The 18-year-old earned her most recent title in Queensland in September when she won the Australia Taekwondo Open in the hotly contested 14 to 18-year-old female black belt division.

"I've been competing in national competitions since 2006," Bugden said. "I do Poomsae, which is the technical side of Taekwondo.

"I have to do non-contact techniques in front of a panel of five to seven judges.

"It's got to be really accurate, which is good for me because I'm a perfectionist."

The Damascus College student started Taekwondo when she was six years old, following in the footsteps of her older sister.

"It's such a good atmosphere where everyone is happy to be there," she said.

"You get fit out of it and enjoyment from being active, along with the ability to defend yourself.

"It also gave me the opportunities to travel overseas."

Bugden travelled to Korea last year to compete and then went to the world championships in Uzbekistan, where she made it to the semi-finals, advancing further than any other junior Taekwondo competitor in Australia in a world championship.

At the beginning of 2011 she travelled to Austin, Texas for the United States taekwondo championships and claimed her first international medal in third place. She attributed her success to her parents.

"I admire my parents for their attitude to things and for their continual support," she said.

"I'm close to my family and struggled to be away without them, but at the same time it was good to be able to do it by myself and to get a good sense of what it is to be a team."

She said to get to this level you needed commitment, focus and to be dedicated to your goal.

The teenager's next goal is to compete at the world Taekwondo championships in Colombia, South America next year.

She's been invited to attend a week training camp in Tasmania early in the new year to where she aims to be selected for the national Poomsae squad.