Pair beat pain barrier for belt

Two Hills athletes have proved it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

Two local mums have achieved their Second Dan Black Belts at Taekwondo World at Castle Hill. Pictured (left is Shalini Burns and Sylvana Giuffre.

Two Hills athletes have proved it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

Shalini Burns, 44, and Sylvana Giuffre, 47, received their black belt 2nd dan at a ceremony last month after a gruelling year of training.

The pair – who did martial arts as teenagers – met at Taekwondo World in Castle Hill five years ago.

“My expectation was just to lose weight and have fun,” Mrs Burns said. But the Dural mother of three quickly moved up the ranks, and was proud to ­receive her black belt 2nd dan.

“I feel like I can carry on achieving and even try for my 3rd dan,” she said.

Mrs Burns pushed aside pain from knee problems to complete the grading last year.

“I went for an MRI and I was told the cartilage on my knees was gone and I was told not to continue taekwondo,” she said. “But being a passion of mine, I managed the pain and managed the condition.”

Shalini Burns and Sylvana Giuffre at Taekwondo World in Castle Hill.

Similarly, Mrs Giuffre battled the pain of rheumatoid arthritis to complete the spinning kicks, high jumps and punches required for the grading.

Mrs Giuffre, of Cherrybrook, admits her doctors “think I’m nuts” but she said she has “never” considered stopping taekwondo.

“I can never get enough,” she said.

The mother of two said she was “elated” to receive her 2nd dan. “We had a smile from ear to ear at the end of the grading,” she said.

Mrs Burns said she hoped their achievements would encourage other women to “not give up on their dreams”.

“You might not be as physically as capable or as good as the teenagers but you can keep up,” she said.