Lachlan Ellis has been practising Taekwon-Do since the age of 10, after being inspired by a family friend.
He recently returned from the ITF Taekwon-Do World Cup in Mar del Plata, Argentina, as part of the New Zealand senior male team.
"The World Cup is a club-based tournament, but we went under basically one New Zealand banner."
The 23-year-old was proud to have reached the podium for the first time, earning bronze in the individual 1st Dan Patterns event.
"It took me seven years from my first international tournament, but we got there."
Other achievements at the World Cup included advancing to the quarterfinals in both the individual under-69kg sparring division and the Senior Male Team Sparring.
He enjoyed travelling to the beach city of Mar del Plata.
"We went and trained on the beach for our first day, so that was quite nice and good weather."
This marked his fourth international tournament as he had previously competed at the 2017 and 2023 World Championships and at the 2018 World Cup.
For this year’s World Cup, his training partner Cody Thompson joined him in Argentina for what was Thompson’s first international event.
"It was a great experience for him," Ellis said.
Ellis is a member of the Mosgiel Taekwon-Do Club and trains under the guidance of instructor Dion Bennett.
He also uses Dunedin Kickboxing gym in Princes St during the week for additional training.
Before a tournament, his training regime could last up to three hours a day.
"It can easily get to 20-plus hours a week, as much as a part-time job."
This was on top of starting a full-time job this year, having completed degrees in law and accounting at the University of Otago last year.
"I’m now working as an accountant."
Next in his sights was training in advance of selection trials in March for Nga Kaponga, the New Zealand ITF Taekwon-Do team.
"That will be to make the New Zealand team to go to the World Champs in Croatia next year," Ellis said.
"The New Zealand team gets selected every second year, so you have to be selected for a World Champs, where you don’t have to for a World Cup."
Despite the challenge of juggling a professional career and intensive martial arts training, he was determined to keep progressing.
He thanked the many individuals and sponsors who had helped him achieve his goals.
"The goal is to become the World Champ, in one way or another.
"You’ve got to keep on building to try and get there."
