Club Champion" (for obvious reasons). 

FULL REPORT BELOW

POWER BREAKING — ROOF TILES — EXPLAINED

Power breaking is tested on terracotta roof tiles — only for black belt students. Sun Bae uses Terracotta tiles because they remain consistent in strength over time, unlike cement tiles which are very easy to break when they are new (and unbreakable when they are old).

It is important NOT to attempt any breaking without your instructor. SEVERE (even life-threatening) injuries can occur. The tiles,  even once broken, can be quite sharp and can cut the wrists or fingers. It is dangerous and only professionals should attempt.

Every year our players are faced with a decision upon how many they should stack. Too many and you can lose power, as it sits too high. Not enough and you might be left wondering! 

The player is awarded a bonus tile on their score if they completely break a stack — thus assuming they would have broken one more. Strategy is key!

It is always an exciting event, with spectators treated to a great display of traditional martial arts. Notably, there were three entrants for female and three entrants for male. 

On the note of tradition, roof tiles were always part of the original black belt testing in the 1960's, 70's and 80's. Sun Bae has continued this tradition late into the 90's whereupon it became very hard to actually find the right roof tiles. Sun Bae now keeps its reserve of tiles just for the Championship.

FULL REPORT BELOW

HIGH KICK — JUMPING FRONT KICK— EXPLAINED

The club record is 284 cm.

Players compete in seven divisions: split into male, female and midgets (both girls & boys).

The high kicking is always a crowd pleaser, with much barracking and encouragement, the room thundering to elevate each player! It is a must-see event, worth begging mum and dad to stay!

FULL REPORT BELOW

DONATIONS - SUN BAE PLAYERS FUND

$2,720 FUNDS DONATED — SB CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
$2,720 FUNDS DONATED — GM BRADLEY (matching the above)
---------
$5,440 TOTAL 

Thank you for your generosity! These funds will mainly assist with travel costs to the World Championships, but also with lead-up training and tournaments.  

Team Patterns - Championship Trophy

Results & Medals

There were 148 pattern (poomsae) players this year. Most divisions were heavily fielded. Four judges per court with four courts. Ties decided by the Head Of Court (fifth judge). These close contests can often prove the difference, especially this year with only one match separating the winner in the Championship Trophy. 

Congratulations to Team Newmarket on their Championship win and to Team Kenmore on runner-up and to Master Shirly who unashamedly is the Master for both teams.  Congratulations to Team The Gap on third place (Master Ben & Instructor Nicole). 

CLUB CHAMPIONS - INDIVIDUALS

We congratulate the champions in each division:   

• Black      Midori Mihara (Toowoomba) [CLUB CHAMPION]
• Red III    Xi Lim (Newmarket)
• Red          Keunleg Pelzang (Newmarket)
• Blue         May McIvor (Newmarket)
• Yellow     Robert Donaldson (The Gap)
• White     Ginny Tsui (Kenmore)

RESULTS — LINKS (CLICK)

• CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERBOARD - TEAM PLACINGS (pdf)

• INDIVIDUAL MATCH RESULTS & MEDAL (pdf)

         (matches run Round 1: top to bottom. Round 2: bottom to top. Round 3: top to bottom, etc.)

• CLUB CHAMPIONS - MATCH RESULTS (pdf)

• TEAM MEMBERS (MEDAL PLACES)

• EVENT HISTORY

Players Trophy

Poomsae — High Kick — Tile Break

Results & Medals

The Players Trophy includes all events: patterns, high kick and tile break. The winner this year, with a team of 31 players and a result of 80.65% was Team Newmarket.  Notably, only three medals split the difference between second and third place (The Gap & Toowoomba). 

Congratulations to Team Kenmore and Master Shirly!   

RESULTS — LINKS (CLICK)

• LEADERBOARD - TEAM PLACINGS

• TEAM MEMBERS (MEDALS)

• EVENT HISTORY

High Kicking

Results & Medals

The club record of 284 cm was again not challenged at all this year, the highest kick at 255 cm by  Flynn Travis. 

The record for the female division remained untouched at 240 cm (Nicole Vickery — 2017), though May McIvor came close at 235 cm.

The Sun Bae highest kick record of 284 cm set by Michael Mills remains intact. Considering it to be somewhat close to the world record, it is likely to stay where it is.

For students wishing to kick higher, please concentrate on your front splits ability and set a strong work-out program three months out from the event. Don't eat lunch just before you jump, wear a lightweight dobok (and maybe think about cutting your hair).  

 RESULTS — LINKS (CLICK)

• INDIVIDUAL RESULTS & MEDALS

• TEAM SCOREBOARD

Power Breaking

Results & Medals

The tiles used are all terracotta roofing tiles. Only black belts are permitted to enter — due to the inherent danger whilst breaking. 

All video footage is available for this exciting event.

RESULTS — LINKS (CLICK)

• RESULTS & MEDALS — FEMALE

• RESULTS & MEDALS — MALE

• TEAM SCOREBOARD