It was just over a year ago when Total Taekwondo students trained for the 2020 AAU Taekwondo Nationals that originally scheduled to take place in July in Las Vegas.
However, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck during early March, the national competition was postponed and rescheduled for last month at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex located at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.
With the pandemic unwilling to subside significantly, the event later was moved from an in-person competition to a virtual competition where the participants competed in Poomsae, which is defined pattern of defense and attack motions.
The students spent their evenings and weekends training hard for that one moment, and despite of all the setbacks and changes, the long journey of having the chance to compete this year ended with great results.
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“It was a big switch for them. The kids were working really hard for one thing, and then all of a sudden, it just switched and totally changed how we were training and how things were supposed to be,” Master Robert Kelley said. “They did really good. I’m really happy with how they did.”
Master Kelley said he was on track to take about 30 kids to the national competition, with most of them doing high-level fighting competitions. Once COVID-19 made the competition virtual, they ended up with 15 kids doing the virtual nationals.
“The ones that didn’t do nationals, they still trained,” Master Kelley said. “Most of them were mostly fighters, and they want to fight and have that fighting aspect.”
Master Kelley has been involved in taekwondo for more than 31 years. Kelley opened Total Taekwondo in March 2012, and classes were held at Total Fitness. Once the numbers got too big, he relocated to the current facility off U.S. 31 near the intersection of Lowell Road and 150 West to have more practice and class time.
Master Kelley said Total Taekwondo just started pushing for a competitive tournament team the past four to five years, and so far, the results have been excellent.
Fifteen of the Total Taekwondo students came away with 28 top-three places, seven of which were national championship titles.
Total Taekwondo produced six different champions in seven divisions. The World Taekwondo Forms National Champions included Luis Valerdi in the male black belt 12-13 year-old division and Shreeya Ettireddy in the female intermediate 16-17. Open Traditional Forms champions included Catherine Yang in the female black belt 8-9, Skyelar Ross in the female advanced 12-13, Rendy Zhong in the female intermediate 10-11, Ettireddy in the female intermediate 16-17 and Wendy Zhong in the female intermediate 10-11.
Ettireddy, who is a junior at Columbus North, started taekwondo right as she began her freshman year in September 2018, but this was her first time competing in the nationals competition.
“It felt shocking. I feel like that I can’t believe it that I still won,” Ettireddy said. “It feels good.”
Ettiready said she starting learning taekwondo in order to raise her self-confidence and discipline.
“When I was starting high school, I was really shy,” Ettiready said. “I feel like taekwondo has really helped me become a little more self-assured and self-confident.”
Second-place finishes in the World Taekwondo Forms include Yang in the female black belt 8-9, Hailey Harper in the female intermediate 8-9, Rendy Zhong in the female intermediate 10-11, Sophie Anderson in the female advanced 12-13, Grace Lodhi in the female intermediate 8-9, Tatum Downing in the female black belt 18-32, Sinchana Manjunatha in the female advanced 8-9, and she also placed second in the Open Traditional Forms.
Other second-place finishers in the Open Traditional Forms include Valerdi in the male black belt 12-13, Taylor Anderson in the female advanced 10-11, Katie Hernandez in the female black belt 16-17, Xavier Zhang in the male black belt 8-9.
Third-place finishers in the World Taekwondo Forms include Zhang in the male black belt 8-9, Ross in the female advanced 12-13, Hernandez in the female black belt 16-17.
Third-place finishers in the Open Traditional Forms include Sophie Anderson in the female advanced 12-13, Harper in the female intermediate 8-9, Lodhi in the female intermediate 8-9, Abigail Lodhi in the female intermediate 10-11, Downing in the female black belt 18-32. Hernandez placed third in the Traditional Weapons Forms in the female black belt 16-17.
