PA Cyber Student Earns Four Medals from International Martial Arts Championship
Jennie Harris
High school student Izabella brought home three silver medals and one bronze medal from the World Martial Arts Committee (WMAC) World Championship in Austria, Sept. 17-20. Representing Team USA in the ages 14-17 advanced division, she competed in kata, creative weapons, musical weapons, fighting, and kumite.
Izabella says she has “unfinished business for next year.” She intends to return to the world championship and earn gold.
She qualified for the international competition at the WMAC Team USA Qualifiers in Cincinnati, Ohio, last March. She has felt her coach's support through it all.
Her coach will tell her, “You train harder than they do, you work harder than they do, so go out there and be you.” He also reminds her to take a step back and just be a kid sometimes, she says.
For Izabella, bonding with teammates from across the United States was the most memorable part of the competition. They met as strangers but became family.
After school, her coach trains her for the black belt test, and she teaches others taekwondo alongside her sensei. Stepping on the mat at her dojo allows her to get her mind off a bad day, to let it all go.
As a PA Cyber student, Izabella can attend classes and stay on top of schoolwork while traveling for competitions. She first became interested in martial arts at a karate class at PA Cyber’s Greensburg Regional Office several years ago.
Earning first place in Cincinnati qualified her for the international competition.
Her coach will tell her, “You train harder than they do, you work harder than they do, so go out there and be you.”