Sparring action from the 2023 Champion Challenge. (Red Deer Champion Taekwondo)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

'Nothing given, everything earned'

Champion Challenge taekwondo tournament goes May 25 at Servus Arena

May 23, 2024 | 1:20 PM

‘Nothing given, everything earned.’

That’s the mantra of the Champion Challenge, a major taekwondo tournament taking place in Red Deer on May 25, and hosted by local dojang, Champion Taekwondo.

Action will feature a wide range of ages and abilities, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Servus Arena, and it is open to spectators from the public. There will be more than 300 competitors from across Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Champion’s Master Ben Couturier, who took over Champion in 2013, was one of the brave ones, he says, when the world began opening up following the pandemic.

The inaugural Champion Challenge was slated to be held just a week before COVID-19 halted everything. When regulations allowed, Couturier and his team jumped at launching the first taekwondo tournament back in Alberta, and it’s now in its third year.

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“This tournament is an opportunity for students to set a goal, and to have something on their calendar that they can say they’re going to go and take themselves out of their comfort zone,” he says. “That builds resilience within the children and all students, and allows them to do something they haven’t done before.”

It also allows for the club’s extended family to come together for a common cause, with virtually every family volunteering during the event.

“You have to make it through some tough times [in life]. If you just walk in to do something, hit the first barrier and can’t get past it, then you won’t become the person you can be,” says Couturier of what he hopes the tournament brings out of everyone in attendance.

“When people are faced with challenges, and that could be a tournament, a belt test, a difficult sparring class, whatever it is, it’s about the ability to never give up.”

Fellow students observe poomsae (forms) competition at the 2023 Champion Challenge. (Red Deer Champion Taekwondo)

Taekwondo has many core values, like respect, discipline and self-control, he says.

But perhaps most important, and speaking to never giving up, is having an indomitable spirit, he believes.

“It’s not just talking about something, it’s about putting things in front of them and challenging them to grow as a person,” Couturier says. “There aren’t many 11-year-old kids who can stand up in front of a class and teach it by themselves, but we have students who can do that.”

The day starts with speed kicking, transitions to poomsae (forms), and then finishes with sparring, with white belts to black belts all competing at the same time, something Couturier points out is unique to the Champion Challenge. Typically, he notes, tournaments are structured so that high-level athletes go on last and consequently with emptier venues, but this one permits everyone in attendance to observe all as the day progresses.

That includes Champion’s eight-member senior team, hopefully all of whom will compete next year at the U.S. Open and Canada Open, G2 events that feature the world’s best. Six Champion members from the senior and junior high-performance teams are set to compete at nationals this summer.

Tickets, available at the door on Saturday, are $5. Kids five and under get in free. There will be a 50/50 draw, and concessions will be open. There will also be taekwondo gear available and a chance to learn more about registering with Champion.

“The scariest class anyone ever attends is the first one, and the nice thing is that we offer it for free.”

More information about Champion Taekwondo is at reddeertaekwondo.com.

rdnewsNOW, BIG105 and 106.7 REWIND Radio are proud media sponsors of the 2024 Champion Challenge.

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