As a travel agent, Karren Moore has visited England and knows her way around a tube station.
As a tourist in the old country, the furthest thing on her mind was the thought of using her hands and feet to punch and kick a total stranger. Now that she's got her first-degree black belt in taekwondo, that becomes a real possibility.
Moore is one of five Horizon Tae Kwon Do Total Fitness club athletes entered in the International Ch'ang-Hon Taekwondo Federation world championships, June 26-27, in Swindon, England.
Moore, 51, has been training for five years and has always been keen on competing. Her friends were involved in Horizon's fitness program and that got her started.
"I liked that I was doing something, not by myself, but with a team," Moore said. "You competed individually, but everybody came together in the end. It gives you a reason to train, so you do better and you help other people do better. I got a sense of belonging to the group.
"It's just very rewarding, like another family. It's great for self-esteem and for fitness. I'm more fit now than when I was 20. I feel more confident in my everyday life as well. It gives you more focus in your life and it's a good outlet. I can come here and punch the bags or do self-defence and throw people to the ground. I really enjoy it."
Being successful adds to that enjoyment. Moore went to the ICTF international event in Las Vegas two years ago and came back with two bronze medals. To prepare for England, the Horizon students started cranking up the intensity in January, training six days a week with instructors Ray Dumoulin and his son Josh, and Moore feels up for the challenge.
"Our instructors are very meticulous about our patterns and our sparring training is quite intense," Moore said.
Also representing the Horizon club are Michelle Barnes, 16; Laura Bennett, 20, Scott Dickieson, 20; and Josh Dumoulin, 23. Dumoulin is a fourth dan, Bennett is a second-degree black belt, while Barnes and Dickieson are first dans. Josh Dumoulin already has a spot locked up on the Western Canadian team, which consists of five males and five females. He made it to the semifinals of the team event last year in Puerto Rico.
For more, see Saturday's Citizen.
