Townsman Staff
Cranbrook's White Tiger Tae Kwon Do returned from the Big Sky Championships in Kalispell, Mont., in November and brought a big medal haul back with them across the border.
Clubs from Alberta, B.C., Idaho and Montana were in attendance at the event, which featured competition in a variety of disciplines, including poomsae and sparring.
Poomsae sees students judged on prearranged movements and patterns as opposed to hand-to-hand combat.
Sparring at the Bg Sky Championships differs from sparring in B.C. in that it is full contact, including head contact at all age levels. In B.C., head contact is not permitted until competitors are at least age 12 and in possession of a black belt.
In poomsae, the Cranbrook crew was mightily successful, with Gabriel Cory (silver), Sarah Jewsbury (silver), Alexander Rode (silver), Ethan Sawatsky (silver), Ainsley Zmurchyk (silver), Jayce Calder (bronze) and Ava Chiz (bronze) all collecting medals.
In sparring, the White Tiger athletes also fared well, with Jerrid Butler (gold), Zmurchyk (gold), Hunter Chiz (silver), Calder (bronze), Ava Chiz (bronze), Nolan Palmer (bronze) and Rhy Palmer (bronze) all scoring medals.
One of the highlights of the weekend came as Butler stormed back from down five points, landing two spinning head kicks to take gold in the final seconds of his third-round spar.
According to White Tiger Master Steve Desjardins, the experience was a great one for the entire club.