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i don't know how well it translates to those who weren't there and maybe never have been, but this is what TKD in the Cornell Fight Team means. As written by our coach.
Final standings available at http://www.inctl.org/
Columbia Tournament recap: The Showdown in Chinatown
By Han D. Cho
With the must-win victory two weeks ago at Upenn, the Cornell team pulled ahead in the league standing and was ready for the final showdown hosted by Columbia U on Saturday, April 28, 2007. Columbia University usually hosts the last of the five INCTL tournaments. Due to scheduling problems, however, the site of the tournament wasn’t at the usual place on campus, but at a local public school gym located on the outskirts of Chinatown.
Following closely behind Cornell in the standing was the reigning league champion, MIT, who has kept the league cup for the last four years. Only 44 points separated these two teams, which was considered nearly a tie given that these two teams can regularly acquire more than 500 points in a tournament.
Though the Cornell team remained optimistic, it could not deny the memories of last several years where the team came up short against MIT in similar situations. One of those years was more memorable, the 2004 - 05 season. With the dedicated seniors like Tanya, Jenn, Brian, David, Naji, Jacque, Lou, Mary, and Anastasia, the Cornell team led most of the season before falling short in the end. Tim Gera, a media major at U of Buffalo, captured that season’s magic and frustration beautifully in his documentary, “The Cornell Fight Team.”
The underclassmen who followed that year were now the leaders of the current Cornell team. To them, winning the cup this year meant more than recapturing the long dominance Cornell enjoyed before the MIT emergence in 2003. It was Gordon, Evan, Harrison, Scott, Karen, and Sam’s way of giving tribute to the seniors of ’05 who have helped them become what they are today.
This Columbia tournament was more than a game to the group of 50 individuals on the Cornell team. It was far more than that. It was about dreaming and seeing it if dreams do come true if they work hard to achieve it. It was about character. Because of that, the stakes were high. Monumental victories or defeats can and do change lives. As the season went on, the stakes got higher and higher until no one could control it. It got bigger than anyone had anticipated. Nothing but victory was acceptable. Anything else would set up the biggest fall in the history of the team.
To say there was electricity in the air would be an understatement. The Cornell and MIT teams were on a collision course, and no school, none of the 16 in the league, could stop them. In the poomse competition, Cornell’s Jason Oh placed 1st in the Men’s black belt division while Nicole placed 3rd, and with numerous other Cornell color belts (including a 1-2-3 sweep in the women’s red belt division) placing, Cornell actually led by 6 points going into sparring competition. This was good because MIT always had a strong showing in the poomse competition.
The West Point Military Academy Team was the dark horse of the tournament. They did not possess the complete team like Cornell and MIT to threaten the overall standing, but they did have enough talent in the advanced divisions, A-teams mostly, to spoil Cornell’s and/or MIT’s plans. Everyone was anxious to see the announcement of the match ups. After careful calculations and double-checking, the bracketing was finalized and posted in front of eager captains of the 16 different teams. The West Point team matched up with the MIT team in the men’s division, and it was matched up with Cornell in the Women’s division. It was clear that how Cornell and MIT handled the West Point team would become the key factor in the A-team division where the points were awarded the most.
Cornell Women A-teams started the sparring competition first, looking to set a good example for the day. The whole Cornell team gathered around to cheer, but not much noise came out of them except for numbing sighs. The women kept losing. Four consecutive losses resulted from Cornell Women A2-team’s fall to West Point, while Cornell Women A3-team also fell to MIT Women A2-team. Only the Cornell Women A1-team was able to move on to the 2nd round. Facing the Harvard team next, whose heavyweight handed our heavyweight, Karen, her only loss in the last 3 years, the members of the Cornell Women A-team was in disarray.
More bad news followed as both MIT Women A1 and A2 made it to the point rounds (the semifinal rounds), securing at least 135 points and looking for more. Whatever the small lead the Cornell team enjoyed as the 1st place in the league standing was now gone. MIT was on top. It was a must-win situation for Cornell Women A1, who needed to defeat the Harvard team to get to the point round or the point gap might be too big for the entire team to recover. Karen Chin knew how to handle pressure though. As she had done many times in this situation, Karen finally scored the Cornell Women team’s first major victory by beating her nemesis, her best competition in the tournament, and got to the point rounds, but not without reinjuring the foot injury she’s suffered in the past. Nonetheless, the Cornell team seemed to be back in the rhythm from Karen’s success and was ready to chase the gold medal once again.
Standing in their way was the always tough West Point Women A1-team, fresh from trouncing the Cornell Women A2-team with ease. But the Cornell Women A1-team was too skillful, too experienced to let the overly aggressive West Point team have it their way. Nicole, Cornell’s newly recruited lightweight, and Karen never allowed West Point to get in the flow of their game plan and handed their first defeat. The entire West Point team seemed confused from such skillful dominance by the Cornell Women A1 team.
