Knockout
God gave us legs to be able to move, to finish what we started. We shouldn't take that for granted and let fear and nervousness overload our bodies. Life is journey of learning from your mistakes, so while we can learn from them we shouldn't be trying to deny it. Some things may be scary at first but after we try them it becomes our favorite thing. Overcoming my fears allowed me to have my greatest moment while fighting in my first international tae kwon do tournament.
I was having so much fun competing in local tournaments and just tearing up the mat and my opponents. It was great feeling to win gold after gold after gold. It was just last year when my instructor came and talked to me about fighting an international tournament in Korea. Fear took over my face but so did excitement. I was happy to make my international debut but I was also scared of my competitors who had been fighting at the international level for years. I told my instructor I was up for the challenge. I was only fourteen and I was fighting in an international tournament in the seventeen year old age group. I looked at it in a way that it was a learning experience and it was such a great opportunity for me to get to the top and be recognized.
For next few months my instructor put together a team of tremendously talented fighters ageing from fourteen to eighteen. We trained and trained for several months. We were in the studio the whole summer and in and out of the gym for weight training. I had learned so many new techniques I never would've even thought of. I felt so stupid that I was thinking I was the best the past two years. At the end I had gotten so much faster, stronger and not only did I grow physically but mentally as a fighter. My career had been first-class with amazing fights and I had scored some beautiful points. I just hoped it would continue on when I got to Korea.
It was the night before the tournament started and I was in my hotel room with my friend Spencer, Collin, and Parviz. They looked just as nervous as I did. As my instructor came into our room he told us to get a good nights sleep and to sleep early. As we made our way out of warm ups the next day, I saw cameras and a lot of people cheering. My heart started to race, as I wanted to run back into the locker room. As our team walked to our stage area cameramen and reporters greeted us with a lot of questions. As we reached our staging area my instructor told me about my first opponent. He was sixteen years old and he was from Russia. His style was using brute strength and a little bit of speed. We looked over on how I had to play him. The plan ended up being technique and speed since I wasn't going to beat him with strength.
As I got my first glimpse of him I realized he was a tall as I was and he had a very muscular build. He looked like a baseball player, very big and muscular. I asked myself how could he be fast if he's that big. I also learned it was his fifth international tournament and he had never lost in the first round. As I entered the ring I saw more cameramen and cameras flashing blinded my eyes. The referee entered the ring and all the cameras stopped. He called the two fighters, my opponent and I, to the center of the ring. I took a deep breath and met him at center. He looked even more viscous up close. I shook his hand, which was very firm and stiff. He shook it almost as if he wanted to break it. I turned and looked at my instructor who just smiled at me. The referee signaled for the fight to begin. My vision all of a sudden became blurry as fear took over. Then all I felt was a big thud right on chest. It felt like a bullet hitting my chest and knocking me back. Then I felt two more knocking me back outside the ring. The referee stopped us and brought us back to the center. I glanced at the scoreboard and it read one minute left in round one out of three and I was down three to zero. Once again I took a deep breath and I fought him. As I scored my first point I realized that this was possible. At the end of round two it was tied at five to five. I had to win if I wanted to move on. I finally scored one and the referee signaled for the end as I victoriously won six to five. I felt happiness taking over my face as the referee lifted my hand being the winner of the fight. I couldn't wait to get out of the ring and go relax. But then it hit me that I had just won my first international tournament fight. But my night was far from over.
My next fight was in four hours against and Australian whom I observed since his fight was after mine. He was skinny sixteen year old who had lots of speed and brilliant footwork. He was a little shorter than me so I knew my reach was better than his. But I couldn't get over how fast he was. His legs were as fast as a leopard feet while it was running. Four hours past and I entered the ring less nervous and more confident. The referee came into the ring and did the normal routine of calling us to the center. As he called for the fight to begin I was ready. I could feel the adrenaline rush flowing through my body like water flowing down a water slide. We checked each other out for the first thirty seconds as none of us threw a punch or a kick. I realized we were both defensive fighters and that one of us would have to commit. We stood there faking each other and checking reflexes. As he came in with blazing speed with the first kick I sidestepped and land a beautiful round house right in the sternum. I could tell he was winded by the way he was breathing. I tried to follow up but he got out by using his speed. I was feeling confident now that I had control over the center. He came in again but this time I got him with a back kick to the gut as he stumbled to the mat. He managed to get up at the sixth count. Now I was really amped, I was up three to zero. He came in again, the last time. I wanted to make sure he would stay down this time, so I did the riskiest thing I had ever done in a fight. I did a spinning kick right to his head. He collapsed to the floor and this time he stayed down. My first knockout in an international tournament and my second win. I was proud of myself and so was my studio.
Although I lost my next fight it didn't matter to me. All that mattered was that I gained respect. As I look back on that experience, I don't think I could've fought those two fights any better. And that is what I learned from all this. When you do something, do it so when you look back you'll have no regrets.
