Jerrabomberra teen Hunter Howard is one of the youngest Australians to have been awarded the 1st dan black belt in hapkido, a Korean self-defence martial art.

Hunter’s hapkido master Tom Adam, of Canberra Martial Arts & Fitness, says the August event was intense, with a group of students travelling to Seoul to be graded by the Global Hapkido Association.

Despite the 37C heatwave and hundreds of pairs of eyes on him, the 15-year-old remained focused, and went on to impress the 10 grand masters present and get his black belt.

Hunter says he began attending hapkido classes in 2011, at just three years old, following his mother Melanie’s desperate search for something that would keep her tackling-obsessed toddler occupied.

She says: “He was always tackling everyone, and everybody said ‘he’s going to do rugby’ and we just wanted to get him into something that would get rid of some of his energy.

“We did a search, and we found the Tiger classes, which was for babies, and we never looked back.

“Hunter just loved it, and it was him that went back, and back, and back again. 

“And, of course, he made great mates, and that’s who he was graded with over there [in South Korea].”

After often training three to four days a week, Hunter says he has avoided becoming burnt out by keeping a diverse range of hobbies, including rugby and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

He says he also scales back the intensity of his hapkido training seasonally, turning his focus more on to rugby during winter and picking up other variations of martial arts, such as Kumdo, which features a sword.

Hunter says: “I think another part of why I kept coming back was Tom.

“All the drive he gave me and all the instructors and the community, and Tom made it fun.”

Hunter’s mum says the sport has also given Hunter confidence in how to handle himself, which has come in handy when dealing with “hotheads” during rugby games.

“So it’s a real confidence booster for young men as well,” she says.

Master Tom says: “Ninety per cent of self-defence is self-confidence, just believing that you can.”

“You just have to believe you can, because a lot of people don’t think they can, and he believes he can now.”

While the rank of black belt is a monumental achievement, Master Tom explains that it is just the beginning, with a further nine dans to go.

He says: “Your black belt test is not a final exam, it’s an entrance exam.”

“You’re not even recognised in the International Association until you get your black belt, you’re just registered locally. 

“There is more learning you have to start, there’s a thing called bridging techniques that you do, you have to demonstrate those as your commitment towards second dan, that’s generally when you get your embroidered belt.

“And then [when] you’ve got the second dan, you start to learn variations on the techniques that you’ve already learnt, so that you understand that you can apply them in different ways.

“And then you start learning cool stuff like knife defence and short stick and medium stick, and as you go higher up, there’s multiple person attackers […] and you learn how to defend yourself with your belt and a fan.”

While travelling to South Korea for the grading was not a requirement, Hunter says he is happy he took the opportunity, and is already counting down the days until he can return.

He says: “The main part of the city was really interesting, and the culture was pretty cool.”

“I could definitely live in South Korea.”

Back in Canberra for now, Hunter says he has no intention of resting, instead turning his focus on mentoring the students who will be graded for their 1st dan at the end of the year, whilst also training for his 2nd dan.