Local Tae Kwon-Do athletes travel to World Championships in Scotland

By Lethbridge Herald on July 31, 2025.

Herald photo by nathan Reiter The contingent of athletes who traveled to Glasgow, Scotland for the International Tae Kwon-Do World Championships pose for a group photo at Legacy Tae Kwon Do on Thursday evening. Not pictured: Nick Allison, Makedah Arias, Taylor Bailie, Rowan Bailie and Amanda Fox.

By Nathan Reiter

Lethbridge Herald-Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Some of Lethbridge’s top martial artists made their way overseas to compete at the Tae Kwon-Do World Championships in Scotland late last month. Ten athletes from Legacy Tae Kwon Do in Lethbridge traveled to Glasgow for the international competition at the Braehead Arena that ran on July 19-20. 

Legacy Grand Master Colin Nonomura says international competition has become more common for the sport in recent years.

“When I was a young athlete, we didn’t have the opportunity of many international tournaments. It was hard to get around, very expensive to travel even throughout Canada so we mostly did local tournaments. Today’s world has changed, it’s a lot cheaper to travel so they’ve gotten a lot more experience than what I’ve ever had in my own career as a martial artist. We’ve been to four or five world international championships and we’ve done well at each one of them.”

Don Huxley, Nick Allison, Makedah Arias, Carsen Fox, Taylor Bailie, Amanda Fox, Rowan Bailie, Anthony Gibson, Carter Gibson and Rylan Gibson were the full list of Lethbridge athletes to make the trip. Of the 10, the youngest was 11 while the oldest was 56.

Nonomura says the sport has a unique appeal to people of all ages. 

“Tae Kwon-Do is about promoting from very young ages to very old ages to keep them interested and try new things. They have a wide range from very small young athletes to very senior athletes. It’s very family-oriented. We have a lot of families that train, but don’t compete at our school too. It’s very good for discipline, self-control (and) working with other people. It gives you a wide range of life skills, if you will, and so it’s especially rewarding when a family is able to support one another and all make it to the world championships.”

Don Huxley, 54, was one of the Lethbridge athletes who made the trip across the Atlantic Ocean to compete. Huxley has been involved in Tae Kwon-Do for the last eight years and became a first-degree black belt last June. He’s competed in events in Calgary and Toronto, but the trip to Glasgow was his first time competing on the international stage.

“It was extremely special to be part of, representing Legacy (and) Canada was an amazing experience.” Huxley says. “Going over there internationally is the best of the best and so when you go over there you get to see Tae Kwon-Do in its finest.”

Despite the physically demanding nature of Tae Kwon-Do, Huxley says he’s fallen in love with the sport and plans to continue it for as long as he can. 

“The exercise and developing your flexibility is truly amazing. I continued training and worked my way up to the ranks. With that in mind I started doing a lot more competitions here in Lethbridge, Calgary, we went to Toronto last year. I plan on going to Toronto again this year and just the competition of just doing it. I plan to compete as long as my health (allows)  because I am now 54 years of age. Tae Kwon Do is a young man’s sport but as long as I can do it and compete I plan on challenging myself to continue.”

As part of the competition, many athletes swapped uniforms with fellow competitors from other countries. Huxley acquired a uniform from a Northern Ireland athlete who competed in a different age category and weight class. 

Huxley says it was a memorable experience getting to interact with competitors from all over the world. 

“The experience is overwhelming and I do believe that anyone at Legacy should experience it at one point in time because it was a truly amazing experience that words and pictures cannot describe the event that happened over there.”

The international Tae Kwon-Do spotlight will shine on Lethbridge in 2026. The Agri-food Hub & Trade Centre will be the host venue for the Tae Kwon-Do International World Cup taking place July 4-5.

Legacy Grand Master Darin Gibson says the event will bring athletes from around the world to the city.

“Beyond Legacy Tae Kwon-Do, it’s going to be fantastic for our community. Lethbridge has a really good, strong martial arts community and this will be an opportunity for anyone who’s training here is welcome to participate in the tournament to bring a lot of economic benefits to the community and a chance for people to see the best athletes in the world doing what they love to do.”

Gibson says hosting the event will have additional special meaning because of the connections he’s made in the Tae Kwon-Do community around the world.

“I’ve been traveling for about 15 years promoting Tae Kwon-Do and making connections with masters from other countries, and we’ve been able to forge some really close relationships. We’ve traveled four times to the World Championships. We really felt it was our turn, our opportunity to give back. It’s a really big endeavor to host something like this, but we wanted to do our part to build the global Tae Kwon-Do community.”