tae kwon do.PDF
- 1. www.southhams-today.co.uk Friday, December 31, 2010 39KBG/DTC An ordinary pair who have done extraordinary things Euan Reedie meets tae kwon do world champions Sophie Barnett and Corinne Sri-Widada to find out the secret of their success‘I HAVE no co-ordina- tion, I fall over, I have no sense of balance.’ This is hardly the kind of self-deprecating admission you’d expect a sporting world cham- pion to make. Indeed, it’s certainly not out of the Muha- mmad Ali school of supremely confident soundbites. But tae kwon do star Sophie Barnett’s dis- arming, yet charming, revelation should serve as an inspiration to anyone with any ambi- tion in sport. Indeed, Sophie and fellow world champion Corinne Sri-Widada, who are both from Kingsbridge, are living proof that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things. Sophie insisted: ‘Every white belt can be a world champion. I’m just an ordinary per- son.’ Meanwhile, Corinne hopes the pair’s out- standing achievements in winning gold for England at last sum- mer’s world champi- onships in Chungc- heongbuk-Do (Cheo- ngju) , South Korea, can hammer out an uplift- ing message of hope to sporting aspirants eve- rywhere: ‘If I can do it, you can too.’ Sophie, 42, won gold – the first achieved by an English woman at the event in July – in the senior ladies’ 1st degree black belt pat- terns and a bronze for hyper-weight sparring. Corinne, 40, mean- while, secured gold for 2nd degree patterns and bronze in the sen- ior ladies’ middlew- eight sparring section. So, since then, have the ladies been enjoy- ing being feted and fawned over wherever they go? Well, Corinne says her success has still not sunk in five months on. She said: ‘The world championship is a one- off event; you put all that effort in and then, to top it off, you win a medal. Then you get back to your normal routine and you forget you’re a world champi- on.Then suddenly you remember “oh, yeah, I am a world champion”. ‘You don’t really see yourself as a world champion.’ Sophie added: ‘We don’t go all boasty – it’s not the way we work. ‘But I still get ran- dom people stopping me in the street.’ It’s clear Sophie and Corinne are incredibly modest about their achievements, prefer- ring to celebrate them as team triumphs for the South Hams Martial Arts School, their club, rather than individual honours. Sophie said: ‘It’s more about the team than the person. It’s a club achievement, not just a personal one. It’s for all the students. ‘Every white belt can potentially be a world champion.’ Corinne added: ‘I want people to think “if she can do it, I can too”. I hope we are inspiring people. ‘And we still learn from white belts; we learn from teaching.’ They are also at pains to point out that they could not have trav- elled to the Orient without the help of the local businesses who supported their self- funded trip. Sophie, in particular, provides encouraging and inspiring proof that you don’t have to be born with superhuman sporting ability to ach- ieve greatness. Her candid assess- ment of her own physi- cal limitations certainly demonstrates this. And what’s even more incredible is that she took the sport up only six-and-half-years ago and was far from fit at this stage, by her own admission, inca- pable of doing even one press-up. She rode horses when she was younger, but never felt she was destined to achieve what she has. But what she does have in abundance is a fiercely competitive spirit, she admits. She said: ‘I want to do the best I possibly can. I am very competi- tive. I’ve just perse- vered and I like what I am doing.’ Meanwhile, Sophie says her friend and fel- low world champion Corinne is ‘just very good’ at what she does. Corinne added: ‘I wouldn’t do it if I did- n’t enjoy it and being with people you are with at the club.’ The South Hams pair usual- ly train three hours a week, with their regime including sparring, pat- terns – set moves – and fitness work, which involves press-ups, star jumps and burpees. Their training is then ratcheted up to six or seven hours a week if they’re due to take part in a competition. Again, Sophie high- lights the fact that you don’t need to be super- fit to take up the sport as she languidly reflects on any extra-curricular activity she indulges in. ‘There are times when I venture outside with my trainers and I sometimes appear in a gym. ‘I also practise moves in my front room and Corinne and I have also done this on Bantham Beach.’ ‘Anyone of any fit- ness level can take up tae kwon do,’ insists Corinne. ‘You notice you gradually get fitter and build up your stamina and strength when you train.’ The pair also groan and chuckle when they recall hard taskmistress coach Lesl- ey McGhie’s recent training session which involved them running around the hall where they train. But they both agree they would not have achieved what they have without McGhie’s inspirational coaching, though. Corinne said: ‘She does work us hard, but she’s not shouty; her success lies in her enthusiasm.’ Sophie added: ‘She is passionate about tae kwon do and her stu- dents. You can spot our students at competi- tions because Lesley sets such high stan- dards for them.’ When asked about the downsides of striv- ing to reach the pinna- cle of their sport and the sacrifices they have had to make to get there, Corinne replied: ‘I have no social life. I haven’t got time to do anything else. ‘I have to think tae kwon do all the time.’ Sophie, a single mother, reveals being away from her chil- dren, Sam and Yanni, has been her biggest hardship. She faced a particu- larly heart-wrenching dilemma when she was selected to go to the what sport it is, it does- n’t even have to be a sport. I’d say to anyone that they should join a club of some sort and get involved.’ Corinne added: ‘Yes, just get involved in something you enjoy.’ And they are both adamant that anyone can take up tae kwon do – and thrive at it. Sophie said: ‘It’s for everybody; we’ve had people who have achi- eved black belts in their 70s. Everyone should try a martial art out. It teaches you discipline, fitness and courtesy. ‘You can do it for a year or 100 years.’ Corinne added: ‘It gives you a lot of confi- dence and makes you mentally and physical- ly stronger. It’s for the young and the fit, the old and the not-so-fit and the young and tid- dly.’ Coach Lesley McGh- ie, said ‘passion and indomitable spirit’ we- re central to the pair’s world championship- winning feats and praised them for per- sonifying the values tae kwon do promotes. She said: ‘Both lad- ies are passionate and committed to tae kwon do which is shown in their teaching, demon- strations at events and officiating at competi- tions. ‘They both embody the values of tae kwon do, which are courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indom- itable spirit. ‘It is with much per- severance and indo- mitable spirit, and after years of much hard work, that one can con- sider working towards being a world champi- on.’ She added: ‘Of cou- rse, there is that awful element of the luck of the draw too. ‘That didn’t make any difference to our two gold medal win- ners this time around, but did prevent one of our other medal hope- fuls, Claire Roughley, from reaching the medal-winning stages of the world champi- onships.’ The next major event on the horizon for Sophie and Corinne is the European Cham- pionships in Ireland in June. And, following their excellence on the global stage last summer, they both excelled at the British ITF Champi- onships in Reading in October. Sophie clai- med two silvers, while Corinne secured a gold and a silver. But they won’t rest on their laurels and bask in the glory of a sparkling summer, Cor- inne insists, given that ‘you’re only as good as your last competition and tomorrow you could be rubbish.’ ‘There’s always som- eone who can be better than you.’ ‘I have no co-ordination, I fall over, I have no sense of balance’ world championships, during which time she spent 10 days away from the pair. ‘I felt very selfish,’ she recalls, her eyes welling up. ‘They’re very proud of my achievement, but if they’d said “Mum, don’t go”, I wouldn’t have gone.’ She went on: ‘This was something com- pletely for myself and you don’t often do that as a parent, but they were 100 per cent behind me.’ Another very ‘nor- mal’ emotion Sophie experienced was self- doubt, which overcame her the day before she was due to compete. ‘I went into melt- down,’ she said. ‘I did- n’t think I was good enough. Some people had doubted me before I went out I thought “I’m not doing it”.’ ‘But everyone said to me “you have come all this way, spent all this money”. ‘So I gave myself a kick up the backside and a good talking to and won England’s first gold medal at the event. I’d have wasted an opportunity and regretted it if I’d pulled out.’ She said Corinne, in particular, had helped pull her out of the mire, also recalling that a calming walk into the town centre the pair went on the night before she was due to compete had helped clear her head. Corinne: ‘We would have dragged you in to compete if you’d refused.’ Yet, even when Sop- hie went up to com- pete, her ‘worst fear’ of having to enter a raised ring, given her afore- mentioned and self- confessed lack of bal- ance, was confirmed. ‘I thought I was going to fall as I was going up the steps,’ she said. So, what would they say to anyone who would like to try and emulate them? Sophie said: ‘Just go out and do it and get it done. ‘It doesn’t matter ‘Tae kwon do is for the young and the fit, the old and the not-so-fit and the young and tiddly’ ‘I went into meltdown; I didn’t think I was good enough’ ‘I want people to think: “If she can do it, I can too”’ Pictures contributed Sophie, above, and far left, Corinne, in action at the world championships and, top picture, celebrating their success