Training for a international competition

(ITF Taekwon-do World Championship 2013)

I started Taekwon-do when I was six years old because I was being bullied at school. I never considered or imagined competing for Australia in international competition. When I was younger all I wanted to do was to get my black belt, so that became my first goal. When I got to red belt (end of 2010) I was informed of the 2013 ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships in Benidorm, Spain and was selected for a “Training Squad.” This started off my motivation to get to that level of competition. Throughout the three years of preparation for the World Championships I faced many challenges and difficulties in and outside of training. These included: fitness, weight, technique, fears, diet and school work. All these concerns prevailed over the time that I spend dedicated to reach my goal of making it to the World Championship. My first goal was to receive my black belt. After I completed that my next goal was to make it onto the team. Finally, my last goal was competing to the best of my ability.

I started to compete more passionately and more regularly after the grading for my black tip. I competed in General Choi, Sunshine Coast Cup, Victorian Challenge and Bundaberg. I fell in love with competing and was even more motivated to improve so I can compete for my country. At the start of 2011 I started training more for my black belt grading. My brother and I started Pilates with a personal trainer called Anna. She trained us for strength and flexibility each week to help with cross training. Training for my black belt started as two days a week training at class and Saturday mornings with my brother and another club member. We were all training for our black belts. The training mostly involved technique for patterns, general fundamental movements, theory and fitness. As we moved closer to our grading we helped and worked together to help each other with the 1^st Dan assignment. My brother achieved his black belt before me, half way through 2011. After grading to 1^st Dan black belt at the end of 2011 my training went back to two nights a week at the club. I continued with a similar pattern of training twice week and competing at every chance I had. However, I found myself that once my competition stepped up a level, as I became a black belt. I started to get scared and more nervous at competitions. It was so hard for me to go on and fight that I would usually start crying and then have to pull out of the competition. I had a fear when it came to sparring because I started to loose fights. The fear of sparring came from the idea that I was scared I wouldn’t be good enough to win or I wouldn’t impress anyone. I was used to winning or doing well and at that time I couldn’t even go out onto the ring.

This continued for about a year, I only competed in patterns up until the end of last year (2012) and as worlds became more of reality training started to increase again. Around November last year training started on Saturday mornings from 8am till 10am.  I trained with mostly my instructor, Mr. Abdallah the first hour was fitness and strength. The second hour consisted of sparring drills, technique or patterns. Each week was different depending on what we needed to work on and what was coming up. As school holidays approached I trained Monday nights and even Wednesday afternoon/nights. These sessions were usually more for patterns or technique. Sometimes we sparred as my brother, Sebastian, used to come along to these training. Pilates continued throughout this year into 2013 however she stopped training in the first few months of this year. As school went back after the holidays it became very hard for me to manage school, training and a social life. I learnt very quickly that it was impossible to have all three and started to dedicate all my time to training and school work. Being in grade 11 the work load was hard to manage and I often found myself stressed and finding it hard to manage to help share my time between both. After about the first term of school I realised how much I was and needed to give up to get to the level I needed to be if I wanted any chance of making the team. I found it hard to be motivated and wanting to train and practice everyday and always give it my best.

As far as competing went I participated in every one I could. I decided to spar in the World Championships about a quarter of the way through the year. I changed my mind as I was talked into competing in the lowest division of under 45kg female sparring. Even though it was late notice Mr. Abdallah agreed to help me prepare for this. My first competition sparring again was in Brisbane at a Bai Rui National competition. I was very nervous but my only goal was to go out onto the ring and fight to the best I could. I achieved this goal and I was so proud of myself. It was a very close fight but I unfortunately lost. Another issue I began to encounter was weight. I was usually 8-10kg lighter than my competitors. At first this bothered me as I didn’t feel it was a fair fight but I eventually learnt that it bettered me. It helped me at the very least to gain confidence. My next tournament was in Sydney. I competed against red belts as they were the closest to my weight. They weren’t much of a challenge for me but it helped me work on techniques, speed and counters. My last competition before worlds was another Bai Rui tournament on the Sunshine Coast. The benefit of this was we got to spend time with some of the team as they lived on the Sunshine Coast. We learnt and encouraged each other. In this competition I competed in sparring and patterns. I lost in patterns however it was all just experience for me. I had 3 fights at Bai Rui and achieved a place. The weight division was deviated by 20kg. In my last fight I was up against the heaviest female in this division. She had competed on the Australian team and was a 3^rd degree. I began very nervous and was even considering pulling out. My final decision was to fight until I felt too uncomfortable or it became too much. I learnt quickly that she was just as afraid of me as I was of her. With the rest of my practice just being at training sessions I felt more and more prepared as time went on for sparring.

