Putting his best foot first
"Once you get to black belt there's a whole lot of stuff that you need to know, the theory tests are extremely long ... There's a massive step up, everyone suddenly becomes so good" Alex Petrovich
Alex Petrovich has been kicking sky high, scooping top international medals in taekwondo.
The 17-year-old black belt from Palmerston North has already competed in three international championships and returned with a haul of medals.
In October he claimed best junior black belt at the ITK Taekwondo World Cup in Budapest, Hungary, after he won gold medals in both sparring and special technique earlier in the competition.
Last year, he picked up gold and bronze team medals at the ITK World Cup in Italy, where New Zealand won overall top team. In 2014, he won gold for sparring and gold for special techniques at the ITK World Cup in Jamaica.
Petrovich started learning taekwondo six years ago and is a member of the Southern Cross Taekwondo Academy.
‘‘A couple of friends decided to join and I went and it turned into more than just a hobby.
‘‘When I was a kid I used to do so many sports at one time, but now that my taekwondo has got serious and I’m competing internationally, I need to devote quite a lot of time to my training.’’
A common adage in martial arts is that black belt is just the beginning, and Petrovich said it rung true.
‘‘Once you get to black belt there’s a whole lot of stuff that you need to know. The theory tests are extremely long.
‘‘[In competition] the level of skill is quite high, there’s a massive step up, everyone suddenly becomes so good.’’
He is proud of doing well in the competition, despite it being an ‘‘eye opening’’ challenge.
‘‘It says I need to keep training, because I know they are going to keep training to try to beat me next year.’’
The opportunity to travel internationally with his sport has been incredible, he said, and the people he’s trained and fought with have been a strong influence – especially coach Lawrence Mantjika who runs the Southern Cross do-jang.
‘‘Everyone’s friendly and accepting, the people are good, and what they teach you mentally and physically.’’
Petrovich will see how far taekwondo can take him. He has his second degree black belt grading this weekend and hopes to retain his world title in 2017, his final year of competing as a junior.
After school finishes, he plans to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a commercial pilot.