George and Amy Lloyd, and their son, Bane Averitte, owners of Middle Tennessee Tae Kwon Do at 930 West Broad Street, Smithville, have returned from their trip to Korea, where they attended and competed in a historic Tae Kwon Do competition. The trip lasted from July 15 to 26, as the family embarked on training sessions, visiting historic sites, and experienced a different culture.

“The first two days we attended seminars, where from 8 am until 9 pm it was go, go, go …  do, do, do … punch, kick, punch, run, fall … it was physically demanding,” George told the Smithville Review. “They brought in all these high-ranking grandmasters from Kukkiwon, which is the headquarters of Tae Kwon Do, in Seoul, Korea.”

“After two days of seminars, we were tired but excited,” George continued. “The first annual Chungdokwan World competition was held. We competed with people from all over the world, China, Pakistan, Ireland, Japan, Australia … just all over. Averitte got third place, Amy got first place, and I got third place in our categories.”

“We were told afterwards that one of the pictures we were in would be in one of the Tae Kwon Do museums,” Amy added. “We were making history that weekend. It was the first competition for Chungdokwan for the world.”

“The trip was wonderful,” Amy said. “Going out there was no problem, but coming back it took us almost two weeks to recover. They are 14 hours ahead of us here, so just getting back to knowing what day it was and feeling normal, took some time.”

George went on to explain a big difference between American and Korean culture. “It was awesome to experience the culture, but it was also awesome to train, because here, being school owners, we are the ones in charge and we don’t get as much training. It was nice to go and be a student.”

“We learned a lot from the Korean masters. We learned about the social, the culture of Korea, and we learned about how they view Tae Kwon Do. We went to many sites of the history of Tae Kwon Do. No matter where we were, or what we wore, the masters would say, ‘Line up. We train.’ We would then go to the next place, and we would train there. They have a totally different viewpoint on training.”

 The family was not alone on their trip across the Pacific, as their Grandmaster, Brenda J. Sell, accompanied them.

“She is not the only female grandmaster in the world, but she was the only one there,” George explained. “She is the only non-Korean woman grandmaster. She is almost 70 and she did everything. She did not take a break, did not step out, I was very impressed. There’s not too many 50-year-olds that could do what she did. Her (Grandmaster Sell’s) husband, the late Grandmaster Edward B. Sell, is the only American in the Tae Kwon Do Hall of Fame in Korea.”

Overall, the family did well in their competitions, impressing their Korean counterparts.

“I competed with a 4th-degree from Japan,” Amy said. “We actually became friends and hung out for the next few days. It was nice to make a friend from across the world. One of George’s opponents was an Israeli diplomat. We also got to take pictures with the Kukkiwon demonstration team that competed on America’s Got Talent.”

The family said they learned a lot during their visit to Korean, pointing out the big difference between reading about something and experiencing something. “Here (the United States), we read about it in books,” George said. “There, you get to see it and experience it. It’s well worth it, for anyone that can pull it off, to go visit and see.”

You can contact Middle Tennessee Tae Kwon Do on their Facebook page or call 615-225-7493.