Things Take Time

Everyone wants shortcuts to everything in life. If there is an easy way to make money, people will do it. If there's a new pill on the market that is "guaranteed" to make you lose a lot of pounds in a few weeks, people will buy it. You get the idea.

The thing is, the best things in life come through hard work. There is no shortcut to achieving or gaining great things. If there were, everyone would be successful. This is especially true in sports like Taekwondo.

Everyone starting out in Taekwondo had no idea what to do at first. No one knew how to kick, punch, perform Poomsae, or spar. Guess what? It took time for them to kick and punch properly. It took time for them to perfect their Poomsae. It took time to learn the ins and outs of sparring. 

The more skilled an athlete gets, the harder it is to break out of plateaus in their skills. This is where the desire for shortcuts is born and what separates the good athletes and the great athletes. Can they persist? Will they give up? Eventually, with proper guidance and training, they will break their plateaus. Patience and support from their coach(es) and loved ones is important for this.

Parents need to have the same patience during this process, especially if they are seeking help for their children's progress. Results are usually expected right away, similar to a shortcut. However, just as there are no shortcuts in life, there are no shortcuts for skill development. 

If you truly believe in your child's ability to grow as well as the coach's ability to nurture them, then you need to have faith and patience. 

Parent Coaching

Everyone wants their kids to succeed. People get involved in their child's sport to ensure that they succeed and they do so in many ways such as taking them to more practices, being at competitions etc. Some parents take it a step further and believe that they know what is best for their child in order to succeed.

This is where the conflict happens.

Parents, unless you have enough history and credentials in your child's sport that is equal to or greater than their coach's then you should not be coaching your child. The coach is there for a reason. 

Many parents to not seem to realize just how much of an influence they can have on their child's psyche. Kids naturally want to please their parents and take losses really hard. Parents should give social and emotional support for their child, but never sports advice. It is confusing for a young athlete to have 2 or more coaches because they are not mentally mature enough to pick and choose what advice to follow.

Parent coaching leads to low performance, difficulty in improving skills, and inattentiveness. This is because in a child's mental hierarchy, their parents are above their coach which means they will be more likely to listen to their parents over the coach. 

Let coaches do their jobs. Trust us, and we promise we will do everything we can to give your child opportunities to succeed.

Valor TKD 101: The Hop Cut

The hop cut is not done like a fast kick or a sliding side kick, but instead picks both feet off the ground and jumps forward. Hence, the term "hop cut". Both feet must come off the ground and land on the ground at the same time. Practice jumping up and down like this several times until both feet jump up and land at the same time.

The next step is to do the hops forward. Practice the same hops and push yourself forward. Again, both feet must jump up and land on the ground at the same time. Do not gallop like a horse.

Step 3 is to jump forward again but this time raising the knee high at a 45 degree like in the previous lesson (See Valor TKD 101: Changing the cut kick). Perform the hops again, this time raising the front leg at 45 degrees with the bottom of the foot facing forward.

The last step is to add the kick. Recall in the previous lesson the pivot. After hopping forward and raising the front leg up, you must pivot your balancing foot IMMEDIATELY after landing on the ground. This will jerk your hip forward and increase the power of your cut kick. Combined with hopping forward, this technique is guaranteed to send your opponents flying.

Drills: 

• Hop in place, both feet jumping and landing at the same time (10 times)
• Hop forward, both feet jumping and landing at the same time (10 times left leg and right leg in front)
• Hop forward, raising the leg 45 degrees (10 times left leg and right leg in front)
• Hop forward, raising the leg 45 degrees, pivot balance foot after landing and cut kick (10 times left leg and right leg in front)    

Valor TKD 101: Changing the cut kick

As you know, cut kick is merely side kick when used in a sparring match. You raise your leg sideways with your foot facing the target and exten your leg,essentially "stabbing" the opponent with your kick. While this usual method is effective, the "stabbing" aspect could be made much more efficient and improved with 2 key changes: Raising the leg at a 45 degree angle instead of 90 degrees as well as pivoting.

1.) Get into fighting stance and raise your leg up without trying to make it sideways. Your leg should already be facing diagonally (AKA 45 degrees) if your fighting stance is not too square, meaning you are not facing toward your opponent. Your shoulder should be facing your opponent. 

