SPORT
Focus , resilience and commitment the key to Cameron ’ s Taekwondo success
Year 7 student Cameron Schnell is rising through the ranks in the Korean martial art of Taekwondo . Now competing in state , national and international competitions , Cameron shows us that focus , resilience and commitment are the keys to success , in any arena .
Having danced both privately and competitively for eight years , I was looking for something different . I had thought about karate , so Mum took me to the local karate club to see if I liked it . I stayed and watched for a while and then suggested to Mum that we look at another club . Mum drove me to the next club and we went inside . The lady at the front desk asked if I wanted to go through to watch the class that was being taught . I stood watching the other students and the coach take their sports class and I was instantly hooked ! That was my first introduction to taekwondo and I have not looked back . That was just over two years ago .
I started off slowly ; trying to find my feet . My background in dancing helped me greatly . My flexibility and fitness was a significant advantage , but now I had to learn how to kick and spar like a true taekwondo athlete . Over the first 18 months I learned the basics , the rules and discipline , as well as the terminology and Korean names for everything .
There are different disciplines in taekwondo competition , including poomsae ( forms / patterns ) and sparring ( fighting ). During my first eighteen months I competed in a few local competitions and achieved great results in the area of poomsae , slowly developing my confidence and improving on my sparring skills . I decided to concentrate solely on poomsae , and my first major win came in 2015 when I won gold at the State Championships for my age and belt division . As a result of this success I was selected to represent Western Australia at the 2015 National Championships in South Australia and it was here that I became the 2015 National Champion for the 12-14-year-old blue belt division . I had only just turned twelve .
At the start of this year , I decided that I wanted to improve on my sparring skills and to fully devote all of my attention to taekwondo . I had continued to dance up until this time and although I enjoyed dancing , it was time to move on . I was training four days a week , both in sparring and poomsae . In March , I double passed when grading for my red second stripe and was asked by my coaches to grade the following day for my black belt . After successfully passing , I now had my black belt after only two years . Many new opportunities were now possible for me !
This year I continued to attend many tournaments and started winning my fights . I was the 12-14yrs under 45kg black belt State Champion for sparring at the 2016 State Championships . My team and I also won gold for the cadet male poomsae team at the State competition and I won bronze for my individual event in poomsae .
Shortly after the State competition I was given the opportunity to travel to Canberra with my club , CORE Martial Arts , to attend the 2016 Presidents Cup . I won silver for sparring , which made me eligible for selection for the 2016 Oceania Championships . I also won a bronze medal for my individual poomsae division .
After our success in the State competition , my cadet male team was chosen to attend the 2016 National Poomsae Selections event that was held in Perth at the end of July . Winning gold at this event , our team was selected to represent Australia at the 10th World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships , held in Lima , Peru , from 29 September to 2 October 2016 . Competing at this level was a great experience and the quality of the competitors was obviously world class . Unfortunately , we did not finish in the final eight but I gained a lot from the experience and hope to make the team again in 2018 .
When I started out in taekwondo it was my goal to one day be selected to represent Australia . I never dreamed that I would be competing for Australia at a world event quite so soon . I thought it might take a couple more years to get to that level !
I cannot believe the amazing opportunities that taekwondo has given me . It has made me a more focused , resilient and disciplined person . It has taught me to believe in myself and that with hard work and persistence , I can achieve anything as long as I have a clear goal and vision . I have enjoyed the opportunity to travel and meet people from all over the country and the world , be trained by world recognised and Olympic coaches , and make strong friendships with my team mates . Along the way I have had many personal successes and failures , but these have all made me a stronger and more determined person .
In the future I would like to represent my country , both individually and in another team or pairs event , for poomsae . As far as sparring goes , I ’ m working on my self-efficacy , keeping up with my training , and improving on my skills and techniques and I hope to place at the nationals next year . The opportunities with taekwondo are endless and I will always keep striving to improve .
Cameron Schnell
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