Black belts in their blood

Discipline, practice leads to Siggins sisters taekwondo success

Posted 1/4/22

Achieving one black belt in taekwondo is difficult enough for one person. But the Siggins sisters did more than that, with all five siblings achieving at least their level one Kukkiwon certified …

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Black belts in their blood

Discipline, practice leads to Siggins sisters taekwondo success

Posted

Achieving one black belt in taekwondo is difficult enough for one person. But the Siggins sisters did more than that, with all five siblings achieving at least their level one Kukkiwon certified black belt.

   

HOW THEY GOT HERE

Early on in their lives, the sisters were inspired by their brother, Colby Siggins; he started taekwondo based off their mother Lisa Siggins’ passion for the martial arts in college.

“We grew up in the hallways watching him [Colby] practice and loved it,” said Callie (Siggins) Lundvall. Now 20 years old, Callie was the first sister to attend classes with her brother, followed closely by Cori (now 25) and Cianna (18). Then came 17-year-old Cassidy and 15-year-old Charity. 

Outside of Cori, who started at age 13, all of the sisters took up taekwondo between the ages of 4 and 8.

Home schooling helped the Siggins to start from such a young age, allowing them to compete together at home and continuing to practice year round.

Years and years of practice and learning different practices allowed them each to advance and earn at least their first-degree black belt.

Cassidy and Cianna both tested and earned their second-degree black belts in August, while Charity earned her first degree. Cori and Callie have both had their first degree black belts since August 2016.

The sisters are able to joke around with their brother, as he was forced to stop one step before achieving his level one black belt. However, the Siggins siblings have been able to pass on the tradition to their brother’s son Easton, who trains along with them at Big Horn Martial Arts Academy.

   

DISCIPLINE

Advancing to each level in taekwondo takes a lot of practice as well as repetition.

“There is always something that you are training for,” Charity said.

Not only are you expected to train in class, but you are expected to take the lessons from class home with you.

There are multiple stages to advance, with two levels to each belt — white, yellow, green, blue and red — before reaching black.

There are different elements that go into earning a black belt, including forms, floor fighting, board breaking, cement block breaking, special forms, a book report, as well as a paper on an assigned topic. 

Each test for a black belt is unique to the person taking it, and students will be tested on different areas they’ve been struggling with.

Achieving each level of a black belt requires a certain amount of classes and teaching along with a mandatory wait time in between each belt. In total, it takes up to 10 years before you can be considered a master at a level four black belt.

There are times when each sister (except for Charity) has taken time off from taekwondo in order to focus on other aspects of life, but they have always found their way back to train and compete.

“It is something we can do to push each other no matter the age, no matter where you are physically or mentally,” Callie said. “It is something we can strive for together.”

There is a sense of competition among the siblings, but they have found a way to push each other in different areas of taekwondo, as they all know they have strengths in different areas.

Along with taekwondo, the sisters also practice ground fighting, Kali fighting, sword training and boxing.

One key contributing factor to the girl’s passion with martial arts is the ability to learn self-defense, which has inspired the girls along with other community members to begin the Women’s Empowered (WE) Campaign (see related story). 

   

TAKEAWAYS

When you have been involved in a sport and discipline as long as the Siggins family has — now spanning three generations — there comes a time when it may be time to hang up the belt and pass down your knowledge.

Currently there are no signs of the Siggins sisters slowing down, but there are things they know they will always take with them as a result of their time in taekwondo: Confidence, relationships, finding their voice and being respectful of others inside and outside of class.

“Going through taekwondo starting at 5, it really breaks you out of your shell a lot,” Callie said. “I was super shy growing up, and my master wanted me to lead a warm up; I was a blue belt at 10 years old and she asked me to lead my age group as well as an older group, and for a 10-year-old that is so scary.”

She said the confidence she gained that day helped her move forward, and afforded her the ability to teach as well as grow with her classmates at such a young age.

Another aspect of taekwondo is the idea of everyone being a family, and being respectful inside and outside of class.

They understand that in the class they are teaching kids to hit each other and be violent for a short amount of time, but they know the core values of taekwondo stretch further than that.

One thing the Siggins girls teach their youngest students is the importance of not using taekwondo for anything besides self-defense.

They feel the classes also teach showing respect to everybody; the expectation is that you represent yourself well outside of class and there can be a discussion leading to discipline if it is discovered you are bullying people.

   

CONTINUING TO GROW

Although each has obtained a black belt, the Siggins sisters are showing no signs of slowing down. Some are starting to slowly wind down in the competitive phase, but they are each taking their own paths forward. That may include teaching, working on forms, continuing to compete or working towards their next belt — like Cori who is expected to take her second level black belt test next summer.

They understand the time and money their parents sacrificed over the years, and are hoping to continue a legacy the family has helped build by passing it on to both their nephew as well as students young and old who come in.

The Siggins know taekwondo can be an intimidating practice to jump into and some people expect to get their black belts right away, but they want people to understand that it is a long, rewarding process that helps teach you more than just self-defense.

One final piece of advice they want to give to those considering taekwondo?

“Just do it,” the sisters said.

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