She just celebrated her ninth birthday this past week, and Gilbert resident Caitlin Chua is already rockin’ the world of taekwondo, bringing home first-place honors in Las Vegas, Kansas City, Little Rock and elsewhere.
And, perhaps the biggest honor of all: becoming a first-degree black belt this past June, just 2 1/2 years after putting on her first gi!
Caitlin and Keliani, her 9-year-old partner at Victory Martial Arts in Mesa, show us how to they do traditional forms.
“There’s certain spots to yell, and I don’t make it up ... other people make it up and teach me how to do it,” Caitlin said.
And then, there are the extreme weapons forms.
"I can make it up, have music to it and I can do, like, flips and cartwheels and stuff," Caitlin said.
And yes, they’re still breaking boards in karate class.
“They’re plastic and they have like things that go together, so there are easy and hard ones, so we try to break them," she said.
Congratulations, Caitlin and Keilani -- two outstanding 9-year-old, taekwondo black belts. You’re this week’s Small Stars!
