Athlete Spotlight: Lauren Burgamy, Taekwondo

Chesapeake Bay Middle School seventh-grader Lauren Burgamy fulfilled a long sought-after goal this winter when she completed testing for her black belt in taekwondo.

Black belt testing in taekwondo occurs after years of study, practice and training and only when a student has progressed through 10 total stages of rankings in white, yellow, green, blue and red belts.

Burgamy’s black belt testing was administered at Golden Dragon Defense by owner/founder Maria Patalinghug. Burgamy successfully demonstrated proficiency in patterns, kicks, step sparring, self-defense, nunchaku and taekwondo history over the course of a two-hour test. By successfully completing the test, she received a 1st Dan Black Belt rank. She is the first student and first female at Golden Dragon Defense to achieve the rank of 1st Dan Black Belt.

Burgamy started her taekwondo career seven years ago and has stayed dedicated to the sport during that time. Burgamy is involved in the local taekwondo community and shares her knowledge with students young and old.

Burgamy is an honor roll student at Chesapeake Bay Middle School, where her favorite subject is science.