Two months before worlds we decided to have group training sessions every two weeks with the Sunshine Coast competitors. This group consisted of Trent Hayden, Tom Barry, Marika Carr, Sebastian Fernandez de Viana, Christina (From the Norway Taekwon-do team) and I. We alternated between Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast. At the start of these trainings Mr. Kelly and Mr. Abdallah helped organize and train us for World Championships. We grew closer and became better friends. Through these training sessions we covered mostly patterns and sparring. Eventually training sessions were just held by us five. I found I got a lot out of these training sessions as they were new opponents and new ideas from people who had more experience in competing at an international level. I still at times struggled with motivations for early mornings and still giving up my social life but somehow I still managed to make all my training sessions.

About a month before the competition I went to a dietitian, as I needed help to loose about a kilogram to make my weight division.  As I was weighing about 45.5-46kg most days and I already had a low fat content I needed help to loose the weight safely. The first thing I tried to loose the kilogram was a low residue diet. This diet is meant for people with digestive problems. I had to eat food that could be broken down easily so it wouldn’t stay in my stomach very long hence making me lighter. This worked for the first few days but as the week before worlds came around I was still over. I went back to the dietitian and she suggested that I cut my amounts of food I am eating. I cut each meal I had in half including my water intake but continue on the low residue diet. This became hard as I was still training and had school to attend. However, cutting my intake made me loose half a kilogram every two days.

When the time to get on the plane came around I was very excited and to finally see how my work pays off against the rest of the world. It was hard over seas to continue training two or three times a day and have half the amount of water and food I was used to having. The team would go visit the pharmacy to weigh our selves each day to make sure we were on the right tract. Luckily, I was on the right tract for my weight. I found myself, especially the day of weigh in, very tired and hard to concentrate on anything. By the time weigh in came around I made my division and it was the biggest relief. I went back to my normal eating patterns and started to feel more energised.

The first day of the World Championships 2013 in Benidorm, Spain was very exciting. The whole atmosphere and the excitement and nerves were buzzing through the stadium. On the first day I competed in sparring, I was very nervous but I was pumped and wanted to give it my best shot. I won my first fight and I was so excited to go into the next round. The next fight I had was against England, it was a very close fight as all four judges were against me half way through the match. I finally decided that I wasn’t going to loose and I fought the best I could and won. By the end of this fight I was so proud and happy with my efforts as I had gotten myself into a placing. My last fight was very close as well. It was against Scotland. It was constantly swapping from her to me over who was winning. In the last 10 seconds of the match she scored and won. However, even though I lost, I was so happy that I had made it that far and achieved a bronze medal. Patterns were on the second day of the competition, I lost first round but I gave it my best and I completed my patterns without stopping or incorrect movements.

Overall, training for an international competition such as World Championships has improved me as a martial artist and a person. I learnt so much just from watching the more experienced people on our team and from other countries. I now have a goal of receiving my 2^nd Dan Black Belt and competing in the next World Championships. I couldn’t have done this with out all the help and support I received from my family, Mother and Father, Mr. Abdallah, Master Daher of IL Shim International Taekwon-Do, the whole ITF Australian Team, Michael and Tony Nguyen who coached me in Spain.

Amelia Fernandez de Viana