SUN BAE KOREAN MARTIAL ARTS

2023 Club Championship

30 SEP 2023
MT GRAVATT
SATURDAY 12:15 PM

Go to Event Details

The 20th Sun Bae Championships is open only to Sun Bae members and entry is FREE. Spectators are also free.

The event is a non-contact team event including patterns and high kick. Up to 200 competitors will battle it out for the much coveted Championship Trophy and Players Trophy. Every member of the team placing 1st, 2nd and 3rd will receive a team medal — presented on the day. There are also medals for individual divisions — which are split into coloured belts (white, yellow, blue, red, red III, black), further split into four age groups per colour.

Defending Champions (with 9 gold) are Team Newmarket, whilst 2022 place getters were Kenmore and Toowoomba. The Players Trophy (best percentage of medals) was also won by Newmarket with 51.52%. Defending Poomsae Champion is Johanna Whittle from Toowoomba.

You can find out more at the link above. You can also click here to see last year's detailed report on the event. To enter directly, click the link below. Entries close on 24 September, but please enter early to assist in our planning...

Go to Register Now — Free Entry

Grandmaster

Master Bradley attended the Kukkiwon World Headquarters (Gangnam) on Wednesday 18 January 2023 successfully passing to 8 Dan Taekwondo and to Grandmaster.

It seems GM Bradley is definitely leading Sun Bae by example. His lead up to testing in Korea was 12 months of concentrated preparation including Jidokwan 8 Dan, two Masters courses (Korea and NZ), and a performance at Sun Bae's Dan grading test (Nov 2022).

To attain 8 Dan Kukkiwon is a life-long achievement and we congratulate him. In addition, to be officially recognised by World Taekwondo and Kukkiwon as a Grandmaster is notable. The Kukkiwon have very strict rules about high Dan promotion (we are told the failure rate is actually very high). GM Bradley was age 55 at testing date with the waiting time to his next level, 9 Dan, at nine years. GM Bradley also attained a Jidokwan (local school) 8 Dan, which he received just prior to his Kukkiwon testing. Jidokwan have different rules for waiting times and even though GM Bradley's time is eligible for 9 Dan Jidokwan, he has declined, saying he is too young.

A commemorative video of the Journey to Kukkiwon is included, notably with lots of action, including a side kick break of 9 boards. There is a short stint of sparring as well. In addition, considering nothing in life comes so easy, there is an interesting (untold) back story leading up to the testing, where it seems GM Bradley suffered an injury less than two weeks from testing to the point he required a walking cane. Never giving up, it seems, is definitely part of Sun Bae training...

Read more...

Competitions

Sun Bae is not known for attending external competitions, so there must have been a rush of blood this year as Sun Bae attended both the Gold Coast Open and the Caboolture Open. 

Sun Bae did not send an official team actually, just whoever wanted to go which included Master Shirly in patterns. The results were quite impressive. To see the full story on both events, please click below... 

Read more... Caboolture Open
 

Read more... Gold Coast Open

Mt Gravatt Centre

Our Mt Gravatt Centre has recently re-opened with new times and days and also a new Sabeom in charge, Ben Vickery.  As you may know, Saboem Essi was the original and founding instructor, but reluctantly had to cease due to medical reasons. We wish her well and thank her for teaching at Sun Bae.

Since, Master Shirly has juggled teaching the centre together with her two northside centres. Thank you to her so very much for keeping Mt Gravatt alive! It really is a great centre and location, the venue for our Annual Club Championships, with just as equally awesome students.

With our re-opening, Sabeom Ben has since increased the student numbers and he is looking hard at the Club Championship Players Trophy (where best percentage of medals wins and not total gold). Good luck to Mt Gravatt! Go for it!

If you are looking for extra classes or have friends in the area, here are the new times and days:

Monday & Thursday 
Tigers 5:00-6:00pm, arrive 4:45pm (age 5-11)
Adults 6:00-7:15pm, arrive 5:45pm (age 11 and above)

Read more... Mt Gravatt Centre Details

Interesting Articles

Parent's Guide to Prepare for Tomorrow — the Road to Black Belt

A black belt in taekwondo is not just something to tie around our body when we train. It's achievement is representative of our success — success acquired through dedication and perseverance. The "Road to Black Belt" is not just our martial arts journey, but most importantly it is our journey in life coupled with our hope... 

Read more...

This article seeks to assist students and parents on some of the decisions they can make to ensure the road to black belt is more easily travelled. Definitely worth a read...

Being the first grading of the year, it is always the hardest grading. The grading was held at Middle Park, 23rd March 2023 and Regents Park had 8 students grading before Grandmaster Bradley and Master Mark. Instructor Brendan conducted the grading. Regents Park had 3 students to receive Honours:

•  Ace Robati (Yellow 1)
• Brooke Pallister (Yellow 1)
• Emily Kim (Yellow 1)

Students did their best and showed potential in the lead up to the grading. Most students were white belt going for their first coloured stripe — which can be daunting for some. Grading at a new centre that is not their own training hall also made it all the more challenge. Overall, a good experience with students showing their courage and determination. 

Students with Honours
Ace Robati 
Brooke Pallister 
Elizabeth Lambert 
Sophie Boyd
Emily Kim 
Harleen Sangeeth 

Students with Pass to High Pass

Naina Narra 
Pranay Narra 
Rabab Singh 
Caleb Boyd 

Congratulations on the awesome improvements to all students. Notably, more honours achieved this grading. keep working hard!

