Senior Shayan Moraveji took a deep breath and could barely contain his excitement when it was announced that he had placed second in two of his events at the ITF-USA Taekwondo Nationals tournament in 2013. He tried to maintain his decorum for the sake of over 3,000 people in the audience and his fellow competitors, who watched him walk on stage to receive his awards.
But as soon as the competition ended, Moraveji, overcome with happiness, hugged his sister, coach and teammates. He did not even realize that his hands and feet were covered in blood from the fight because all he could feel was how ecstatic he was. Not only did he place in this tournament, he had earned a spot on the U.S. Taekwondo team, awarded to the top three of the 150 competitors at the tournament.
At Nationals, Moraveji participated in three categories: Junior Male Patterns, Junior Male Individual Power Breaking and Junior Male Individual Sparring.
In the sparring event, Moraveji was required to fight another competitor for three and a half minutes and gain as many points as possible in order to move on to the next round.
In the power breaking event, Moraveji competed against 25 other male black belts and had to break five boards using his hands and feet.
In the patterns event, a group of junior boys perform a sequence of 24 movements that symbolize something simple such as a letter or the hours in a day. This event enables them to illustrate their ability to perform crisp movements. One pattern is to be practiced by the group of boys beforehand, while the other is chosen at random by the judges during the competition.
Moraveji placed second in Junior Male Individual Power Breaking and Junior Male Patterns. Later, Moraveji placed fifth in Worlds for Junior Male Individual Power Breaking out of 42 junior boys.
As a result of his success, Moraveji was a competitor for the U.S. Junior Males. He has been a member of the US team for two years.
“[Being a part of the team], I was able to witness how hard other nations work in order to become champions and it inspired me to work harder,” Moraveji said.
Moraveji was humbled to be competing against the world’s best Taekwondo athletes. Because he needed to keep up with school, however, Moraveji could not participate in the 2014 USA Nationals in Texas and 2015 World Championships in Italy.
Moraveji said that he will not pass up the opportunity again.
“Next year I won’t even hesitate taking advantage of the opportunity to participate in Nationals and Worlds,” Moraveji said. “I am looking forward to the 2016 World Championships possibly in Russia.”
Moraveji started Taekwondo when he was 5 and received his first-degree black belt when he was 12.
Moraveji joined MightyFist Taekwon-do in Cupertino after receiving his first black belt, and got recertified for his black belt after six months at the new academy. Now a third-degree black belt, Moraveji will have to wait until he is 21 to obtain a fourth-degree black belt, a degree that signifies a set understanding of the principal body movements as well as when to use them. It also allows the him to instruct others in Taekwondo.
Moraveji trains four to five days a week for an hour and a half each day.
Although Taekwondo takes up hours of his time daily, Moraveji cherishes the mental strength required to succeed in the discipline.
At MightyFist Taekwon-do, coaches test students on the technical terms and the history behind each Taekwondo pattern. Moraveji’s coach also teaches Korean ideology and terminology.
“At one point in my black-belt career my coach made us write a six- to eight-page essay on the history of Taekwondo and the theory behind it,” Moraveji said.
The mental strength that Moraveji has built through Taekwondo has also helped him learn to tolerate pain.
The type of Taekwondo and the movements that Moraveji practices are adapted from the Korean military. During practice, he uses different head, feet and hand gear, similar to equipment used in the military. Moraveji said he has gained abilities such as speed, endurance and flexibility through his training.
Although Taekwondo is an individual sport, Moraveji pointed to teamwork as an important aspect of events such as the patterns.
In the months leading up to the competition, Moraveji and his team members met two to three hours daily to plan their showcase.
“There were times of tension when we would argue and one person would want to quit, [but] we always pulled through,” Moraveji said.
Moraveji hopes he can continue his Taekwondo career in college, though it is rarely offered as a competitive sport in college there. Schools such as UC Berkeley and Stanford are just some of the few schools with Taekwondo teams. In the future, Moraveji plans to utilize his free time to practice Taekwondo and to prepare for competition.
“Taekwondo [is] a way of life to me,” Moraveji said. “Besides [it] being a sport, I consider it an art.”
