Lachlan Duncan of Port Alberni earned his black belt in taekwondo this past summer at Dragon Martial Arts.
Duncan’s journey has been a long one: he has trained at Dragon Martial Arts with Master Warren Lee every week for 11 years, sometimes as many as three and a half hours per week.
“You have to put in a lot of time with him, especially to get a black belt in that dojo,” Duncan explained.
Duncan started taekwondo lessons after attending a birthday party at Dragon Martial Arts while in Grade 1. “I thought it was a really fun time, and I thought I could do this,” he recalled.
“I was playing soccer at the time and I hated it; I thought I could do this (taekwondo) and it became part of my life.”
Duncan’s mother Lisa has encouraged him from the beginning. “Master Lee does not allow his students to become black belts easily and it is a rare occurrence,” Lisa Duncan said. “(Lachlan) didn’t quit when training got hard, he didn’t quit when he hit a plateau, when he got frustrated or angry or mad.
“With encouragement from Master Lee, he got back up every time he fell down and put in many hours of study and practice, repeating patterns a thousand times.”
Lachlan stuck with the sport through the challenging times because he had already invested so much time into his training. “I didn’t want to give that up,” he said. “I wanted to follow through to the end. It became fun for me. It was a challenge to finally get the black belt.”
His black belt test started at 10:30 a.m. and took two and a half hours. Lachlan tested with several other athletes, but he was the only one pursuing a black belt.
One phase of the testing was breaking wooden boards with kicks and punches, to demonstrate power and accuracy. It is a difficult part of the testing, he said, “but incredibly rewarding when you finally do break the board. You feel powerful, like you could do anything.”
Duncan intends to continue with his training. There are different degrees to a black belt that he can pursue if he wishes, and he plans to help other taekwondo athletes.
“I could instruct if I needed to. It’s not out of my options.”
Duncan encourages athletes who are dedicated to earning their black belt to pursue their goal, but warns that it’s not easy. “It’s really hard. This was one of the most stressful and difficult things I’ve ever done in my life,” he said. “You’ve got to be prepared for that.”