THE CHAMPS ARE BACK IN TOWN

For two Canadian Junior Tae Kwon Do champions, the training is half the fun.

By Tom Thiessen
June 2008

Manitoba has two national junior champions in Tae Kwon Do, and they’ve got the calluses to prove it.

Only two weeks removed from an exciting trip to the World Tae Kwon Do championships in Turkey, Mercedes Stringer and Amber Spence are back in the gym. Over the course of this two-hour practice, their battle-tested fists and feet pound the heavy bag, the punch mitts, and the kicking shield under the watchful gaze of their coach, Brennan Ryan. And they’re loving it.

“Tae Kwon Do is such a unique sport,” says Ryan, an exercise physiologist and owner of Ryan’s Tae Kwon Do Academy in Winnipeg. “Your opponent can be bigger, stronger, faster, but at the end of the day it so often comes down to mental toughness, and preparation.”

Mercedes Stringer (kicking) in training following her performance at the World Junior Taekwondo Championships.

Stringer, 16, has been preparing for a while. “I’ve been training since I was 5” she says “and the last two years for competition.” Tall (5’8” and growing) and athletic, the John Taylor Collegiate student looks like a natural for the basketball or volleyball courts. Instead, she’s chosen to focus all of her energy on Tae Kwon Do, and the results—two junior national championships in two years—speak for themselves.

“I love the independence” says Stringer. “In training and in competition, the decisions are yours, and the responsibility is yours.”

Teammate Spence agrees, but evidently still has energy to burn. The 14-year old Steinbach resident also runs the 60m, 100m, 400m, and 800m. Taekwondo, however, is where she has quickly established herself as an elite level athlete.

“Amber’s naturally talented,” says coach Ryan, “and she’s extremely good defensively. She’s so much better than other girls at controlling distance, which makes it very difficult for opponents to hit her.”

And Spence’s capturing the junior middleweight championship at the nationals (held in Calgary in March) ensured that she would join Stringer as a member of Team Canada at the worlds, May 7-11. It was the first time that Manitoba had two representatives on the Junior National Team.

Understandably, the Manitoba contingent was excited and perhaps a little star struck. Both Stringer and Spence were eliminated in the first round, by opponents from Greece and Kazakhstan, respectively. “The Korean team was especially awesome” says Spence. “It’s like they would just show up and knock everybody out. It was crazy.” For Spence, her 1-0 loss at the worlds was her first ever, during a career in which she’s already amassed 50 or so wins.

Stringer’s match wasn’t quite so close (7-0), but she’s taken it like a champ, noting the experience was an eye-opener. “We’ve got some tough fighters in Canada, but to compete against the best in the world was a great learning experience. You really get to see how high-level the competition can be.”

“It wasn’t quite what we were hoping for, obviously,” says Ryan of the girls’ experience at the world championships. And according to the coach, there are a few adjustments the girls will have to make in order to compete with the very best. Stringer will no doubt be less nervous if the opportunity presents itself again, and she’s got the right attitude.

“Mercedes has a real interest and passion for fighting,” says Ryan. “She’s got fire, which is what you really need in this sport.”

And Spence will need to work on her explosiveness and strength. “She hit lots” Ryan says of his pupil’s bout in Turkey, although many of those strikes weren’t hard enough to score points at the world championships, where scoring is generally much more difficult than at national competitions.

Coach Brennan Ryan leads a stretching session

A coach for 15 years, the 33-year-old Ryan still competes at the national level, capturing silver at the ‘06 Nationals and bronze at the Commonwealth Games that same year. Sidelined by a hip injury this year, he’s been able to focus on coaching.

Although the provincial association is struggling—which has led to a number of funding headaches—Ryan sees growth at the club level. His own club is new and growing, as are several others. And the kids who try it, love it—calluses and all.

What’s not to like? “The kids are focused and disciplined, and it keeps them in great shape,” says Amber’s mom Sharon Chabot, whose eldest daughter Lyndsay also trains under Coach Ryan. “Plus it’s just a nice atmosphere, very respectful, very family oriented.”

And so she’s forgiven her daughters for being more interested in punching bags than pedicures. And she’s a pretty good advocate. She is, after all, the mom of a Canadian champion.

“A lot of people think that Tae Kwon Do is just for guys,” acknowledges Spence. “But you know what? It’s great to represent the girls. We’re tough enough and we’re proving it.”

And hearing statements just like that, says Ryan, is what he finds most rewarding.

“This sport builds huge strength of character. Amber, for example, is a completely different kid since worlds. She’s so much more confident, and that’s a product of both the training and the experience.”

“It is awesome” Stringer adds, during a brief break in the training session, “to have your friends recognize that you’re a fighter.”

The best in the country, no less. Just check the calluses.