Bermuda's trailblazing national martial arts team put the Island firmly on the map after claiming multiple individual and team honours at last weekend's Carribean Taekwondo Federation Campeon del Caribe Championships in Miami.

Bringing home the bling, bling were black belts Peter McGlashan and Jashun Thomas who took the regional tournament by storm on the way to glory.

Teenager McGlashan captured two silver medals in the open and middleweight divisions while, Thomas won the gold medal in the middleweight and silver in the open and heavyweight divisions respectively.

The 2012 Olympic hopefuls then joined forces to win the gold medal in the welterweight team division to cap a truly remarkable weekend of competition inside the Doubletree Hotel Convention Centre in Dade County, Florida.

And for added measure, team coach Edmond Johnson was promoted to the rank of Master and will face off against current world champion Richard Alacantara in the Dominican Republic next month.

Johnson was ecstatic about his team's crowning glory which, by his own admission, surpassed even his own expectations.

"I expected a couple of wins, but not this because we were competing against people who have been to the Olympics," he said.

"The people were definitely surprised that Bermuda had athletes of this calibre.

"As a coach I felt really good but even more so as their brother because we are all like family. We couldn't wait to get back home and show the wealth.

"Our Taekwondo is a little different in that we come with a lot of power and our guys played a very good game. They were very tactical."

Taekwondo is a martial art form that places more emphasis on kicking rather than punching with points scored via blows to particular parts of the body during three, three-minute rounds of sparring.

"It's a very acrobatic martial art and so there's a lot of aerial kicking," added Johnson.

The trio put in hours of preparation in the lead up to last weekend's championships. And according to McGlashan, it was time well spent.

"We did a lot of training leading up to the event and so obviously there was a lot of tension," he said. "It was like judgment day and to actually get into the ring and perform the best I could without getting injured was pretty rewarding.

"I also picked up a lot of experience fighting against bigger guys from different countries which was really good exposure for us."

The experience in Miami would have also done Thomas' confidence the world of good. The 21-year-old had been lacking in this department but after receiving a few encouraging words from coach Johnson he set about his task admirably.

"My confidence level was a bit low when I first went into the ring," he said. "But then my training kicked in and I felt inspired to represent and do well for my country."

Johnson hopes Bermuda's recent success in Florida will inspire others to take up the sport.

"We felt we needed a big win to show Bermuda that there are other sports out there – and I think we made a very big statement," he said. "Our goal is to get more people involved."