THE Abellana National School taekwondo team brought home the bacon in the Philippine Taekwondo League, beating University of Cebu, Tisa National School, Leaton School and Bogo last Nov. 25 at the SM Seaside Cebu.
And among the formidable group of boys is Arturo C. Malaki III, who is no stranger to winning after earning his eighth gold medal at 14.
“I prepared for it using my experience and applying it to the matches. My coaches’ discipline and training also helped,” said AJ, who attributes his success to experience and discipline.
AJ remembers winning his first medal at 10 years old and compared it to a series of firsts.
“The feeling of completeness and getting to reach that one moment of firsts, like my first bike ride, the feeling of happiness and love for my family for getting me into this sport,” he said.
AJ got into the sport at six years old because his mother wanted him to be active.
“I got in taekwondo because I was a chubby child back when I was still in grade school and my mom decided to enroll me in a sport to be active,” he said.
Now, he is a second dan blackbelter who has joined and won in the Milo Little Olympics, Cebu City Olympics.
Under the tutelage of coach Raul Luna, the eighth grader at Cebu City Science High School does a good balancing act with his studies and his chosen sport, training on days without homework or tests.
Apart from finding it the perfect fitness regimen, AJ points said sport is morally rewarding.
“I treat every match as if it was the finals, I am always very competitive but I keep my morals in check by not being too much of a show off,” he said.
With experience and determination at a high, the young taekwondo player admits to nerves when he is competing, “I get the feeling of butterflies in my stomach and some cold sweats usually before and during the first round of the first match and the finals.”
Like any growing teen, balancing playtime and studytime is tough.
“My toughest struggles was having injuries and not being (able) to perform well at practices and some competitions due to lack of motivation and some problems at school,” he said.
He said he got injured during sparring sessions but learned to overcome it.
“I got them from sparring practices or when the opponent kicks low or through an accidental hit to the elbow...I got used to the pain and kept pushing forward,” he said.
But being a real athlete, AJ strives to regain focus, “I just listen to my coach and concentrate for me to control the scores and the opponent.”
Malaki’s grip and motivation is a great factor at winning, and he credits his family.
“I get my focus because of my parents giving me support and I have to give them good results of my studies and in taekwondo as well. What motivates me is the rewarding feeling after every match and that feeling of completeness, and, of course, the food I get to eat after,” he said.
AJ acknowledges that there are kids more talented them him in the sport but doesn’t let that deter him.
“There maybe people who have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for you not to work harder than anyone does,” he said.