Scotts Valley local Andrew Tsaranou, 12, triumphantly won the USA Taekwondo California State Championship in Fresno on April 11 and 12.
Andrew began practicing Taekwondo at Lightspeed Martial Arts in Scotts Valley almost six years ago, then practiced at Tornado Sports Club in Pleasanton for a year before moving on to Taema Taekwondo in San Jose.
“We go over the hill every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to train,” Andrew said, “and sometimes Saturday and Sunday,” his father Adrian Tsaranou added.
In 2013, Andrew received his black belt and participated in the USA Taekwondo US Open in Olympic sparing for the first time.
“Before that he competed as a red belt at the nationals in Dallas in 2013,” Adrian said, adding that he will attend USA Taekwondo Nationals again this year in Austin Texas on July 4 through 11.
His fighting group is called the World Class Cadet Black Belt Division ages 12 to 14, and he is competing in the Bantam weight division, which is 81.7 to 90.4 pounds. At the California State Championship, Andrew won all four matches, winning first place, qualifying him for Nationals.
“I started to get into sparing more and I really liked it, so then I started doing it competitively.”
Andrew is currently preparing for the Amateur Athletic League’s State Championship that will take place in Los Angeles on May 23, Adrian said. If he qualifies, Andrew will go to the AAU Taekwondo Nationals in Florida at the end of June. They are currently looking for local sponsors to help out with the expense of future tournaments and training.
“If I qualify for this then I get to go to AAU nationals, so two nationals if I qualify,” Andrew explained.
Maintaining his weight is challenging, Adrian said. A few weeks before a competition, Andrew begins cutting calories, and then a few nights before he weights in he drinks a lot of water and eats light meals consisting of vegetables and some meat, Andrew said.
“The days that I am not in San Jose I usually just on the weekdays train at home, do some cardio, work out strength completely, and kick a lot,” he said. “Then on the weekend I usually go biking to get some leg work and then I come home and do strength and cardio, and then Sundays I usually go swimming for an hour or an hour and 15 maybe, so I am practically training every day.”
Andrew and his father will also be traveling to the International Taekwondo Festival in Southern California this year on May 30. There, Andrew will go up against fighters from around the world.
