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Waterloo's Matthew McDonald closing in on kung fu black belt at age 10
Matthew McDonald trains at the Shaman Martial Arts Club in Waterloo, Monday
Waterloo Region Record
By Justin Fauteux
2016 was quite a year for Matthew McDonald.
The Waterloo native spent the past 12 months travelling around North America and coming away with piles of medals from some of the top martial arts competitions in the world. Now as McDonald prepares for 2017, which will bring more high-level competition, he also finds himself a few steps away from a black belt — at just 10 years old.
McDonald practises Shaolin kung fu, one of the oldest disciplines of Chinese martial arts. The sport combines sparring with opponents, and continuous fighting with empty-hand forms, and weapons patterns that are assessed by panels of judges at competitions.
"He competes in everything — forms, weapons, sparring, continuous fighting," said Julian Shamuon, McDonald's sifu (teacher) at the Shamuon Generation of Martial Arts club in Waterloo. "He also does something called extreme martial arts. That's where you incorporate gymnastics into the martial arts."
Shamuon, a decorated martial arts competitor himself, has been working with McDonald since day one.
McDonald was just five years old when he and his parents heard about the club through a family member and decided to give it a try.
"We tried it out and he immediately really took to it," said Rod McDonald, Matthew's dad. "He loved all the teachers and how they work with the kids. Progressing as fast as he has, it's because of how the teachers really take him under their wing."
"I really liked all the sifus," added Matthew. "It was really fun, but they made me work really hard."
After a couple years of training, Matthew began entering competitions when he was seven-years-old. And for the past few years he's been travelling around the United States and Canada — and even further afield, including stops in St. Maarten, Mexico and Costa Rica — and more often than not, coming home with medals.
In the past year alone Matthew — now a member of the National Martial Arts Council competitive team — has taken part in 18 competitions, coming away with 22 first-place finishes, 18 second-place finishes and 17 third-place finishes, regularly winning the "triple crown" — a gold medal in weapons, forms and sparring at a single competition.
As impressive as Matthew has been sparring with opponents or doing a pattern with a bow staff or a sword, what impresses Shamuon the most about his student is his maturity and work ethic, both of which go well beyond his 10 years.
"I wouldn't actually do this, but I could put Matthew on the floor, do the bow in and leave and I'd be confident in his ability to teach the class. That's the kind of 10-year-old he's become," said Shamuon, whose father, Tom, opened the club 10 years ago.
"If I ask him to do something even when he's dead tired, he'll give 100 per cent. He'll give it everything he's got. Never will he give any thing less than that."
While Shamuon wouldn't leave Matthew alone to teach his elite team — the group of students at the club who travel to top competitions — Matthew has already begun teaching, sometimes kids as young as three, four or five, but sometimes students his own age or older.
As 2017 begins, Matthew's competition schedule will heat up quickly, with January's International Congress of Martial Arts competition in Panama, followed quickly by a trip to Chicago for the first tournament of the year on the North American circuit.
Joining Matthew in Panama will be the entire Shamuon's elite team, which includes: Noah Slater, 14; Kate Slater, 10; Lexi McGann Barclay, 15; Jaycen Turner, 9; Evan Turner, 6; Matthew Boyd, 13; Linos Matti, 8; and Hannah Wright, 10.
As great as winning competition after competition has been for Matthew, he says what he's enjoyed most from participating in martial arts is the discipline he's learned and the chances he's had to meet people from all over the world.
"I'm really looking forward to the (Panama) heat and meeting some more new people, getting to see some new competitors.
With a full slate of competitions on the horizon, Matthew is also, if all goes well, just two levels away from his junior black belt. From there, he can work his way up to an adult black belt.
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