It took then-rising junior Mikel Cho three tries before striking gold.

Two years ago on June 29, 2022, Cho traveled to Heredia, Costa Rica, and earned a silver medal in a team taekwondo performance at the junior division of the Pan American Taekwondo Championship.

Then last year on Oct. 22, he traveled to Santiago, Chile, and competed with different team members in the same event – this time, falling even shorter and nabbing a bronze, third-place finish.

Over the summer, Cho knew that the Friday, July 26, team taekwondo performance for the junior division of the 2024 Pan American Taekwondo Championship in Querétar, Mexico, would be his last chance to take home the top prize since he would no longer be eligible to compete in the junior division because of his age.

“Despite not getting gold twice, I knew I could still reach it with enough effort,” he said. “My mom and coach also supported me by telling me to keep going so I am glad I followed their wishes.”

Another challenge Cho faced was that his masters – also known as coaches – opted to place him with the same teammates who placed third last year than with the ones who helped him place second two years before.

“Initially, I wasn’t fully confident about winning gold, even though I knew we had one of the strongest teams at the competition,” the current junior said. “But after meeting my teammates and seeing their skills in person, my confidence grew, and it gave me the right mindset heading into Mexico.”

Nevertheless, during the award ceremony for their category, he said he felt a wave of anticipation as he expected his gold medal. The announcer began with third place: “Brazil.” Then, moving to the second: “Mexico.” At this moment, Cho said his heart raced as he waited, and then, at last, the announcer declared first place: “America.”

It was confirmation of the team’s efforts, and the joy of hearing his team named gold medalists was unforgettable, the competitor said.

A MOTHER’S DREAM

Cho’s older brother by four years, Brandon Cho, first got the taste of learning taekwondo when that sibling was 5 years old, the junior said. So when Mikel Cho turned 5, he joined his brother on the workout mat.

“I had a hope where Brandon and Mikel would compete in international competitions, and that eventually came true,” said the siblings’ mother, Mia Cho, who has spent $11,000 per year on each child’s training lessons over the past decade. “It started after Brandon started taekwondo, and once Mikel started as well, I wanted both to become world champions.”

The brothers joined a taekwondo dojang (a Korean term that refers to a formal training hall for martial arts) called Eagle Taekwondo in Fullerton.

Although at the time the younger sibling said he believed he would quit after three to four years, he practiced for 12 hours nearly every week and continued to perform taekwondo movements well into his high school years, eventually participating at the highest level of the sport.

It also helped that Mikel Cho saw his older brother as an inspiration.

“Way back when I was around 8 years old, I saw Brandon competing in a small competition at his dojang,” the younger brother said. “I knew after watching him on that day that this was something that I wanted to do as well.”

The older sibling said his younger brother has, in turn, become one of his greatest sources of pride as well.

“It is incredible to see how far Mikel has gone in taekwondo, and it has truly shaped his path,” Brandon Cho said. “Watching him grow in taekwondo has been amazing, and I am extremely proud of what he has done.”

However, the junior’s biggest role model ended up being his mother.

“When I first started taekwondo, I just did it for fun and never thought it would become something so great or serious,” he said. “I think it was a combination of my mother’s persistence, my own skill and my environment that kept me going to the peak in taekwondo.”

SAY WHAT?

In taekwondo competitions, entrants perform either in a category called “poomsae” (the first syllable pronounced similar to the word, “room,” and the second half of the word pronounced similar to “say”) or choose to spar against each other, Mikel Cho said.

They can also choose to compete as an individual and/or as a team, usually made up of 3-5 individuals at the junior level, which comprises 14-17-year-olds, he said.

Initially, Mia Cho said she wanted her older son to focus on poomsae and avoid sparring because of the potential risks.

However, as Mikel watched his brother at poomsae performances, he said he became captivated by the art and elegance of martial arts, ultimately inspiring him to pursue this himself.

According to Phoenix Taekwondo, poomsae is defined as “a sequence of taekwondo techniques linked together into a pattern of moves.”

“I think the easiest part of poomsae is the memorization as after many practices, the movements become ingrained in your body, making the performance feel natural,” Mikel Cho said. “However, the hardest part is definitely getting used to the timing as poor timing can lead to bad habits that ruin the entire performance.”

Before he entered his first international event on Dec. 13, 2021, Mikel Cho said he had already competed in nine national and 29 regional competitions, totalling 30 competitions. Throughout those events, he earned 11 gold medals—four in team divisions and seven in individual divisions.

His most recent first-place finish came on Sept. 23, 2023, at the 2023 U.S. Grand Prix at Fort Worth, Texas, where he competed in the junior division.

POOMSAE PRIZE

Mikel Cho said he became eligible to compete at the junior level internationally in 2021 when he turned 14.

To qualify for the international competition, participants needed to medal in one division at a domestic competition. Once they achieved that, they could compete in the same division for Team Trials. If they placed first, Mikel Cho said they would be selected for the U.S. national team.

But because of COVID-19 restrictions, he was only able to perform poomsae by himself for the Dec. 13, 2021, World Championship.

For that event, his master, Hwangjin Jung, recorded the performance at Eagle Taekwondo that afternoon.

“Since this was my first international competition, I didn’t expect much and honestly thought I wouldn’t place at all,” Mikel Cho said. “However, about a week later, I received an email informing me that I had earned bronze, which really surprised me.”

