Apoorvaa Muruganathan (‘27) started Martial Arts training at the young age of 4, but didn’t start Taekwondo until she was 7. Muruganathan, a local competitor in Taekwondo, recently stepped up to the next level to compete in ITF World Championships as a representative of Team USA. ITF is one of the two organizations for competitive Taekwondo. Standing for International Taekwondo Federation, main focuses are traditional. Spectators can expect to see intense sparring matches with minimal protective gear.
“The tournament I attended was the ITF World Championships, representing Team USA, and it was honestly a very different experience than what I’m used to,” said Muruganathan. “I’ve competed a lot locally, but this is my first competition tournament.”
Muruganathan started martial arts from a young age which she credits to her performance in high-level competition. Her experience in martial arts started at 4, and she didn’t pick up Taekwondo until about 7. As she progressed through Taekwondo, she went from competing locally to competing at a national level.
“I did like a lot of local torments since I started,” said Muruganathan. So, since fifth grade, but then, I started to like going to more competitions, more like natural competitions like that.”
In the match
While Muruganathan started competing locally, her enjoyment for competitions quickly pushed her to higher and higher levels. At national levels, ITF Taekwondo can expect an average of 1,400 competitors from 50+ different countries. Participating at this level is no easy feat and takes a lot of physical and mental preparation to stand your ground in competition,
“The highlight of my performance would be my sparring match that I placed third for,” said Muruganathan. “Every athlete you see, they’re nervous before they go up. But, like, you have to put everything you got to be happy. Then after putting in the effort, I’m happy with what I did, but I know I can do better. So I plan to compete in the next World Tournament in 3 years.”
After the Tournament
A sparring match is won by the person who accumulates the most points by the end of the match time. A valid punch to the head or body will grant 1 point, while a valid kick to body or a valid hand strike to the head will grant 2 points. By landing a valid jumping kick to the head, 3 points are granted. To effectively earn points in a sparring match, one must go through years of training to perfect techniques. The higher quality of technique, the easier a point is scored.
“World Championships are held once every three years. So in three years, I plan to compete again, and qualify in all my competitions. My goal is to win gold,” said Muruganathan.
