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Samery Moras, 22, hated the sport of Taekwondo as a child, but not anymore.
“As I grew up, I just realized that I was scared, and this was all about fear,” Moras said. “I had a choice to make. I decided that I didn’t want to let fear get in the way of what I want to do.”
Moras didn’t like the hitting and kicking, but she did plenty last weekend in San Jose, taking the bronze in a national competition. That landed her a spot at the U.S. National Team Trials in January.
Moras fought last month in Hohhot, China for the Collegiate National Team, but she went up against the pros.
“They don’t go to school, all they do is Taekwondo, all day, every day,” Moras said. “You have to catch up to that, but it’s not something that I feel is impossible.”
That brought Moras lots of newfound attention.
“When we walked in for the opening ceremonies, there were screaming fans everywhere, and there were T.V. cameras everywhere,” Moras said. “It was not like any tournament in the U.S. or any tournament that I had been to before.”
She had to put all of that aside to focus on the toughest fighter of the tournament.
“My first match was against this girl from South Korea,” Moras said. “I lost 4-0, but in the rest of her matches that day, no one scored a point on her. She ended up winning the whole thing.”
As she waits for January, Moras will teach her 3-year-old Taekwondo students not to fear.
At that age, “they’re not really scared, not afraid to try anything,” she said. “That’s why they’re my favorite age to teach.” http://www.amysmartialarts.com/SameryMoras/recent.php
