While the world was watching the Olympics, Jerrabomberra teen Hunter Howard was also competing on a world stage. The young athlete travelled to South Korea, where after a gruelling display of physical strength and willpower in blistering 36-degree heat, he was awarded the 1^st Dan Black Belt in Hapkido, making him one of the youngest Australians to do so.

“I had to demonstrate 110 techniques on my partner. I would demonstrate a set of ten, and then he would do ten, all in front of the masters. You had to do all of that in one session to get your black belt,” says Hunter.

“It is pretty physical when you watch it; it’s smashing the other guy to the ground again and again,” says Stewart, Hunter’s dad.

Hapkido is a Korean martial art that trains students in self-defence against various types of threats they may encounter, mastering complex physical moves that incorporate flips, falls, grabs, twists, punches, and even knife techniques against resisting opponents.

“Up until 4^th Dan, you learn to defend yourself against knives, sticks, punches, grabs, behind-the-back holds—everything you can think of in terms of attacks, you’re taught to defend against,” explains Hunter.

“It started after Japanese occupation, they weren’t allowed to do any martial arts, so they did an underground style and that is where it all came from,” says Stewart.

Flying to South Korea with his mum, Mel, his Master Tom Adam, and three other 1^st Dan hopefuls, they were taken on a tour of martial arts and culture. They were invited to practice martial arts at different centres, delved into the cultural highlights and even visited the demilitarised zone in North Korea.

However, Hunter’s focus remained on the task ahead, the reason he was invited by his master, the opportunity to be awarded the 1^st Dan.

“It was a special opportunity to go for our black belt in Korea in front of 12 global master hapkido leaders… It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go for it over there.”

It wasn’t just the Australian guests that were striving for recognition, martial artists from America, Mexico and Europe were also competing for belts. Mel witnessed someone reach the 8^th Dan Black Belt.

“It is pretty amazing, it shows you the extent you have to go to from 1^st to 8^th Dan, he was fighting off three attackers with knives,” she says.

With ranks going up to 9th Dan, achieving a 1st Dan is no small feat—especially for someone still in their teens.

Studying the craft since age three, Hunter was first enrolled in Canberra Martial Arts & Fitness when his parents were searching for an outlet for his seemingly endless amount of energy.

“We were struggling to find something for boys of a younger age to do. Our daughter Holly was enrolled in dance at quite a young age, but at that same age group for boys, there wasn’t a lot to choose from,” says Stewart.

“My master Tom had just started a kid’s class back then, a little tiger’s class, and all we did was run around. I just kept coming back every week and I’ve grown to go up through the belts,” says Hunter.

Remaining determined and practising hard, Hunter entered adult classes when he was just 13.

“You have to be able to compete. Even though he’s still pretty young, he’ll go and perform techniques in class with people my size,” says Stewart.

While taekwondo and jujitsu are household names, Hunter is unsure of why more people aren’t aware of hapkido, which blends other disciplines and tests those who practice it.

“From my perspective, it is all the martial arts; there is kicking, punching techniques, judo throws and everything within the discipline. I just don’t think it’s talked about enough,” says Hunter.

It isn’t just fitness, strength and endurance that it teaches you; it is also a discipline of the mind and life lessons.

“What I’ve learned from practising it my whole life is a different level of respect—growing up to respect those who are older or hold higher ranks. I’ve developed better manners and learned life lessons in the dojang at a younger age than most,” says Hunter.

Also studying two other martial arts while playing basketball and football, even captaining the Brumbies under-16 squad this year, Hunter keeps active. During the sporting seasons, he eases on how often he practices hapkido but in the off-season, he is back in the dojang 3-5 times a week doing his favourite sport.

“It is [my favourite] because of the achievements that I have done, Tom and the community—I love everyone in the centre.”

Currently a red belt in Kumdo—Korean sword fighting—Hunter hopes to achieve black belt status in that discipline as well. While he is certain Hapkido will always have a place in his life, he isn’t sure how many Dan black belts he will pursue; anything above 4th Dan typically comes with the expectation of running a club

“I’m trying to go from 1^st Dan to 2^nd Dan to 3^rd Dan, moving up the ranks in black belt, that would be a big achievement,” he says. “I am planning to go to ADFA when I am older, so if I am doing more army training that might interrupt hapkido and self-defence.”

Luckily, hapkido is a discipline that you can pick again at any time and keep your status, however, you need to maintain the level of fitness.

“It takes a certain amount of body strength to be thrown around and used as a punching bag in practice,” says Hunter.

Encouraging his family to join him at the dojang, Hunter says that hapkido is a sport that anyone could benefit from, particularly young, energetic children.

“More people should be doing hapkido. It offers a high level of self-defence and has given me the confidence to protect myself in any scenario. It also builds respect, which is something some teenagers lack.”