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The Best Taekwondo Match Ever
I am playing taekwondo since 2 years . It gave me many things …Self confidence. Self control. Self dependence. Pain as well. It took a lot of things from me as well …Sweat. Sleepless nights. Practice. Dedication.
I still remember the most memorable match I ever had . It was a district level tournament. I have a streak of only winning gold medals till now . So , I actually have a regular practise of taekwondo as compared to the other players of my school . We were invited there to play .
The most shocking thing was that my coach knew that there’d be less golds. So . He. Did. Something . He made me the one to be screwed . ‘Bali ka bakra’ -that’s what we call it in Hindi.
He settled the weight machine in my turn in such a way that the weight would be shown almost 15 to 20 kg more than I weigh . He knew that everyone will doubt if I fight in the under 14 category. So ,he put me in the under 18 . I was just 12 though my height was 5’6 at that time. Then ,my name was displayed on the board. I had an opponent. My eyes bulged out of the sockets when I saw her for the first time. She was 18 . She weighed almost 78 to 80 kg. She was a little taller than me too . I was shocked . It was the first time I wanted to kill my coach. But probably , that was the only way for us to win the medal
I was the last hope for him because I was kinda more experienced than anyone else in the group. I stood at the fighting ring. And all the people from the either side were laughing at me . I cannot forget the look of those underestimating eyes . I was feeling cheated. Then , I looked at my coach . I cannot forget that shine in his eyes that showed trust for me. No one had won a gold till then but everyone got out of the ring with swelled face , hands , leg... I looked at the crowd . I looked at the judges. Everyone’s eyes just questioned one thing ,’What will she fight?’.
That time , I only listened to what came out of my heart . ‘You will not feel yourself a failure until you fail from the whole world but not from yourself.’ I cannot give up before starting .
Our match started . And I made her fall with my third kick. Someone shouted to her ‘Just quit now!’. I smiled from inside. After that , I realised that I was being cheated again. I was getting penalties for her mistakes. But my coach stayed quiet . In the second round , I injured my hand while defending. But I still had to play the third round. I went back to the ring . I knew my nose was going to bleed so I kept sniffing . The match was finished after 3 minutes. The three commands were given . Chingsaw , Chayut and kingray . And then the whole arena was silent . The question ‘What will she fight?’ changed to ‘Will St. Xavier win the medal?’ . The answer was ................YES!. The referee showed his arm on my side. I was speechless. My coach shouted. It was my biggest victory. I ran to him and hugged him . The judges were stunned at their own decision. Everyone congratulated me with stunned eyes. Now the question changed to ‘How did she won?’.
So ,the thing I learned was ,’There will always be a lot of questions against you . Don’t worry. That question cycle will never end. It’s your work to change those questions from negative to positive . It is your work to change those judging eyes to stunned . And yes , never lose hope before competing '.
© Raj Ratanmala
I still remember the most memorable match I ever had . It was a district level tournament. I have a streak of only winning gold medals till now . So , I actually have a regular practise of taekwondo as compared to the other players of my school . We were invited there to play .
The most shocking thing was that my coach knew that there’d be less golds. So . He. Did. Something . He made me the one to be screwed . ‘Bali ka bakra’ -that’s what we call it in Hindi.
He settled the weight machine in my turn in such a way that the weight would be shown almost 15 to 20 kg more than I weigh . He knew that everyone will doubt if I fight in the under 14 category. So ,he put me in the under 18 . I was just 12 though my height was 5’6 at that time. Then ,my name was displayed on the board. I had an opponent. My eyes bulged out of the sockets when I saw her for the first time. She was 18 . She weighed almost 78 to 80 kg. She was a little taller than me too . I was shocked . It was the first time I wanted to kill my coach. But probably , that was the only way for us to win the medal
I was the last hope for him because I was kinda more experienced than anyone else in the group. I stood at the fighting ring. And all the people from the either side were laughing at me . I cannot forget the look of those underestimating eyes . I was feeling cheated. Then , I looked at my coach . I cannot forget that shine in his eyes that showed trust for me. No one had won a gold till then but everyone got out of the ring with swelled face , hands , leg... I looked at the crowd . I looked at the judges. Everyone’s eyes just questioned one thing ,’What will she fight?’.
That time , I only listened to what came out of my heart . ‘You will not feel yourself a failure until you fail from the whole world but not from yourself.’ I cannot give up before starting .
Our match started . And I made her fall with my third kick. Someone shouted to her ‘Just quit now!’. I smiled from inside. After that , I realised that I was being cheated again. I was getting penalties for her mistakes. But my coach stayed quiet . In the second round , I injured my hand while defending. But I still had to play the third round. I went back to the ring . I knew my nose was going to bleed so I kept sniffing . The match was finished after 3 minutes. The three commands were given . Chingsaw , Chayut and kingray . And then the whole arena was silent . The question ‘What will she fight?’ changed to ‘Will St. Xavier win the medal?’ . The answer was ................YES!. The referee showed his arm on my side. I was speechless. My coach shouted. It was my biggest victory. I ran to him and hugged him . The judges were stunned at their own decision. Everyone congratulated me with stunned eyes. Now the question changed to ‘How did she won?’.
So ,the thing I learned was ,’There will always be a lot of questions against you . Don’t worry. That question cycle will never end. It’s your work to change those questions from negative to positive . It is your work to change those judging eyes to stunned . And yes , never lose hope before competing '.
© Raj Ratanmala
