A pair of black belts from Airdrie experienced the pinnacle of their sport at the 2019 International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) World Championships in Inzell, Germany, April 24 to 28.
Eighteen-year-old Kevin Escoto and 17-year-old Jacob Heide were among the 60 or so competitors representing Canada. The two athletes train out of Airdrie’s Berjaya Taekwon-Do.
“It was an incredible experience for them,” said Richard Kraska, who co-owns Berjaya Taekwon-Do and trains the pair. “It was really neat to see the differences in ability and skill, when you see that kind of caliber.”
This year, the ITF World Championships featured more than 1,200 of the best taekwondo athletes from 64 countries.
“For four days, all you’re doing is watching these competitors fight,” Kraska said. “You get to see some really incredible [athletes]. Some of these guys can throw three or four shots in [a second]. They could do four combinations before you even throw one punch – it’s pretty fast stuff.”
Heide, who was competing at his first world championships, was in the 14-to-17 age class. The George McDougall High School senior won his first bout against a competitor from Colombia before tying his second bout against a martial artist from New Zealand. In the tie-breaker, he ultimately lost to the Kiwi by one point.
“The competition level there was like nothing I’d ever [seen], just competing with the best in the world,” he said. “I watched so many videos of this kind of stuff, but seeing it in person was just insane.”
Escoto’s tournament was also short-lived; competing in the 18-to-34 age category, he lost his first bout, eliminating him from the tournament.
While Escoto competed at the 2017 ITF World Championships in Ireland, this year marked the 18-year-old’s first time fighting on the world stage against grown men.
“His category is from 18 to 34 years of age, so it’s a pretty wide category and not super surprising [that he lost],” said Melanie Kraska, who co-owns Berjaya Taekwon-do with her husband. “It’s really about developing his skill level at this point, because you can have anyone up to a fifth-degree black belt that he would be sparring against.”
Apart from the competition, Heide said experiencing southern German culture was a highlight of the trip. The competition was held in the Bavarian mountain town of Inzell – located a few hundred kilometres from Munich, near the northern border of Austria. He compared the picturesque setting to Banff or Canmore.
“It was a crazy experience and I really enjoyed myself. It was even better than I hoped it would be, and the small town we were staying in for the tournament was great,” he said. “I’ve never been that far away from home.”
Now that he has experienced his first world championships, Heide said he will shift his focus to training for the November Canadian national championships.
Though it’s still two years away, he said his long-term goal is to return to the next ITF World Championships, slated to take place in Finland in 2021.
“[Competing at worlds] really pushes me to train harder and go to more of these things,” he said.
