Destiny Dornbursh had her fate designed before she was born.
The Prince George third degree black belt in taekwondo will head to Benidorm, Spain for the 2013 World Taekwondo Championship, Oct. 20-30, as part of Team Canada. It'll be the second time Dornbursh represents her country as she competed at the 2006 world championship in Australia, winning medals in four of the seven categories she competed in.
Her dad, Dennis Dornbusch, said becoming a black belt in a martial art was one of two goals he and his wife set for their child, whether it was a boy or a girl.
"There was two things we agreed on - that the kid would have to become a black belt in a martial art and learn how to play a musical instrument," said Dennis. "The reason for the black belt in a martial art was just strictly so that we knew as parents that the child could take care of themselves and provide them with the self confidence that they needed."
As for the second goal, Dennis said he took up guitar when he was 10 years old, teaching himself after a couple of lessons, and decided that it was important for his child to have formal training.
"She's gone way past what was our expectations," said Dennis. "A black belt in a martial art is one thing but she's just about a fourth degree now and she went on to get her Grade 4 in piano through the Royal Conservatory."
Destiny will test for her fourth degree black belt later this year. Her dad said she dropped piano in the middle of her Grade 5 lessons when she made the Canadian taekwondo team in 2005 so she could focus more on her martial arts training.
The 21-year-old qualified for Team Canada again in May during a taekwondo competition in Quebec City where she won silver in the middleweight division. It's the fourth time Destiny has earned a place on Team Canada. She had to pass on going to the world championship twice since 2006 because her finances went towards her university education at the time.
Destiny graduated with a bachelor's degree in social work from UNBC on May 31.
Taekwondo may have allowed Destiny to experience different world environments but it wasn't her first martial art. When she was five years old her parents signed Destiny up for Shotoka karate and a five-year program for music for young children. By the time Destiny was 11 years old she had her brown belt in karate, but then the club she was training at shut down.
Dennis said his wife did some research and they decided to switch their daughter to a taekwondo club.
"The instructor actually gave her a belt in taekwondo that was equal to what she would've had in Shotoka karate, but told her she could not progress past that belt until she did all the gradings up to that point," said Dennis.
It took Destiny one year to complete the gradings to become an official blue belt in taekwondo.
Destiny's entry into the taekwondo disciple came the same year Prince George played host to the western Canadian championship in the sport.
"She didn't actually want to compete and I told her that if she was going to be in taekwondo it was necessary to compete because competition, I felt was very important because that's when you go and actually utilize the skills that you're learning in class," said Dennis.
He laughed that he didn't have to convince Destiny to go compete in Spain or in any other western or national tournament since.
"She's got a lot of bronze, silver and gold medals hanging on her curtain rods at home," said Dennis. "At one point a couple of years ago, we actually started writing on the back of them what competition the medal was from, when it was and whether it was for sparring or patterns."
Destiny said she has competed in about three tournaments a year for the past eight years, except in 2009 when she took about six months off to prepare for her high school graduation at Kelly Road secondary.
It was also in 2009 when Destiny began training at Freedom Taekwondo with Master Kurt Ottesen, who graded her for her third degree black belt. She also started teaching taekwondo in 2008.
"It's pretty cool to know I'm a role model for girls," said Destiny.
Another cool thing is having the opportunity to compete internationally again.
"I'm excited to compete against, and with, people who are my role models," she said.
When Destiny first joined Freedom Taekwondo, Dennis said he signed up for classes as well so they'd have some father-daughter bonding time, but the late-night classes, combined with the commute from their home in Ness Lake and his early morning work schedule was too much and he dropped the classes.
"I couldn't take the no sleep," said Dennis.
But, he said he has only missed two of his daughter's competitions throughout her career both due to work commitments, and he and his wife already have their tickets booked for Spain.
"We've passed up a lot of stuff and have had to make sacrifices for her to do things like that," said Dennis. "But I don't regret it at all. I think it's a wonderful opportunity and I wish that more parents would make that commitment to their kids."
For Destiny, she knows who leads the cheering section at her competitions.
"My dad is definitely my No. 1 fan," she said.