2.) Pivot the foot you are balancing on to turn your body sideways; you should not be using your arms to turn sideways. When you raise your leg as mentioned above, you must pivot your foot immediately until your heel (The foot you are balancing on) faces forward. This will automatically make your hips turn and give your cut kick a better "stab" motion, thereby making it stronger. 

NOTE: Be sure to do another kick after cut kicking.

Keep in mind the leg raise and the pivot when you attempt to cut kick in sparring. Force yourself to do it until it becomes natural. You should then notice your cut kicks becoming more powerful just from changing the way you kick, rather than trying to kick harder. 

National Collegiate Taekwondo Championships, April 6-8, 2018

Late post, since I needed to catch up with school. 

Earlier this month, 1 week after my training trip to La Loma High Performance Center in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, I embarked once again with Stanford Taekwondo to Washington D.C. There, we arrived at the competition we've been preparing for: The National Collegiate Taekwondo Championships. 

Washington D.C. is a beautiful city (And REALLY cold!), and it was neat to finally visit the capital of the United States. We got to explore around for a while and visit a few museums. The White House was nearby as well and it was a surreal experience to see something I've always seen in textbooks, T.V., and on the internet. 

I fought on April 8th, the last day of the competition. Unfortunately, I did not get the result I wanted nor performed the way I wanted to. A major problem that affected not only myself, but other athletes competing was the new mats that were used. New mats means that they are extremely slippery and they had caused many athletes that weekend to be limited in what they could do. Athletes who were heavier and more stable with their fighting styles had no problem with the mats. This did not extend to athletes who tend to move around a lot such as myself, however. 

Of course, not all of the blame is on the mats. There were things I did in the ring that I should have done better as well. This competition has shown me these things about myself and now I have come out of the competition as a better competitor and athlete. I will take what I have learned to fix what I need to fix in preparation for Nationals in July. 

Thank you again to Stanford Taekwondo for funding me and allowing me to be a part of your team. 

La Loma, Training Camp in San Luis Potosi, Mexico

From March 23rd to the 31st, I had the honor of going with the Stanford Taekwondo team to San Luis Potosi, Mexico to train with athletes at the La Loma High Performance Altitude Training Center. For 5 days straight, we trained 3 times a day living and breathing Taekwondo. The director of the camp, Ireno Fargas, is a close friend of Tim Ghormley, the head coach for Stanford Taekwondo. Coach Fargas even gave us 1 of the training days for Stanford to lead and show the 300+ athletes in attendance what is current in sport Taekwondo, both poomsae and sparring.  

This was a trip I will remember for years to come, especially after gaining new friends both in the Stanford team and in Mexico. Thank you to Coach Ghormley, Stanford Taekwondo, and Ireno Fargas for giving me the rare opportunity to train and be part of your Taekwondo community. 

How to approach your training

The most important thing to do before training is to get your mind set. If you go into practice without a clear goal in your mind, you will not see the improvement you want to see. Close your eyes, take deep breaths, imagine in your head what you want to accomplish in practice, and do all that you can to do it. It could be anything: "I want to use this kick 5 times in at least 1 match." "I want to block and dodge as many kicks as possible while staying in the middle of the ring." "I want to land 1 headshot on every person I fight today." "I want to perform this poomsae like I'm trying to win 1st place." 

Keep yourself competitive in practice, even against classmates. On the mat, there are no friends whether you are doing poomsae or sparring. Always perform as if you're in a tournament because your classmates are doing their best to win as well. 

It's okay if you did not "win" against your classmates. The question you should be asking yourself is, "Did I meet the goal I made before practice?". If so, it doesn't matter what the score on the board says or what other people say about you. Focus on you and what you alone are doing. Training will always test you and your ability to persevere when you think you are not doing well. Once the big tournament comes, that is when you will truly shine.

Once practice is over, you can be friends with all the people you want. There is a time and place for everything and training time is your important time to develop yourself. Do not distract yourself by chatting with others before and during practice so that you can give your absolute best.

