Australian University Games 2011
There were 9 Hwa Rang Do students from the University of Western Sydney and University of Newcastle, who had participated in the Australian University Games (AUGs) in Gold Cost on the 25th – 30th September, 2011. The University Games is like the Olympic Games for university students, where a number of sports are selected and University students from all over Australia compete in their individual sport. Taekwondo being one of them selected this year.
Below are a couple of perspectives from the students.
Name: Bill Inthapanya (top)
University of Western Sydney
Result: Silver Medal
The Australian university games was the highest level of Taekwondo competition I have every fought, needless to say I was very nervous pre-fights. There were nearly 200 competitors from many universities and states around the country; I had never been in a tournament of this calibre. I was one of only 3 competitors representing my university for taekwondo, while other universities had double digits of competitors. The skill level of the competitors ranged from Australian Olympic representatives to novices who had only been doing TKD for a couple of months, this meant an array of different styles and tactics that kept the competition action- packed from start to finish.
There were plenty of enjoyable fights, my memorable ones were of course those fought by my colleagues and myself but also one particular fighter who had the best war cry I have ever heard, upon JOON BI he would yell out HAAADOOOOOOOOOOKEN while pointing his right hand in the air. He would playfully mock the opponent by pointing and laughing every time the opponent was struck. There was also one unfortunate knock-out where the girl had to be taken to hospital, I don’t remember seeing her get up! The variety of fighting styles, tactics and characters was sensational, it was a very good lesson for me to observe and participate in.
Training for the AUG’s was amongst the hardest I’ve ever done, training 7 days with 4 of them being at Hwa Rang Do and the other 3 at home. I would turn up early, to stretch and warm up and at Burwood classes...30 mins of nonstop sparring prior to the beginning of class. On the day of the weigh in I realised that I was overweight and was afraid I wouldn’t make my weight class of under 80kgs. I ran 12km’s straight around the Gold Coast and along the beaches and the sand dunes followed by 1 hour of drills and sparring followed by 30mins of 70 degree sauna...oh and this was with 4 layers of clothing on! It was the most intense months of training I have ever done, but in the end it paid off because I made weight and got the silver medal.
In my opinion, any Hwa Rang Do student who is in university should give the AUG’s a try. The reason being, it will put your skills into perspective and see what it is you’re doing right or wrong how much you’ve been paying attention during training. It will also open your eyes to the importance and practicality of your instructors teaching and why it is they emphasise the importance of things like stepping, perfecting basics and timing. Never doubt your instructors!
Name: Harzl Lippl (top)
University of Newcastle
Result: Silver Medal
It was daunting, though exciting leading up to the departure date for AUG. The feeling of trepidation was upon me during training prior to the Competition. I found myself to be mentally as well as physically pushing myself more and more. Especially, on the day of competition in QLD, I found myself surround by rivals whom, were so in love with the sport and you could tell they have trained hard; I felt insignificant and nervous.
Besides these emotions, my preparation before AUG was minor, yet after AUG I discovered along with other TKD teammates that we wanted to challenge ourselves and train harder. The grading before departure date for AUG, with Master Kim, I took away valuable new principles and methods of fighting; though on the day I admit that all knowledge left me bare open for attack, it may have been the nerves and the insecurity of my ability. Alas, reflecting on the fight and the fight of my teammates I was left with the desire and motivation to work harder and to be sure of myself and my abilities in competing.
I, myself found that the saying ‘a student is only as good as their teacher’ to be wrong, because I realised from this trip that, ‘a student is only as great as they will allow themselves to be, the teacher be the guide with the lamp but the student must have the heart to take the journey’, after my fight in the Sydney Tournament and AUG I find myself in a position where I want to work harder, I need to become better and I want to exert the hard yards and make something of myself within this sport; the QLD experience, however disheartening made a burning desire within me to persist and to not allow myself to become victim to loss but use the losses as my strength to become better.
A great deal of help came from the support and encouragement of my teammates and spectators which I believe was the crux and nudge which aided each and every one of us in our fights and our own physical and mental challenges on the day. Watching the level and standard of not just the fights but also the patterns was exhilarating and brilliant to see other students’ diligent training and work at display. Though, we came away with losses and no Golds, we returned to Newcastle with an excitement for further training and deeper friendships within our Tae Kwon Do club, which I think is an awesome outcome overall.
