Trio fight their way to better health
It’s not every day a woman becomes a black belt in martial arts, but for Feast Tae Kwon Do, three women made history at its last grading.
Shannon and Jesse Moore, twin sisters from Morrinsville, and Julie Blanks from Te Aroha spent a day together demonstrating to their Grand Master, what they learnt over the past four years.
With great support from their own instructors, other instructors within the school, black belts and fellow students, the trio sparred, chopped and battled their way to success.
Jesse said the misconception about martial arts was that people had to be strong and always in great condition.
‘‘They’re wrong, I’m not. I’m a small person, with a rough history health wise.’’
She was born with Exomphalos in 1988. It led to a hernia and lots of operations.
‘‘From those operations, they have left me with a scar that covers my whole stomach,’’ she said.
‘‘When I started Feast Tae Kwon Do four years ago, I freaked out thinking, what happens if I get hit in the stomach?
‘‘But every black belt and fellow student knew not to. That made me confident. In these recent days of 2018, I have found out I have Scoliosis which is curving of the spine.
‘‘The way I see it is why should I let that stop me? So I can’t kick as high as I used to or for as long?’’
When she first started, Shannon didn’t like people in her per- sonal space. She was worried about hurting herself and others.
‘‘As the years went by I got used to people sparring with me and being in my space.
‘‘I was slowly getting used to hitting objects to break or in defense. We learnt to break boards and tiles with technique and speed.
‘‘I would recommend Tae Kwon Do to anyone as it has given me confidence and rules to live my life by.’’
Julie Blanks said there were certain moments in life which stood out, such as getting married, having children, buying a house or running a marathon.
‘‘Becoming a black belt for me was absolutely one of them,’’ she said.
‘‘Knowing I had achieved something quite wonderful after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and trying to process what that now means for me and my family, filled me with great pride.
‘‘What I achieved that day not only took a huge amount of training and determination from me but also from my husband, children, my instructor and personal trainings from Grand Master.’’
She said feeling the weight of the full school behind the group on the day, with people willing them to succeed, was incredible.
Sharing that moment with the twins was also special.
‘‘I love passing on what I have learnt to other students and watching the transformations occur with self belief and confidence. Observing these wonderful children and young teenagers develop into hopefully great adults and knowing that you had a hand in it is a great honour.
‘‘I now move on to a new level of learning with no end, which is most exciting.’’
The three women now join forces with their instructors and help train and support students.