God gave us legs to be able to move, to finish what we started. We shouldn't take that for granted and let fear and nervousness overload our bodies. Life is journey of learning from your mistakes, so while we can learn from them we shouldn't be trying to deny it. Some things may be scary at first but after we try them it becomes our favorite thing. Overcoming my fears allowed me to have my greatest moment while fighting in my first international tae kwon do tournament.
I was having so much fun competing in local tournaments and just tearing up the mat and my opponents. It was great feeling to win gold after gold after gold. It was just last year when my instructor came and talked to me about fighting an international tournament in Korea. Fear took over my face but so did excitement. I was happy to make my international debut but I was also scared of my competitors who had been fighting at the international level for years. I told my instructor I was up for the challenge. I was only fourteen and I was fighting in an international tournament in the seventeen year old age group. I looked at it in a way that it was a learning experience and it was such a great opportunity for me to get to the top and be recognized.
For next few months my instructor put together a team of tremendously talented fighters ageing from fourteen to eighteen. We trained and trained for several months. We were in the studio the whole summer and in and out of the gym for weight training. I had learned so many new techniques I never would've even thought of. I felt so stupid that I was thinking I was the best the past two years. At the end I had gotten so much faster, stronger and not only did I grow physically but mentally as a fighter. My career had been first-class with amazing fights and I had scored some beautiful points. I just hoped it would continue on when I got to Korea.
It was the night before the tournament started and I was in my hotel room with my friend Spencer, Collin, and Parviz. They looked just as nervous as I did. As my instructor came into our room he told us to get a good nights sleep and to sleep early. As we made our way out of warm ups the next day, I saw cameras and a lot of people cheering. My heart started to race, as I wanted to run back into the locker room. As our team walked to our stage area cameramen and reporters greeted us with a lot of questions. As we reached our staging area my instructor told me about my first opponent. He was sixteen years old and he was from Russia. His style was using brute strength and a little bit of speed. We looked over on how I had to play him. The plan ended up being technique and speed since I wasn't going to beat him with strength.
As I got my first glimpse of him I realized he was a tall as I was and he had a very muscular build. He looked like a baseball player, very big and muscular. I asked myself how could he be fast if he's that big. I also learned it was his fifth international tournament and he had never lost in the first round. As I entered the ring I saw more cameramen and cameras flashing blinded my eyes. The referee entered the ring and all the cameras stopped. He called the two fighters, my opponent and I, to the center of the ring. I took a deep breath and met him at center. He looked even more viscous up close. I shook his hand, which was very firm and stiff. He shook it almost as if he wanted to break it. I turned and looked at my instructor who just smiled at me. The referee signaled for the fight to begin. My vision all of a sudden became blurry as fear took over. Then all I felt was a big thud right on chest. It felt like a bullet hitting my chest and knocking me back. Then I felt two more knocking me back outside the ring. The referee stopped us and brought us back to the center. I glanced at the scoreboard and it read one minute left in round one out of three and I was down three to zero. Once again I took a deep breath and I fought him. As I scored my first point I realized that this was possible. At the end of round two it was tied at five to five. I had to win if I wanted to move on. I finally scored one and the referee signaled for the end as I victoriously won six to five. I felt happiness taking over my face as the referee lifted my hand being the winner of the fight. I couldn't wait to get out of the ring and go relax. But then it hit me that I had just won my first international tournament fight. But my night was far from over.
My next fight was in four hours against and Australian whom I observed since his fight was after mine. He was skinny sixteen year old who had lots of speed and brilliant footwork. He was a little shorter than me so I knew my reach was better than his. But I couldn't get over how fast he was. His legs were as fast as a leopard feet while it was running. Four hours past and I entered the ring less nervous and more confident. The referee came into the ring and did the normal routine of calling us to the center. As he called for the fight to begin I was ready. I could feel the adrenaline rush flowing through my body like water flowing down a water slide. We checked each other out for the first thirty seconds as none of us threw a punch or a kick. I realized we were both defensive fighters and that one of us would have to commit. We stood there faking each other and checking reflexes. As he came in with blazing speed with the first kick I sidestepped and land a beautiful round house right in the sternum. I could tell he was winded by the way he was breathing. I tried to follow up but he got out by using his speed. I was feeling confident now that I had control over the center. He came in again but this time I got him with a back kick to the gut as he stumbled to the mat. He managed to get up at the sixth count. Now I was really amped, I was up three to zero. He came in again, the last time. I wanted to make sure he would stay down this time, so I did the riskiest thing I had ever done in a fight. I did a spinning kick right to his head. He collapsed to the floor and this time he stayed down. My first knockout in an international tournament and my second win. I was proud of myself and so was my studio.
Although I lost my next fight it didn't matter to me. All that mattered was that I gained respect. As I look back on that experience, I don't think I could've fought those two fights any better. And that is what I learned from all this. When you do something, do it so when you look back you'll have no regrets.
