TWELVE first dan black belters and four second dan black belters of Hanah Taekwondo under Coach Victorino Felix Feria, Jr. were added to the elite clusters of the Philippine Taekwondo Association when they all passed their promotions for black belts last May 26, 2019 at SM City-Bacolod which was spearheaded by regional chairman Harny Tabuada.
Power, determination, strength, stamina, endurance, discipline and presence of mind were all needed in order for these young athletes to survive and pass the tests that would lead them to be certified black belt holders.
These taekwondo Jins had to pass the physical fitness test that includes push-ups, squats, jumping jacks, rolling, duck walk and other exercises that would test their endurance and stamina. Aside from that they also have to perform randomly the different poomsae styles.
According to Majumdar (2016), poomsae are patterns or series of basic attack and defense movements from which taekwondo was developed. Furthermore, poomsae help the athletes in training their minds and bodies to develop responses to certain movements.
Aside from Poomsae, the athletes also had to perform different styles of kicks and self-defense like what they would do if they are the offensive or defensive player.
Another was how they will defend themselves by means of a sparring or kyorugi. Kyorugi is an actual fight between two competitors using the offensive and defensive skills acquired through the practice of taekwondo (www.iokma.in/kyorugi).
Kyorugi will test the reflexes, response to sudden attacks and alertness of the players. However, in their promotional test, there was more than one player who would attack the other player. This is of course very challenging because they have to be alert of the attackers so their reflexes and alertness were tested.
When these challenges were passed by the athletes, they have to go to the final round which is the most awaited part of the promotion: the wood breaking. They had to break the wood to pass the final test and be certified black belts. The thickness of the wood depends on the degree they were aspiring. Lucky for these Hanahnian players because of their trainings every day they were all able to break the wood.
The taekwondo promotion test was not about being on top of others or who is the best among the rest but it was about discipline, sportsmanship and respect. These young men and women will be our future leaders and the sport that they are into right now is an instrument that would help them carry these values when they are already in their chosen careers.
To these first dan black belters namely: Hans Samodio, Zach Olivo, Zane Olivo, Auster Joseph Burata, Adrain Galinea, Al Frances Reyes, Ethan Chavez, Ashley Chavez, Nea Aplasca, Thea Galia, Eiran Jett Sumaria and Christian Monasque and to the second dan black belters: Angeline Alcantara, Lester Paolo Escasinas, Davon Pecha and Joshua Emmanuel Deita, congratulations.
May this accolade you all receive will inspire more young people to be in sports and not in drugs. To their coach, Vic Feria, may you continue to produce athletes with sound mind, strong body and kind heart. Of course, these black belters will not be able to reach their aspiration without the support of their parents, so Kudos to these supportive parents.