Teenager off to Bulgaria

Wairarapa College fourth former Ryan O'Hara has no illusions as to the quality of opposition he will strike at the ITF junior Taekwon-Do world championships in Bulgaria next July.
The 15-year-old will be one of just two representatives of the United International Taekwon-Do Federation of New Zealand competing at the event and while he is determined to make strong claims for a medal he accepts he won't be amongst the favoured contenders.
"It will be tough?very tough," he said. "From what I've seen on video the North Koreans will be right up there but no one will be easy, it's going to be a huge challenge."
A first dan black belt, O'Hara will be competing in patterns, one of four sections at the championships, the others being sparring, sport breaking and special techniques.
O'Hara describes patterns as a "set of movements done in rhythmic motion" and there are two parts to the competition, optional and designated.
"Optional gives you the chance to do your own thing and you have to make the most of that," he said. "You can really stand out there."
A Taekwon-Do website says that translated literally "Tae" stands for jumping and flying, to kick or smash with the foot, "Kwon" denotes the fist-chiefly to punch or destroy with the hand or fist- and "Do" means an art or way.
"Thus taken collectively Taekwon-Do indicates the mental training and the techniques of unarmed combat for self-defence as well as health, involving the skilled application of punches, kicks, blocks and dodges with bare hands and feet to the rapid destruction of the moving opponent or opponents", the website says.
It also points out that Taekwon-Do can, if wrongly applied be a lethal weapon. Therefore mental training was stressed to prevent the misuse of it.
For Ryan O'Hara his introduction to this version of unarmed combat came about five years ago when he went along to the Masterton club with a friend and liked what he saw.
So much so that he quickly decided to "get serious" and make it his prime sporting interest.
Much of his current training is done in the presence of his father and coach Simon O'Hara who is also an active participant in Taekwon-Do and he travels to Dannevirke and Wellington for training sessions as well.
It won't only be having Ryan ready for a peak effort in Bulgaria which will be exercising the minds of the O"Hara family over the next few months though.
They have to raise a considerable sum of money to help fund his participation there and are hopeful of strong support from within the Wairarapa in this respect.