ANNA, Ill. (WSIL) -- A local woman brought home two gold medals after facing off against other counties in a martial arts world championship recently.
Heather Coffman is the owner of Coffman's Martial Arts in Anna. In April, Coffman made the USA Karate Team with the WKU World Kickboxing and Karate Union.
Coffman went on to then compete in the for Martial Arts in Rhodes, Greece in late October, which is a follow up event to the 2023 WKU World Championships in Calgary.
Of the four events Coffman competed in, she won a silver medal in creative weapons/no music against other USA members. She also won silver in traditional karate kata against Mexico.
Coffman also competed in traditional style kata against Germany and traditional karate weapons against England and won a gold medal in both events.
Before this event, Coffman also won two gold medals at the ISKA World Tournament in Orlando, back in July of 2024, for traditional weapons and traditional kata.
Coffman says these competitions have brought thousands of participants from dozens of countries around the world.
She started competing in local tournaments in 2021.
A decade before entering competitions, Coffman opened her Taekwondo school in Anna in 2011. In 2022, the school changed hands to a ChunJiDo dojo under Grandmaster Robert Cutrell.
"I could not have accomplished all of this without the guidance of my Grandmaster," Coffman stated.
Coffman says she has been inducted into the United States Marshal Arts Hall of Fame twice now. Next week, Coffman will be in San Antonio, Texas, where she will be inducted in The Karate Association.
