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07/02/2020 | Porträts und Geschichten

"Taekwondo is a philosophy of life".

Portrait: Julia Dunkel and Manuel Krischke

Image: Andreas Fischer

"Gold, silver and bronze: The year 2019 was the most successful in our sports career so far. At the German University Championships (DHM), we won three medals in Taekwondo for the University of Kassel. In the "Poomsae-Paarlauf", which is about the synchronous execution of fixed movement sequences, we took third place together. We also competed individually in the freestyle category. Here we can combine Taekwondo with acrobatic elements and realize our own style.

Our success is the result of strong teamwork: we have been training together for 16 years and have since won several Hesse championship titles. In addition, we are united by our love for the same club. For a year now, we have been leading the Taekwondo department of the VfL Kassel, teaching children and teenagers there several times a week. What our students learn is much more than martial arts. Taekwondo is a philosophy of life. Because in addition to perfect body control, valuable virtues are also taught here: Discipline, concentration, self-confidence and respectful cooperation. Personally, these skills have helped us in our sports studies at the University of Kassel and in competitive sports.

Our next goal is the European Universities Games, which will take place in Serbia in July. It is a great honor to be allowed to compete there and of course we would like to be among the best. But just the participation in this event will be an experience. After all, several thousand athletes from more than 20 disciplines will come together there.

We are grateful to the University of Kassel for accompanying and supporting us on our athletic journey - for example, by financing our participation in such competitions. However, even more important to us than medals is to bring taekwondo out of its niche existence. In our club, we want to inspire even more young people to take up this wonderful sport."