How can my Child Improve? (Part 2 of 2)

As both a fighter and a coach, I can relate to the feelings of inadequacy and failure kids feel when berated by their parents. My teen years were filled with many inner conflicts with myself when I came face to face with my father. It took me a while to realize that him being hard on me was his way of saying that he cared for me. As a result, my relationship with my father grew stronger. Had I not came to this realization, I fear I may have said and done things I would have regretted. Negativity will only produce more negativity. 

Thank you for taking the Taekwondo journey with me, dad. 

Unfortunately, not every athlete/child will come to terms with themselves in this manner. This is why it's so important for coaches and parents to stay positive for their kids. They need their friends and their loved ones to support them when they are down. It sounds cheesy and it sounds like something people have heard before, but it is oh so true. I personally have felt feelings of depression whenever I didn't perform well and my father criticized me for not doing well, especially against other fighters I could have beaten. Every time this occurred I wished that someone was there to tell me it was going to be alright and that I did well.

If the children don't do as well as they had wanted, tell them all the good things they did. Starting with what went wrong will cause them to think negatively while giving them advice to improve. Afterwards, suggest things that they can try out to do better. Telling them things that they must do, have to do etc will make it feel like an ordeal for them. It will also cause them to think they are not doing things right at all which is almost never true. Some aspects may have been wrong or had room for improvement, but there are always parts that are good and that's what we coaches and parents must emphasize. 

How can my Child Improve? (Part 1 of 2)

This has been something that's been bothering me for years in Taekwondo.

Parents.

It's understandable, they want their children to succeed. What parent doesn't want their kids to look good out there when they're kicking? But what really upsets me are the ways that parents attempt to mold their kids into the way they envision them. 

"Why aren't you doing this?", "What's wrong with you?", "C'mon, stop doing that!"

I hear expressions like these all of the time, both in and out of the dojang. What parents need to understand is that yelling these things at their children isn't going to help them at all. In fact, it can make them worse. Their good intentions are ruined by their poor choice of words and their children suffer from it. Children know what mistakes they make, especially in Taekwondo. Reminding them constantly of their mistakes will induce stress in them and their performance will suffer. Now, their goal isn't to improve their skills, but rather to not fail and this mindset will hurt their rate of improvement, maybe even stunt it.

US Open and Seattle Sparring Seminar

On Thursday, February 1st, I competed in the 54-kg category for Senior Male Sparring in the Taekwondo US Open. This competition I was ranked as the 17th seed out of the other 32 competitors. My first opponent was from Japan and ranked 16th seed. This athlete stands over 6 feet tall while I stand at about 5 feet 4 inches. I managed to pull a win using a strategy consisting primarily of punching. My opponent was not gauging his distance well and allowed me to get into his space easily for most of the match. Due to his size, he most likely had to cut a lot of weight and must have ended up weak on competition day. I came to this conclusion due to his quickness to fatigue and lack of strength in his kicks. the final score was 26-23.

My next opponent was the number 1 seed in the entire world for the 54-kg weight category: Cesar Rodriguez. He was probably my most difficult opponent I have ever faced in my life thus far. His distance management, presence in the ring, timing, and power were all things I am unaccustomed to. I have almost never sparred against someone of this caliber and faced an early defeat. However, this experience was invaluable and I will always remember that match. I now have a new goal to reach as well as aspirations to continue pushing and improving my game. 

After the US Open, I spent the weekend (February 2-4) in Seattle, Washington with the Stanford Taekwondo team to conduct a Sparring Seminar at the University of Washington. Stanford alumni and former Taekwondo athlete Viet Tran has taken over the Taekwondo program at UW and is in the process of revamping everything. To help with this, he requested that Stanford Taekwondo come over to introduce what is current in today's sport Poomsae and Kyoroogi (Sparring). The turnout comprised not only of UW Taekwondo practitioners, but also neighboring Taekwondo schools. It was a wonderful experience for me to branch out my teaching capabilities to Taekwondo athletes of all ages and manage such a large class in one day. These are memories I will treasure and remember for the rest of my life and hope to share with future students one day.

