It was a golden week for Yorkton martial artist Mason De Vos Payne in Austria as the young competitor took home five medals for team Canada at the World Martial Arts Games. De Vos Payne, Saskatchewan's only member for team Canada, earned an impressive medal haul after just being involved in taekwando and haidong gumdo for just a year and a half.
The event which was held in Bergenz, Austria, served as the world championships in martial arts and saw quality competition from around the world competing in the games. De Vos Payne earned medals in both haidong gumdo and taekwando, showing proficiency in both form and fighting in his medal haul. De Vos Payne's medal haul consisted of one bronze, three silvers and a gold. The bronze medal came in taekwondo by way of point sparring, while he earned a silver in the continious sparring event. Point sparring stops after each point, while continous sparring works more like a standard martial arts bout in which fighters compete until three points have been scored. De Vos Payne also excelled in his haidong gumdo competitions with a silver in wooden forms and open hand forms before earning his sole gold medal of the games with a gold in bladed forms.
As Saskatchewan's only member and one of eight Canadian athletes in the games De Vos Payne represented his city, province and country with a very impressive showing as a young athlete and shows promise of continued success if he continues to pursue further into martial arts. De Vos Payne and his family will travel Europe for the next week or so before returning to Yorkton and training at the Yorkton Martial Arts Training Centre.
