First Tae Kwon Do’s Master Vernon Low and Chief Instructor John O’Brien visited Perth recently for the last Western Australian grading examination of 2017. Two members were successful in their 1st Dan black belt tests: one 1st Kup member and one Junior Black Belt member. Below are some photographs of the Junior Black Belt member in action during his test. (I was not on hand to shoot the other 1st Dan test, which took place earlier in the day.)
Following Master Low’s examination of basic techniques and drills, the candidate had to execute several breaking (or destruction) techniques.
All went well, and First Tae Kwon Do WA added another 1st Dan member to its ranks. Congratulations to both new 1st Dan members. While I do not have photographs of the other 1st Dan test, there should be many pictures from the day coming up on FTKD WA’s Facebook site in due course.
Master Low then continued with grading examinations for other members, and spent considerable time teaching as well as testing them.
As a photographer, I was again pleased with the lighting and ambience of the large community centre in which the grading examinations were held. Considering the number of photographers in action (both FTKD members and parents of FTKD members), I think it was a fairly smooth shooting experience for all concerned. There were a few points at which shooting with a telephoto prime lens was not ideal—most noticeably, when most other photographers were shooting with wider angle lenses and therefore made a ‘clean shot’ (without other photographers in frame) impossible—but those minor issues were far outweighed by the benefits of the lens.