-Joseph Ong

US Open 2018

It's that time of the year again, and the US Open returns once again to Las Vegas. This will be the first US Open that I will have competed in since 2013 and I am excited to get back onto the mat. Being that this is the first major competition of the year, I feel both nervous and curious about my current skill level. One could always use more training and I always question whether I have trained enough. Sometimes I have, other times not. I am content no matter the result, however, because I have already decided that I would groom the next generation of fighters and prioritize their success. Their victories are my victories as well. 

Day 2 has already finished and although I did not get to be there in person, several athletes in our program have demonstrated great improvement since the time they started with the program. I believe that given enough time and consistent practice from now until State Championships in April, they will be well on their way to not only be State Champions, but also National Champions. 

My turn to fight is on February 1st and, as always, will give 101%.\

-Joseph Ong

Paul Green & Gareth Brown Sparring Seminar Day 2&3

The last 2 days of the seminar weekend were much more intense than day 1. Day 2 emphasized much more on hip strength and utilizing the front leg to cancel out the opponent's front leg. Being able to cancel their front leg and then attempt to score off that appears vital in today's game rather than just going forward with it. There's more to the game than what others call "fencing". In some ways and situations, that it is the case. However, the game is much more mental and more like chess. Some people still likened the game to chess a few years ago but I personally thought it was more of checkers where multiple kicks were favored. Due to electronic scoring, your score attempts need to be planned out whether it be breaking the pattern (kick one spot and then kick at another), making trick shots, or aiming at small gaps in the opponent's guard. 

Overall, while the seminar introduced drills that I have actually seen before/can come up with, the amount of thought and detail that the coaches taught made them feel fresh and understandable. Some of the drills I have done in the past were done without much thought to them and they made them make sense.  Each one has a goal and method to that goal that makes each drill feel rewarding when done and that is the sort of training one needs to seek out to improve their skills. I definitely feel like many athletes/schools in the US do not enforce enough realism and intensity in their drills, especially when the athletes begin to fade in practices. Paul Green and Gareth Brown were constantly on everyone at all times to make sure each drill was done correctly and with the same intensity and realism as in a sparring match. 

I hope to use my newfound knowledge to help other athletes in my region improve and take steps to make the USA a better TKD nation so that they can hold their head high with the other nations that win consistently. 

-Joseph Ong

Paul Green & Gareth Brown Seminar Day 1: January 5, 2018

The first day of the seminar weekend with the former Great Britain coaches gave me great insight of their views and methods of training. Comparing with previous USA coaches, Paul Green and Gareth Brown focus less on techniques to score on the electronic systems and more on preventing from getting scored on. Today they focused primarily on blocks and controlling the space between you and the opponent. They were training the athletes today to be more mentally strong and confident when approaching and being near an opponent. 

But the biggest takeaway from their training today was the theme of the training. Without themes in training sessions, the training will be mostly useless and doesn't help athletes improve their skills. The themes make the drills work and without them, the drills are just more drills that everyone can do. There were 3 notable themes today: Intensity, realism, and speed. Paul Green and Gareth Brown are strong advocates for the phrase: "Fight how you train". They ensured and encouraged all the athletes in attendance to do every movement and every kick as if they were in a competition. This is where the themes come in. Without intensity and speed, one's body will not improve because it will not know how to perform optimally. Without realism, the body will fail to react to situations in the ring if it hasn't been exposed to these situations in training.  

I am looking forward to what the coaches have in store for tomorrow.

-Joseph Ong

Great Britain Coaches' Sparring Seminar

This coming weekend from Friday 1/5/18 to Sunday 1/7/18 is a sparring seminar lead by 2 former coaches of Great Britain: Paul Green and Gareth Brown. I've yet to be informed exactly why they are no longer the head coaches for Great Britain but they are now the head coaches for the United States. Personally, I think they are great new assets for the US Team. For a long time, results from our athletes compared to the other countries around the world have been mediocre. I think we are always, in some way, 1 step behind the rest of the world. It certainly shows through their results and our lack thereof. Going into this, I hope to learn much from their experience and add some of their wealth of knowledge to my own repertoire to share with my own students. It is a big change for USA Taekwondo but perhaps that is what it has needed all along to push it forward. 

-Joseph Ong