Congratulations to the students who competed at the 20th Jimmy Kim Invitational tournament at C.S.U. Long Beach. It was a long day, and they made me feel proud to be their Master instructor. We finished the day with 3 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze medals.

See you on the mat!

- Master Smith

Competitor list :

• Laura Gonsalves
• Connie Berard
• Allen Eische
• Sean Wollasto
• Cory King
  

"Cory King started taekwondo at 3 years old, and it served as a positive outlet for the aggression he built up watching favorite television characters like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers. Ten years later, when he finally advanced to a level where he decided to fight competitively, he thought maybe he had made a mistake ... "

Read more in the North County Times

Cory King from Encinitas Taekwondo won a Bronze medal on July 5th during the the USA Taekwondo National Championship in Austin, Texas. USA Taekwondo (USAT) is the governing body for Olympic Taekwondo in the United States. Cory's win earned him a spot at the 2010 U.S. National Team trials as well as the Pan American trials.

Cory is 18 years old and recently graduated from La Costa Canyon High School. He is planning on attending Miramar Junior college for 2 years, then transferring to either SDSU or UCLA. "My dream is to become an Olympic champion and one day open my own Taekwondo school to coach future champions," said King.

Cory has been training in Taekwondo since he was three. According to King, "My mom thought I needed a little discipline, so she brought me to Master Smith's school." Master Matt Smith, owner and head instructor at Encinitas Taekwondo, was Cory's first master instructor and recently promoted Cory to third degree black belt. "Master Smith gave me my start and taught me to love Taekwondo," King says. Cory also credits his success to former U.S. national team alternate Master Hyun Lee and U.S. national team member Tim Thackery.

Cory teaches three days a week at Encinitas Taekwondo, the only USAT school in San Diego North County. Encinitas Taekwondo is located at 613 Westlake Street in Encinitas.  Class schedule and info can be seen at www.encinitastaekwondo.com