Local Tae Kwon-Do black belt Aimee Maund will be fulfilling a life-long ambition when she competes at the ITF World Championships in Dublin Ireland this month.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to compete at the world championship because it is the highest that we have,” said Maund who is a fifth-degree black belt and owner of Focus Tae Kwon-Do here in Chestermere.
“I’m so excited,” she said.
To compete at the International Tae Kwon-Do Federation (ITF) World Championships contestants must hold black belts and have placed first or second at a national competition.
Maund earned her invite this year in June in Montreal with a first-place finish in power breaking and second in sparring.
She joins 60 other black belts travelling to represent Canada at the worlds in Ireland from Oct. 9-15.
Maund, who is 37 years-old is dropping down a division to compete in the 18-34 category in Dublin.
“They don’t do a 35 and up category for the worlds,” she said.
This is the third time that Maund has qualified for the ITF Worlds but is the first time she is actually getting to compete.
She had to withdraw after her first qualification at the age of 19 when she injured her knee and had to have surgery.
When she qualified again two years later, the creator of Tae Kwon-Do died which led to the championship being cancelled.
Maund is really excited to be able to finally fulfill her dream and compete at worlds.
Since she has dropped down to compete, Maund knows that she will be facing stiff competition.
She describes herself as a defensive fighter and plans to use her experience and knowledge to beat her younger and potentially stronger and faster opponents.
“I plan to go in with a defensive game,” she said.
Despite the competition, her goal is to earn medals in both power breaking and sparring.
“I’m very competitive by nature, so I do want that gold,” she said.
Regardless of how she does, Maund said that this will be her last worlds as a competitor.
“From here, I’ll know what to expect…and from there my goal will now be to train one of my students and make them compete at the world championships,” said Maund.
