Taekwondo: Pupils more street wise

Bay City taekwondo exponents Chyna-Rose Solomon, Hendrix Brown, Richard Simpson, and Jewell Carlson who returned with gold medals from Auckland. Photo / Paul Taylor

Don't venture out on the streets and most problems will be solved but extraordinary things happen in ordinary streets so life must go on.

That's the choice some of the youngsters face so it doesn't come as a surprise that they have gravitated towards taekwondo at the Bay City sejong in Hastings.

"The streets are not safe but you feel more confident to defend yourself now," says Hendrix Brown, 14, after returning with a gold medal from Auckland with fellow Bay City exponents Jewell Carlson, 13, Chyna-Rose Solomon, 14, Richard Simpson, 13, Emilio Wathey, 11, and 9-year-old Vince Alacandara at the weekend.

It's a sentiment Carlson, of Hastings Girls' High School, and Solomon, of Taikura Rudolf Steiner, endorse although they hasten to add the burst of self-confidence they derive from the martial art discipline equips them to grasp most challenges in life with little apprehension.

Master Camille Pruckmuller coached the female fighters while son Robby mentored the boys in the one-day competition at a North Shore school gym in no more than two 3 x one-minute round of bouts.

Solomon, a year 10 pupil, won her fights in TKO, Brown, of Hastings Boys' High School, clinched his medal on a TKO as well, while year 9 pupil Carlson won one on a fourth-round split decision and the other on 12-10 points.

Simpson and Wathey, both of Taikura Rudolf Steiner, won their two fights each while Alcandara, of Havelock North Primary School, prevailed in his only fight.

"They fight with bigger people and they get kicked around," says Robby, when asked what makes his disciples prosper.

The girls have learned to overcome the boys' physical advantage with numerous scrimmages on the dojang mat.

Says a grinning Carlson: "It's a lot harder because they push you around but it's more fun to beat them up."

Brown, who spars with Robby, finds his 15-year-old black-belt trainer quite intimidating but tends to resort to his strength to negate his opponent's power.

"I fought a 20-kilo heavier boy who was 15cm taller and I still beat him," he says, revealing the skills also are important.

Carlson was into karate with her father, Sensei Tristan Clarke, for three years but it shut down so she switched to taekwondo in 2011.

Solomon gave myriad sports a go - netball, football, volleyball and tennis - but a friend, Djett Lancashire, last year introduced her to taekwondo and the technical aspect and competitive edge struck a chord.

Individualism won over team work for the teenager who received endorsement from mother Hannah McNeill, a former karate exponent.

Brown is Robby's nephew and Camille's grandson so the transition to taekwondo was perhaps inevitable for someone who shed kilos to become a trim figure three years ago.

"When I started it was quite hard because I wasn't a natural but I lost a lot of weight and became fitter."

They are all aspiring to graduate to black-belt status and make the New Zealand team. If Olympics beckon, why not?