Afterward, he said he expressed his excitement about competing in person again, thanks to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

“I was really looking forward to it as this would be the first in-person international competition that I did,” Mikel Cho said. “I was hoping to earn a bronze medal in both the team and individual competitions as my expectations were raised from last year.”

To his surprise, he said he achieved silver in the team competition with, at the time, sophomore Enoch Choi from Connecticut and then-freshman Kayden Ho from California — an outcome he didn’t anticipate.

“Getting silver for the team competition was a nice surprise as I thought that there would be much better teams that would have placed,” Mikel Cho said. “I also earned bronze in the individual competition, which was a nice expected bonus.”

For the 2023 international competition, the junior said he had competed alongside two teammates from the U.S.: then-freshman Apollo Tan from Texas, a new addition to the team, and then-junior Enoch Choi, who had previously been part of the squad.

This time, Mikel Cho said he achieved bronze in the team competition and a silver in his individual division.

“Even though I’m happy that we still placed in the Top 3, I was honestly pretty surprised that we only received bronze because I thought we performed well enough to earn silver,” he said. “On the bright side, the silver I received from the competition is the highest international individual medal I’ve ever earned, which made me really proud of myself.”

As the summer of 2024 approached, Mikel Cho expressed his confidence to his teammates, noting that his team had gained another year of experience and significantly improved their skills.

The cost for the round-trip flight with room and board for him and his mother totaled $1,000, Mikel Cho said.

In the previous national series for poomsae, he consistently placed in the Top 3 alongside Choi and Tan. Because of this, the trio’s masters (Hwangjin Jung, Kwangjin Ha and Sangjae and their respective students, Cho, Choi and Tan) who were already familiar with each other, suggested the three collaborate as a team in January 2023.

During the tournament, Mikel Cho, Choi and Tan competed in their individual events. Cho earned two silver medals in both of his individual poomsae events; Choi earned two gold medals in both of his events; Tan earned bronze in his individual poomsae event.

The one-day tournament for the group division began as an elimination competition, continuing until only eight teams remained. From there, the junior said the Top 4 teams with the highest scores were awarded placements.

Although the team ultimately secured the first-place medal for its team performance, the members had to overcome hardships and challenges along the way.

“During the tournament, there was a scheduling mix-up, so we didn’t know when we were going to compete,” Mikel Cho said. “This added some mental pressure, and since our team performance took place after our individual events, we were already physically tired.”

The junior also mentioned that his biggest challenge was the distance between his teammates, with Tan living in Texas and Choi in Connecticut.

As a result, the team could only practice its poomsae routine the day before the tournament.

“Even though we were only able to practice one day, I felt really confident in our win because I knew that my team had a strong foundation,” Mikel Cho said. “I don’t want to sound egotistic, but winning was not a surprise as the [Mexico/Brazil] team did not seem that strong, and us three won third last year as well.”

During the performance, the SH junior said he concentrated on his master’s advice to block out all distractions, which helped him stay clear of anything that could have jeopardized his chance of winning a medal.

Since the junior began taekwondo, Jung has been his coach throughout his entire journey in the martial art.

“It has been a very long time since I knew Mikel, so I do not exactly remember how talented he was in the beginning, but he definitely showed off his skills as he grew older” said Jung, who was confident his student would earn the gold medal. “I just hope that he continues listening to my advice outside of competitions as well and continues performing to his best ability.”

During the competition, Mia Cho awaited her younger son’s performance at the venue but briefly stepped out to grab some water. Because of an unfortunate coincidence, the schedule became unclear and delayed, causing her to miss her son’s performance entirely.

“At first, I didn’t even notice that my mom was missing because I was so focused on my performance and giving it my all,” Mikel Cho said. “It wasn’t until afterward that I found out she wasn’t there, but I wasn’t too disappointed as I knew that something like this could happen.”

Mia Cho expressed her disappointment at missing her son’s performance, reflecting on how much she had looked forward to it.

“I really wanted to be there for him during the performance, and it was heartbreaking that I missed it,” she said. “Fortunately, I was there for the award ceremony, and seeing Mikel standing on that podium made me feel like all the hard work he put in was finally paying off.”

LEVELING UP AND SAYING GOODBYE TO INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

After the tournament, Mikel Cho said he received his medal and took photos with his teammates. But he didn’t have much time to celebrate, as his return flight to the U.S. was set the day after the competition, Thursday, July 27.

Mikel Cho said that although he does not plan on pursuing taekwondo past high school, he aims to continue competing in smaller, national events in the future at the senior level.

“My motivation for the past few years was partly not to disappoint anyone that supported me, but I also wanted to win dominantly, just like my role model Lebron James,” he said. “As long as I continue to participate in taekwondo, I plan on earning first place every time.”

And as for competing internationally, the junior said he plans to hang up his outfit and retire.

“Right now, I think the best step is to focus on school as now that I’m a junior, I feel it’s time to prioritize academics over taekwondo,” Mikel Cho said. “My mom has been incredibly proud of me, and I see it not only in her words but in the support she shows me every day.”

As the junior moves closer to his senior year, he said he started to think more seriously about his future beyond taekwondo. With his list of achievements, including his recent gold at the Pan Am Championships, he’s hopeful they will make an impact on his college applications and make him a stronger contender for whichever college he applies to.

“As of now, I’m still uncertain about my future and what major I want to pursue,” Mikel Cho said. “However, I believe that my foundation as a martial artist will help guide me toward the right path that fits whatever I want to do.”

This story was originally published on The Accolade on November 7, 2024.