Sophomore university student Carmelita may be late to the game in Taekwondo, but uses competitions as the driving force behind her motivation
PHOTO: CARMELITA VINCENT
There is more to Carmelita Vincent than meets the eye. Currently a sophomore university student studying Business Administration, this petite yet feisty girl is pursuing taekwondo with a passion. Interestingly, Carmelita only started Taekwondo training in the first year of her polytechnic studies, and, in her own words, has been “happily doing it ever since”. Having interacted with Carmelita on several occasions, I had the chance to finally chat with her about her sporting pursuit.
Carmelita revealed that she enjoyed the multi-faceted aspects of Taekwondo, such as poomsae (a series of offense and defense techniques) and kyorugi. Yet she declared a greater interest in kyorugi, also known as sparring. She waxed lyrical on how she loved the adrenaline rush when sparring and how she could learn so much from one fight.
Always curious to try out new things, Carmelita appreciated the fact that there were so many kicks as well as combinations and variations of those kicks for her to pick up. One may initially think that Carmelita has been involved in Taekwondo from her tender years. Yet her revelations say otherwise. Instead, Carmelita is a relatively “late-bloomer” to the sport, having begun training when she was around seventeen.
PHOTO: CARMELITA VINCENT
The availability of Taekwondo in her polytechnic enabled Carmelita to finally satiate her childhood interest in the sport after graduating from secondary school. When asked what motivates her to train, Carmelita admitted that her primary driving force is the ability to participate in competitions. While pre-competition training could be very stressful for Carmelita, she acknowledged her steep learning curve and set goals for each competition to try goals such as trying a new combination of kicks, for instance, Notably, Carmelita tremendously enjoys training for upcoming competitions as there are so many aspects to the sport, hence enabling her to constantly learn new things.
By keeping herself on her toes through rigorous training, Carmelita always likes to push herself further in order to realise that she is stronger than she thinks she is. Her pet peeve during training is when she cannot get a particular exercise or master a kick. The petite girl admits that she dislikes sparring against much taller people as she has trouble landing kicks.
That being said, Taekwondo is not only sweat and grind for Carmelita. Rather, she finds in it a solace from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Carmelita credits her growth in the sport to the patience and dedication of her coach as well as the strong support from her encouraging teammates. Kwontum Taekwondo, located at Fajar, is where Carmelita trains regularly. Occasionally, she also trains in SIM (Singapore Institute of Management) Taekwondo.
PHOTO: CARMELITA VINCENT
Months of dogged determination and sweat finally paid off for Carmelita when she clinched a Bronze for Taekwondo Open Championships and a Gold for National Kyorugi. Yet this budding talent disclosed that her current personal best would be the Singapore’s Pesta Sukan competition. Although she did not win a medal for that competition, Carmelita relished the fact that she could push herself a lot as well as try out new kicks for that competition.
Also, she learnt so much from her defeat as she sparred with much taller opponents. (The Pesta Sukan, or Sports Festival, refers to a festival targeted at giving sportsmen and women opportunities to gather together in friendly sports competitions.)
As someone who enjoys Taekwondo,Carmelita manifested her wish to perform her very best to get the best results in competitions. Furthermore, she stated that her desire to succeed increases as she gets older as Taekwondo has become part of her identity.
In her additional reflections that demonstrated her pensiveness, Carmelita mused on her plans to improve her ability to think under pressure. As a new fighter, she admitted her tendency to land kicks out of panic, without much thought.
Carmelita expressed her wishes to have more chances to spar to increase her confidence and comfort in the sport. Acknowledging her struggles with certain kicks, Carmelita indicated the need for more practice to perfect her moves.
An energetic and vivacious athlete, Carmelita divulged that she jogs or does High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) to maintain stamina, in addition to her Taekwondo forays. Her family also plays football with her.
PHOTO: CARMELITA VINCENT
For the uninitiated, Carmelita’s dedication to Taekwondo may give the impression that the sport is mainly what she does on a daily basis. Yet, this multi-tasker admits that she is juggling her studies with her part-time job with her love for Taekwondo. Adopting a pragmatic tone, Carmelita readily declares that the importance of taekwondo in her current life would vary, depending on whether she had to prepare for competitions or not.
When asked about her goals in Taekwondo, Carmelita replied that her short term goal would be to compete in as many fights as she can to win as many medals. In the long term, Carmelita aspires to be a critical fighter who can think under pressure and analyze her opponent’s weaknesses. Alluding to her relatively small build, Carmelita also hopes she can win more matches against much taller opponents.
If she could turn back time, Carmelita confessed that she would advise herself to step out of her comfort zone. This was because she was afraid of change during her younger years, thus she would rarely try new things. However, after deciding to step out of her comfort zone at a later age, Carmelita realized that she could gain so much experience with new things, experiences that she is grateful for.
When asked to give her two cents’ worth to those interested to pick Taekwondo up as a competitive sport or hobby, Carmelita had this to say, “Push yourself and never give up!! The beginning is never easy but the end will be worthwhile. The journey will be unforgettable yet memorable.”