Last weekend was an eventful one for the Swift Current Christian Taekwondo as half a dozen members received various degrees of black belts.

The rigorous testing process spanning over multiple hours took place on March 20 and would have been even longer if they were allowed to complete the sparring portion.

"What my students had to do then for three hours was basically non-stop kicks and working on their forms, we call it Poomsae and sweat from the word get-go, we work on fundamentals," Gary Voysey the head instructor and owner of Swift Current Christian Taekwondo said. "Everything basically that you can imagine that you've learned in the four-plus years you've been taking Taekwondo, I'm going to throw it at you during a test."

Carlos Marquez Peralta and Ethan Klassen both obtained their 1st-degree black belts, joining a small group of only 19 other members to attend the dojang in its nine years of history. According to Voysey, around 1,000 people have taken part in Taekwondo with the club since it began operations.

While the trio of Steve, Logan and Callie Ebner advanced to 2nd-degree belts.

"It actually means a lot to me," Gary Voysey the head instructor of Swift Current Christian Taekwondo said. "It's actually quite a humbling experience when you've committed a lot of time to your students, in this case, years, and they really become like family. It's also very humbling that they've given their time back to you to be a part of this process and journey."

The sixth black belt was given to Carrie Voysey and is a third-degree, the second-highest rank in the Swift Current Christian Taekwondo, just one stage behind Gary who has a 4th degree.

Gary added that while some Taekwondo clubs will advance students to a black belt within three years of beginning, he prefers the students have at least three and a half to four years experience before reaching that level.

"At our black belt graduation ceremony I was talking about the attrition rate and when you get to green belt, a lot of students especially the younger ones, they quit because it's not becoming as much fun anymore," he said. "It's more focused on the art and taking it more seriously."