To Be a Champion!

(Steven Lin wins gold at the 2011 Korea Open)

One of the mentors I have mentioned is Captain Peter Bardatsos, six time national coach and champion. One of the greatest Olympic Taekwondo coaches on the east coast. He actually was the one to give my former master his fourth degree Black Belt. I met him was I was younger, and a few times I went to his school in Queens, New York (like I plan on doing again come this fall) to improve my sparring. These are the heavy hitters.

As I mentioned in my last post about my dear friend, Robert, thank God for him because he keeps me up to date and motivated when it comes to my sparring training. Sparring always changes, is never the same, and requires a lot of maintenance training. From the ages of 13 to 18, I competed in Taekwondo and did fairly well. I had some great experiences and wonderful matches, not all won, but I won by what I learned. Baradatsos's students are truly elite. 

I competed at the state, regional, and national level, but never the international level. I know I am no where near hat elite level of sparring, but during my journey to masterhood, I hope to achieve great progress to gaining that elite level of sparring. For the first time in four years, I plan on competing again this year, JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT. But deep down inside I have a little broken agreement that I want to accomplish. It will most likely take place after my fourth degree test, but that is okay, I want to get a good head start NOW.

I always wanted to do an international competition and there are two in mind. The U.S Open Taekwondo Championships, and the World Martial Arts Tournament. The first one is an Olympic Taekwondo competition, and second is a prestigious tournament held every year in Las Vegas for several martial arts. In my lifetime I want to compete in these competitions. Not necessarily the Olympics, maybe as a spectator, but never say never I guess.

When I was 13 years old, I sparred a kid named Steven Lin. It was a very close match, but I bat him for the gold medal at the 2003 Big East Taekwondo Championships. Maybe three years later, my friend Jessie drove me to Queens, NY to spar at Bardatsos Taekwondo. I sparred all these guys who just beat the daylights out of me, and I loved every minute of it. At the end, as I was waiting for Jessie to return to bring me back to new Jersey, Steven Lin walks up to me and says "You don't remember me do you?" And I looked at him and I said "Um...I know you Steven." But he responded "No. You don't remember me, do you?" I didn't understand. He then went on about how he remembered that I beat him in that competition. I honestly did not remember it at all. Then I laughed and looked at him and said, "Well.....does it really matter now??" I laughed and so did he.

At this point he had the greatest coach on the east coast, his skills far surpassed mine, and we've been sparring together for months that year. I loved sparring Steven because he made me WORK. I had to be on my toes, I had to be smart, I had to be quick, I had to NOT be tired. It's been three years since we've sparred each other.

Recently, I saw from Bardatsos Taekwondo, that Steven Lin had won gold at an international competition, The KOREA OPEN. WOW! Just wow! I am amazed and impressed, and so proud of him! He not only cmpeted at an international competition but he also won GOLD and in KOREA!! Master Toledo used to tell me, "If you are ever partnered against a Korean, just pack your bags and get ready to go home." HAHAHA! I was so proud to hear about Steven's great success as a Taekwondo athlete, and I really hope I get to spar this champion again when I visit Bardatsos Taekwondo. Congratulation Steven on all your successes! 

Hearing about his successes, gives me motivation also to work hard to keep up with Steven. With Master Bardatsos's help, and sparring against Steven and other athletes from Bardatsos Taekwondo, I know I will gain much improvement. I am not going to lie, I get scared just thinking about it, but the excitement overtakes those scared feelings! Time to begin with the end in mind!

Yours in service,

A TRENTO