MARISA Rinaldi, 11-year-old from the Bass Coast brought home four gold medals from the World Police Taekwondo Martial Arts Federation Festival.
With a schedule that saw her training eight hours a day, the hard work paid off and Marisa earnt gold across four categories in the competition, held in South Korea last month.
She was also part of the demonstration team at the festival representing taekwondo as a martial art.
While initially nervous before competing, Marisa called on her training to help calm her nerves and refocus to do the best she could.
Winning medals for her skills in taegeuk pattern, creative pattern, speed kick and target shooting, Marisa performed well.
The taegeuk pattern is an Olympic style form.
The creative pattern is a form Marisa designed herself, using techniques and patterns she has learned and incorporated from the traditional palgwae form.
This is a form her teachers James and Cassandra of Heenan Taekwondo are a big advocate for, and which Marisa has been willing to learn.
While competing in the speed kick competition, Marisa performed 54 kicks in 25 seconds with consecutive and alternating kicks hitting one target.
Target shooting was also part of the festival and while Marisa had some previous experience with a bow and arrow, she hadn’t done much shooting.
Her mum Brandi gave her a quick lesson in aiming and firing an assault rifle and the quick learner picked it up and shot herself into first place.
Brandi commented that Marisa learned a lot in the birthplace of Taekwondo and found it humbling. Her favourite thing was the food and the way that the communities and people are so close-knit. She also enjoyed visiting heritage sites and palaces.
The next major event Marisa will be attending is the National Championships for Taekwondo in Brisbane later this year with her club Heenan Taekwondo.
Marisa also made history over the weekend being part of the first group of Victorians to complete a three-day intensive seminar on Haidong Gumdo, taught by Master Jung Il Oh, President Headmaster of all Oceania.
Haidong Gumdo is a dynamic sword art based on battlefield techniques which can be traced back over 2000 years of Korean history.
