Instructors master elevation

DECADES of hard work and dedication have paid off for five North Queensland taekwondo instructors, with the group all earning the prestigious honour of being named a master instructor.

The appointments of experienced Townsville instructors Renee Nightingale and Michael Ivanov, Burdekin pair Anthony Cardillo and Shane Bonato and Mackay’s Shyne Fry were made at a gala presentation ball at the home of South Pacific Taekwondo in Townsville last week.

A record crowd of more than 200 were on deck at the presentation ball at the HQ Dojo in Garbutt last Friday night, with Grand Master John Ivanov a guest of honour on the night.

It was a night they will all remember fondly for the rest of their lives and new master instructor Nightingale said it was a great reward for decades of hard work and commitment.

“We have been evaluated for the last two or three years as we strived for the official status of master instructor and we have all been involved for 24 years or more,” she said.

The group were evaluated on their ability to grade students, how they have grown and promoted the art of taekwondo and the discipline’s five tenants of integrity, indomitable spirit, self- control, perseverance and courtesy.

The honour was particularly special for Nightingale and Ivanov as it saw them follow in the footsteps of their late mentor Shirley Dobie.

“Shirley was the first student to receive an honourary Masters belt and she was the instructor for the HQ Dojo which both Michael and I trained under,” Nightingale said.