PHOTO GALLERY

 Liam has been at Regents Park since joining in 2016, grading to 2nd Gup in 2019 and is now on 1st Gup (Red III), which is the level before black belt..

Covid did not help any students in their progression of course, but it is admirable to see Liam has persevered and is fast approaching his black belt.

There are many stages of the Red III belt: white-yellow-blue-red-brown and can take anywhere from six months to 18 months to pass all levels.  Liam has been preparing for his 1st Gup full red belt grading for the past 6 months and successfully graded 01 August 2023!.

This is a notable rank to attain, as it includes all aspects of the eventual grading to black belt. Liam performed patterns (all), self-defence, board breaking, sparring, as well as terminology.

For Liam’s next stage to move forward for full black belt he must now dedicate himself to some extra training and classes. It is always good to seek additional training with other 1st Gup’s at other centres as well. We wish him well on his journey to black belt at Sun Bae! 

Some of our students have competed in external competitions, with some gold medals to show for it. We have trained hard on our form and as a team, we are ready. Yes, Regents Park is ready! 

We know the Championships are very competitive with some years decided by merely one medal. You could be that one medal! Go Team Regents Park — do your best!

Gold Coast Open 2023

Brooke Pallister from Regents Park competed at the Gold Coast Open, 29th April 2023 as Yellow 1 belt. Brooke performed Taegeuk 1 and Taegeuk 2 in the Individual Poomsae Female 41 to 50yo Poomsae division, securing the Gold Medal. Well done!

Read more... Gold Coast Open

Caboolture Open 2023

Regents Park had three students compete at the Caboolture Open on Sunday 18th June 2023 (yellow I belt) —  performing patterns:  Taegeuk 1 and Taegeuk 2.

• Elizabeth Lambert (8-9yo female): gold.
• Emily Kim (10-11yo female): gold.
• Brooke Pallister (41-50yo female): gold

Mother and daughter team Brooke and Elizabeth — Team Mini Me — competed against our own Sun Bae Middle Park Team in the Team Poomsae. Team Mini Me taking out the silver.

Read more... Caboolture Open
 

PHOTO GALLERY

Click through to see all photos

Elizabeth Lambert commenced at Sun Bae Korean Martial Arts Regents Park in October 2022 as an 8-year-old. Like many children today, she experienced a difficult time over the last few years resulting in low self-esteem, lack of confidence and some trouble in making friends or just fitting in with others at school.

After starting at Sun Bae Regents Park, she found something she enjoyed, not just the training, but the atmosphere of the club. everyone is friendly of course. Elizabeth was keen to commit to the classes, showing ambition and dedication. she rarely missed any classes, even though at first she felt out of her comfort zone.

Within a short space of time she felt a part of something. She made new friends and also felt like she was an equal within the club (which is how it should be).  Whilst she was going through her white belt grading levels, she consistently practiced at home insisting her mum send Master Mark videos of the practice! Well done!

Grading Challenge

Elizabeth progressed through her white belt grading tests in minimum time, showing good progress for her Yellow I belt. This continued with regular encouragement from Master Mark as well as even some of the other girls in her class.

It was rewarding to see her grade to  Yellow I belt in March 2023 and her Yellow II belt in July 2023. Elizabeth then received the Instructor Award at the Sun Bae Annual Awards, a testament to her dedication and effort.

At the 2023 Gold Coast Open, Elizabeth had the opportunity to personally speak to Grandmaster Bradley Tatnell for the first time (as her mum competed). After seeing her mum compete at the Gold Coast Open, she decided that it was time for her to try!

Competition Challenge

The Caboolture Open was next. To put her out of her comfort zone once more, Elizabeth was required to learn an extra (new) pattern, in a very short space of time. However, she was rewarded with her training: a gold medal for Individual Poomsae. Also adding to her challenge, she entered a Team Poomsae event with her mum and they took out a silver medal! 

Competing and the additional training has most definitely assisted Elizabeth to achieve her Yellow II grading result of "Honours", a huge improvement from her previous grading result to Yellow 1 of high pass.

A New Perspective

Notably, in the lead up to competing, Elizabeth attended the Team Poomsae training held on Saturday mornings with Grandmaster Bradley Tatnell and Master Shirly (Sun Bae Tournament Director). It was at The Gap. A long way to go, but totally worth it. There was no extra charge either! After completing the competition and the extra training, this had only encourage Elizabeth to do even more training. She attended at other centres and now even enjoys visiting Sun Bae Middle Park with Instructor Brendan.

Elizabeth is now doing well at school and makes friends easily! She is more confident and self-aware. We are all now looking forward to seeing how Elizabeth goes in the Sun Bae Championship in October 2023 — good luck! We wish her well with her progression and growth, not only with Sun Bae and Taekwondo, but also in her personal life.

Special thank you to her mum Brooke, for sharing this wonderful story...

Editors note from GM Bradley:
We must prepare ourselves for life ahead. We cannot make that road a predetermined easy path. We must travel what is before us — there is no other choice. To push ourselves and challenge ourselves is hard (at first), but it only makes our journey all the more easier later on. I encourage all parents to allow their children to try (and fail if necessary). Sometimes they will try and win, sometimes not. But to try is the actual win. We, as humans, learn from our trying and our mistakes. Our Annual Championship is a good example of this and it is very popular.

Sun Bae Centres:

• KENMORE

• MIDDLE PARK 

• MT GRAVATT
• NEWMARKET

• REGENTS PARK

• THE GAP

• TOOWOOMBA

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