With the win over West Point Women A1 in the semi-finals, Cornell Women A1 moved on to the finals to face MIT Women A1. It was their fourth time of meeting in the finals this academic year. Coached by Cornell ’05 MVP, Tanya Derosa, Nicole delivered the first telling blow to the MIT team by defeating the reigning league MVP, Erica Chen. In fact, Nicole had already beaten Erica three times this year, a feat no one had predicted, especially from a freshman. At the end of the match, even Erica knew the torch had been passed. As great a player as Erica was in the last four years, Nicole (little Tanya we call her) was the new sheriff in town. As expected, Karen easily finished her opponent and secured the Gold medal for the Women’s A1 team. She was also named the league’s MVP of the year!
Despite the first place finish from Cornell in the Women’s A-team division, the MIT team still managed to gain 30 points more than Cornell due to their multiple team placement. Their Women A1 took 2nd and their A2 took 3rd. This added more pressure on the Cornell Men A teams who faced a field of 16 teams. And they fought. Cornell Men A3 got knocked off first in the 2nd round by Harvard Men A1. Cornell A4 also fell to the feet of West Point Men A1. Luckily, West Point Men A1 had also beaten MIT Men A1. And when Cornell Men A2 knocked off MIT Men A2, Cornell realized all MIT Men A teams were knocked off before the point rounds. This meant that any points Cornell gained will be in the positive column of the point gap over MIT! Excited and optimistic, the remaining survivors of Cornell’s Men A teams, A1 and A2, raced to the point round. The A2 team reached first, securing at least 55 points, but was stopped there once again because of the powerful Harvard Men A1. Cornell A1 also reached the point round securing another 55 points, but the players on the team weren’t going to stop there. Winning the Men A team division was the statement Cornell wanted to make even before the start of the tournament. They were ready for West Point and Harvard.
The battle between Cornell Men A1 and West Point Men A1 was monumental. Both teams were stacked with top notch players and two out of three matches decided who would reign supreme. West Point Men A1 was favored because they had beaten Cornell Men A1 before. From the beginning, Gordon, the Cornell lightweight, was behind on points and the score stayed that way throughout the match, despite the furious pace from the two warriors. With 15 seconds to go, Gordon turned up another notch and unleashed his double, triple, quadruple kicks. Before the West Point player could respond from Gordon’s last second surge, time had expired and Gordon raised his arms in front of the frenzied Cornell crowd.
The noise never got lower as Evan stepped in the ring. Coached by Master Craig Derosa, Cornell’s assistant coach, in a non-stop action, and in deafening noise, Evan showed clarity in his eyes that only a few had the chance to possess in their lifetime. Down by points, out classed, out experienced, Evan’s desire to win for the team could not be denied. Evan’s heart secured the Gold medal round for the Cornell A1 team. The inspiring story of ordinary individuals doing extraordinary things in extraordinary circumstances is what we base our lives on. Gordon and Evan will live a lifetime from the precious seconds they faced, when they reached higher than they thought they could ever reach.
The Cornell Men A1 moved on to face Harvard Men A1, but Harvard decided to forfeit the match. After watching the tough West Point Men A1 go down by Cornell Men A1, Harvard knew they had no chance of beating Cornell. In an almost unthinkable move, Harvard decided to forgo the A-team finals and concentrate on keeping some of their key members injure-free for the B-team competition. This meant Cornell A1 had taken 1st place for the second consecutive time this year.
Because of the huge success from Cornell’s Men A-teams, Cornell had a 125-point lead over MIT at the end of the A-team sparring competition. C-team sparring (white to green belt) was next. Cornell was confident because this division was the area Cornell has made the most improvements. In fact, the Cornell Women C-team has been the story of the team this semester because of the deep talent in ‘Newbies,’ the Spring class of ’07, that made up C1, C2, C3, and C4. These yellow belts surprised everyone at the last Upenn tournament. Some of them were so good that they also competed in B-teams and had successes there as well. The confidence on the Cornell team ran even higher with Men C- teams. Cornell Men C1 had been winning the C-team division for the last 10 tournaments. This was an incredible feat given that Men C-team in the league drew more teams than any other divisions, topping at an average of 20 teams per tournament!
Given all these factors, the Cornell team had every reason to be confident, even cocky, going into C-team rounds, expecting to widen the lead before its heavily favored Men B teams ran away with it. The Cornell Men B team was largely made up of the Cornell Men A-team that just finished dominating the tournament. The Cornell Men B1, B2, and B3 had consistently placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the last 3 tournaments! This was the exact situation Cornell had hoped for. Everything was unfolding just like how the team had planned. Everyone knew if Cornell lead after the A-team rounds, the game was over. And Cornell led more than anyone had anticipated. MIT could not catch up with Cornell with its C and B teams because there weren’t enough points to be shared. The strategy worked perfectly for Cornell. Too perfect.
Cornell was wrong.
