Torrent TKD’s Lucas Feeley, who recently won a national Taekwon-Do title in sparring in Vernon, B.C., is now preparing to take on the best at Worlds in Finland in September. Feeley is seen performing one of his specialty techniques at the Dojang last week. Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
Lucas Feeley is having a heck of a year on two fronts.
Fresh off his first national Taekwon-Do championship title in sparring, the 18-year-old is competing in Winnipeg this week at Skills Canada nationals in video production, while also preparing for International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) World Championships in Finland from Sept. 4-10.
Feeley was in Vernon, B.C. from May 6-7 for ITF national championships where he went up against the best 18-35-year-olds in the country in three different competitions.
Feeley competed in specialty technique, patterns, and sparring. It’s also worth noting this was Feeley’s first national competition in the 18-35 adult category, having turned 18 in December.
“Luckily in sparring I got gold, so I’m the national champ in sparring,” he humbly stated.
“In specialty technique, which is my favourite … I came up short and got second, but this one is super cool because they put boards eight and a half feet in the air and you have to jump and kick them with your feet. It’s super awesome.”
To win his national sparring title, Feeley had to take down a 10-year reigning nation champ, all while in his first outing in the adult division.
“Legend has it he was reigning for around 10 years. He was an awesome competitor, super fierce, I love the guy and think he’s awesome,” said Feeley, noting this mystery competitor trains out of Lethbridge and is in his mid-20s.
With a national title in the books, Feeley is putting everything he has into preparation for Worlds in Finland.
“There’s still one roadblock in the way (with) a selection camp in June, so I’m preparing for that,” he said.
“Now, it’s no days off. Every morning, every night, I’m stretching and training, no matter what, and I put in about two hours three to four days per week here.
“A world title has been the dream for a while; first it was just a national title, and now that I’ve gotten there I’ve broadened my horizons a bit and worlds seems to be the number one thing I’m going for right now.”
Feeley first took to martial arts at a very young age and has been training out of Torrent TKD for the past 14 years.
Taekwon-Do runs deep in the Feeley family as they’ve owned Torrent for over 14 years with Lucas’ dad, Chris, being the Dojang’s lead instructor. Chris’ wife, Jasmyne, takes care of the front-end and books, and their three kids, including Lucas, have all been instructors at the Dojang.
Aside from what might seem like endless days of training ahead, Feeley and the team at Torrent are also looking for sponsors to help get Lucas to Finland.
Anyone interested in supporting Feeley on his journey to Finland is welcome to reach out to Torrent TKD at 780-872-9634 or email torrenttkd@gmail.com
