Family makes history with three black belts
A Taranaki mother and her two teenage daughters have made martial arts history by becoming black belts – all at the same time.
Bronwen Pepperell, 43, and her daughters Kate, 17, and Clare, 13, gained the rank at the New Plymouth Taekwondo Club’s grading day on Saturday.
The trio are the first mother-daughters mix in the club’s 30-year history to gain their black belts at the same ceremony. ‘‘It feels so awesome,’’ Pepperell said. Seven martial artists were sparring and breaking boards in front of a small crowd during grading day.
‘‘It was really daunting getting up in front of everybody. That takes a lot of confidence, especially when you’re older,’’ Pepperell said. ‘‘They’ve got good technique and they’re flexible but that’s all right, I hold my own.’’
Pepperell said her daughters took up the sport in 2010 and she decided to give it a go as she approached 40.
‘‘They were going and I thought I might as well. It looked like good fun and good fitness so I just started to get amongst it.
‘‘I remember starting this and I said to anyone and everyone, ‘I’m never going up the grades’. I’m never going to enter a competition.’’
Since then she has moved up the ranks and competed in three competitions.
Oliver D’Ath, Savanah Brown and Amber Curtis also gained their black belt at the grading day, while Sangil Han moved up to second degree black belt.
‘‘I’ve been in this club for 26 years and it’s the first time I remember with a mother and daughter,’’ New Plymouth Taekwondo Club president Ang Caldwell said. ‘‘It’s also really unusual to have this many females in a club, let alone competing for black belts.’’