Arlington Heights Youth Wins Big in Taekwondo
An Arlington Heights youth athlete made his hometown proud recently when representing White Tiger Martial Arts Center (WTMAC) in the USA Taekwondo National Championships where Detroit played host to the world's largest taekwondo tournament for the first time in nearly a decade.
Throughout the week of July 4th, 12-year-old Adrian Kakareko joined thousands of other athletes to compete against hundreds of martial arts schools in a series of events including sparring, poomsae, and board breaking. All events require athletes to be disciplined and skilled, two traits that the WTMAC instills in their students from an early age. Kakareko has been practicing martial arts for seven years now.
Overall, he placed 1st for Board Breaking, winning a gold medal. The competition was held by USA Taekwondo (USAT) which is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the national governing body for the sport of Taekwondo in the US. To be eligible to compete in the National Championships, competitors must first place in the State Championships.
"I am extremely proud of Adrian for training consistently and working hard to get better," said Head Master Shik Lee, the owner of WTMAC. "He placed very well in his age group and I know he will continue to work hard and compete in more competitions."
As one of the youngest in his division, Kakareko's mother is also extremely proud. Not only of her son's accomplishments, but also because of what practicing taekwondo has taught him.
"He loves to help the other kids, especially the younger ones, at White Tiger. The parents always come up and thank me but it really isn't me, it's all him," she said of her youngest.
Once he began practicing the sport, she immediately noticed changes in his behavior. He began putting an extra emphasis on acedemics since his parents made it a stipulation that he had to do well in school in order to participate in the sport. He was just five years old when he started making his own bed every morning, about the same age as when he began getting involved in taekwondo.
As the years went by, Kakareko grew into the young man he is today. His mother recalls one moment in particular that she thanks taekwondo for. "He was specifically chosen to go into a classroom to help kids with special needs because he is very helpful, patient, and understanding-all things he learned from taekwondo."
Over 3,600 athletes competed in the championship where only the top competitors won medals. 2,058 sparring matches were held, more than 6,000 boards were broken and plenty of Poomsae routines were performed.
"Adrian loves competing and works hard to place well in competitions such as the USAT, so I know he is very proud of himself for winning gold," said Head Master Lee.
As for the future, Adrian's mother is excited to see where he goes with the sport. He said to his mother that he wants to be a lawyer during the day, but teach taekwondo at night. This is a dream he got from the WTMAC. He says he one day wants to try out for the national team, which is something that could be in his foreseeable future if he keeps up the good work.