Tauranga Taekwondo Master Christine Young is being honoured and inducted into the New Zealand martial arts hall of fame at a ceremony to be held in Wellington on Friday June 28th.

Christine Young is a 7th dan international Master of Taekwondo and she was the first female to be promoted to this rank, in New Zealand, when she gained promotion in March 2020.

Over 39 years of practicing Taekwondo her list of accomplishments is long including representing England at three World Championship events, coaching the New Zealand team, serving as the NZ high performance director and acting as an international referee by invitation.

Christine continues to teach seven classes per week in Tauranga and Papamoa to students aged from five years to over 50 years old.

“I’m very humbled by this recognition and when I see my peers here, I note we all have a lifelong passion for sharing our art with others. Through nurturing our students to grow and succeed we ourselves keep developing,” says Christine.

“I find immense joy in teaching and shining the light on Taekwondo for others to enjoy. The world of martial arts offers many paths for personal growth and martial arts clubs always feature as stars in local communities.

“The martial arts have always been strong in New Zealand, and it is great to see young talent do well on the international mixed martial arts stage. I hope that the ethos of respect and discipline gets reflected in these sports heroes as they become role models for the current generation.”

When it comes to self-defence, one of Christine’s cliché sayings to students is “I teach you how to fight so you don’t need to fight”.