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...