Flying fists and feet for fun

The Clarence-Rockland YMCA Taekwondo School competed in the 39th annual Tae E. Lee Cup at Algonquin College in Ottawa. The May 28 championship is an annual celebration of the opening of Grandmaster Lee’s first school in Ottawa in 1977.

Schools from as far west as Alberta and as far east as Nova Scotia, affiliated with Grandmaster Lee’s Chang Moo Kwang Taekwondo, participated in this year’s challenge.

Among them were the students from Master Lee’s Clarence-Rockland dojang, competing under the guidance of Sabumnim Myles McLaughlin. Founder of the local dojang is Sabumnim Michael Vong, a fourth-degree black belt.

Clarence-Rockland victors at the tournament included: Sebastien Bisson: gold in poomse (patterns) in adult orange belt divi- sion; Yanos Degringos: gold in adult green belt sparring; Team Greer (Yanos Degringos, Mywan Greer): gold in orange belt family/ team poomse; Jean-Marc Schnupp: silver in boy’s green belt poomse and sparring; Alexandre Schnupp: gold in boy’s green belt poomse and bronze in sparring; Team Double Trouble (Alex and Jean-Marc): gold in team/family poomse; Kyra Massey: silver in girl’s sparring and bronze in poomse; Kyra & Maya Massey: gold family/team poomse; Zachary Desnoyers: silver in boys sparring; Justin Charest: fifth in boys poomse; Jean Tessier: silver in adult males colour belt poomse, and bronze in sparring; Dan Naylor (second-degree black belt): silver in men 50+ poomse; Myles McLaughlin (first-degree black belt): gold in men’s poomse, and silver in full contact sparring.