I got my Black Belt in 2002 and began competing in Taekwondo for the first time. I did very well for the 2002-2003 year. Then I was in a totally, and if not one of the most difficult Black Belt divisions the following year, 14-17 year olds. That division can be a very fierce division and you need to be on your game! But not only was I entering a new division, I was entering an Olympic year. The 2004 Athens Olympic Summer Games, and everyone was coming out to compete. It was hard! But I loved every minute of it. The last time I competed (before this year) was in 2007, where I went to Providence, Rhode Island for the National Qualifier and sparred against team member Jayson Grant. It was my first tournament as an adult, and getting into the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games.
There was a four year gap from my competition days. In between those four years, I self-taught, learned new arts, got my 3rd Degree Black Belt, trained for my master certification, opened my own school, and training for 4th Degree. I only began competing again this year and went to three competitions. I'll be picking it up a notch because there are some competition goals I do want to meet. But one of the thrills I have in my Taekwondo training is that I get to work with two of the top coaches around, my mentor Master Peter Bardatsos, and his partner Master Richard DeGeorge. These two gentleman know all the up to date events, rules, technology, and strategies for this game.
Of course, the year I begin competing again just happens to be another Olympic year! So everyone who is everyone is coming out to compete and bring themselves to new heights. It also happens to be the year of my 4th Degree Black Belt test. -____- Talk about a full year. And of course when you come back into competition after a four year gap and an Olympic year, you get quite the experience of people coming out. I sparred Egyptian national team members, I sparred Steven Lin in my first match of my second tournament, this happened to be the year o the new rules and technology of the DATO system, so I get thrown a lot of things my way.
About a week ago, I was at Kixx Martial Arts training and Master DeGeorge was running the class. And we ended up talking for a very long time after class. He asked me why I was doing independent competitions and AAU and not so much USAT or bigger tournaments. I explained that eventually I want to have that experience, I just wanted to focus on my 4th Degree, get comfortable, and get the experience of sparring elite fighter, etc. Then he explained to me what it takes and what one would have to do to make it big and do well. I have the opportunity to see it first hand training with the Invictus Team. I see how they train, what they do, where they go, what their experiences are like, it's amazing to be right there to see it all happening and knowing what they know.
He asked me how old I was and I told him and he told me that I should be thinking about getting as much experience as I could, which Master Bardatsos told me as well, and to do more international tournaments. If I really want to get to the level I want, I need to spar people even better than me and even better than the people I spar already. He threw out all these international tournament names, some I planned on going to in a few years. NO. You go NOW or next year! he tells me. U.S Open, Canada Open, Toronto Open, Korea Open, National Qualifiers, national tournaments, collegiate tournaments, etc. Then he said "Then by the time the next Olympics come by, you should be at your prime!"
I was like WWWWWOOOOOAAAAHHHH!!! HOLD IT! Who said I was going to the Olympics? Well why not? You do what you have to do, put the time, effort, and experience in, there's no reason not to. But me? Me? Andrew Trento from New Jersey, ME? I don't know. He continues on saying and if you keep at it by the next Olympics when you're 30....
WOOOOOOAAAAHHHH!!!! Who said I was going to the Olympics TWICE? I chuckled because it was something I wanted years ago, and then thought EH, I don't know if I would make the commitment. At the same time, those days I did not think I would ever have the opportunity. But now I am working with people who do this level of competition for a LIVING. And it's the first time is YEARS someone actually thought that I would have a chance if I really wanted to. So I began thinking about it. I was telling Robert and Dawn about this and they perfectly think it's a do-able thing for me. I expected them to be like my initial reaction and think it ludicrous. But maybe now?
The next Olympics after 2012 London is 2016 Rio....also the year I test for 5th Degree Black Belt -___- always got to have a full year, eh? I began imagining it. How cool would it be just to have a chance to spar in the Olympics? I've done Junior Olympics in the 14-17 division, came out Bronze! But as an adult? What can I really do? I imagine Steven Lopez when he won Gold in Sydney and Athens and Bronze in Beijing. What will it be like when I go? How awesome would it be? Can I see myself, Trento for 2016? Seems like a fantasy, but you never know....
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| Steven Lopez won Gold in 2000 Sydney Olympics, 2004 Athens Olympics, and Bronze in 2008 Beijing Olympics. |
ANDREW TRENTO
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