Congratulations to Fourth Year student Avi Arora who won two gold medals at the recent Tang Soo Do World Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Avi started training started in Taekwondo from the age of three while he was living in India, and only started Tang Soo Do after seeing an advert in the Trinity Sports Club when he was a First Year student. Having to start from white belt, Avi has now reached brown belt. He tells us about his experience of the World Championships, which was organised by the European Tang Soo Do Federation:
“After registration, the grandmasters gave an opening speech and there was a performance by the black belts showing their forms, both with bare hands and with weapons. Their form and movement were mesmerising to watch and motivated me to perform well in my own competition.
“There were two categories and the first required all competitors to show our form in front of the master and grandmasters, where we were judged on our movements, posture, balance, breathing and technique.
“The second category was sparring with opponents in the same age group and experience (belt) and applying our learning in the competition. It was very clearly articulated to us the importance of not hitting people (even with the sole intention of scoring), but to focus instead on showing our form and discipline, a true reflection of self-control. This part of the competition required back-to-back sparring with athletes from various parts of the world like Ireland, Malta, USA etc. With every stage being a knockout stage, I needed resilience to ensure I could approach every fight with the same focus.
“I feel super blessed to have achieved gold in both the categories and super happy with the outcome. I am looking forward to practising hard for next year’s championship which is planned for the USA.”
Avi adds, “Tang Soo Do is not just a physical discipline; it also promotes mental and emotional well-being, teaching students to handle conflict peacefully and to cultivate a strong sense of self-awareness and self-confidence. The part I enjoy the most about Tang Soo Do is self-defence and improving my overall physical fitness which has helped me improve in other sports I love and represent Trinity in, including cricket and badminton.”
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