The emotional roller coaster ride of the tournament took a down turn for Cornell. This time it was steep. MIT wasn’t going to lay down without a fight. Somebody forgot to tell their C Team that the tournament was all but over. They came in hard and aggressive and caught Cornell by surprise. Cornell Women C1 and C2 fell victims to the determined MIT Women C1 and C2 teams. And when RPI knocked off Cornell Women C3, Cornell realized no women C-teams would have a chance of getting points. What’s more, three of the MIT Women C-teams made the point rounds, acquiring 80 points and closing the point gap to 45 points.
The bleeding continued in the Men’s division. All Cornell Men C-teams, except C1, were knocked off before reaching the point rounds as well, while two of MIT Men C-teams reached it, securing at least another 50 more points. Cornell was on course to a deficit in points before moving on to the B-team division!
The entire Cornell team was in a state of disbelief. No one knew what was going on. Panic set in. Suddenly, the team realized that going into B team division with the point deficit could be more trouble than they anticipated. Although Cornell Men B-teams were strong, the weakest part of Cornell team was on the Women’s B-teams. Usually the men’s B-teams could overcompensate the shortcomings of Women B-team but not if MIT B-teams decimated them like they did on the Women C-team side. And though the Cornell Women B-team was reinforced by the Newbies of Spring ’07, how could they do it on the B-teams if they couldn’t do it on the C-teams?
It was time for the Cornell team to respond. If they ever dreamed of bringing the cup back, this was the time they had to make a move. This was the defining moment. The Cornell team held an emergency meeting to reinforce once and for all what they came here to do, how much sacrifice they made to get there, and how much this meant to them. Champions were made, everyone was reminded, not born. MIT had called the shot and now Cornell had to answer the call. Men’s C1-team needed to make the point round to slow the MIT team down and the Cornell B-teams needed to perform at a higher level than ever before. It was now or never.
The Cornell Men C1 team answered the call first. With injured but unwavering Cornell C1 middleweight, Arzika, as the anchor of the team, and Kenkoku, the lightweight and Donald, the heavyweight, rolled through twenty teams to capture the Gold medal, decisively defeating MIT Men C1 in the finals! It was Cornell Men C1’s eleventh consecutive C-team division victory. The MIT team placed 2nd and 3rd and acquired 70 more points but at least Cornell could relax knowing that they had slowed down the bleeding. Going into the B-team division, Cornell was still leading by 35 points. It could have been far worse. Everyone held their breath for the wild finish.
And what a wild finish it was! The Cornell team could not have drawn up a better storybook ending than this. Emotions ran high. It came down to who wanted it the most.
The Newbies of Spring ’07 answered the call next. Led by the emotional Women B-team leader, Louise Huang, the B-team girls rolled through the competition like their C-team failure never happened. No one predicted such success, especially after the C-team debacle, from which many were now competing in the B-teams. It was their best performance in the last ten tournaments. All but the B4 team made the point rounds. So dominant was the Cornell Women B-teams that its B1 captured the Gold by way of forfeit because its B2 also made the finals. The coach of the MIT team, Master Dan Chuang, commented that the decisive moment swing for his team happened when his Women B2 team lost a key match up to Cornell B2, thereby eliminating them from the point rounds while Cornell got the points. Any dual match ups between Cornell and MIT doubled the impact because of the point gap significance of the two schools. In that match, Cornell Women B2 heavyweight, Tiffany Jones, played critical role as she beat the MIT Women B2 heavyweight, 1-0. Before this win, Tiffany had lost to the same player for the last 4 times they met. This was the telltale sign. Everyone was inspired. Everyone started believing. Yet no one dared to celebrate.
At the end of the Women’s B team sparring, Cornell had increased its point gap over MIT by a three digit number, 125.
When Men’s B team came around, it was Gordon, Harrison, Kevin, and Robbie’s time. These guys had been so reliable over the course of the whole year that it seemed the proper question was not if Cornell would win, but by how much. Only this fact held the team from celebrating. These guys wanted to make statement to all the opposing schools, including MIT, that Cornell was back!
Harrison made the statement first by knocking out his West Point opponent with an Axe kick. The kick was so strong that the West Point player needed an EMS to help him get back to his feet. After that no one wanted to fight him. Not even MIT. They forfeited their match against Harrison in a crucial semi-final match up, allowing Cornell Men B1 to move on to the finals handily. Gordon also made his statement with all his opponents, winning by large margins. If no one on the A-team could beat him, how could any color belts in the B-team beat him? Kevin continued his winning ways as well. Robbie followed Harrison’s foot steps and kept nailing everyone with his axe kicks. Though his were not as deadly accurate as Harrison’s, they were stronger and higher.
“I’d better watch out for those myself,” Harrison joked while watching Robbie’s performance.
It seemed the day’s event wouldn’t be complete without a storybook ending. By this time everyone from the Cornell team was exhausted from the emotional roller coaster. It started high when they were excited to move into sparring competition by actually leading in the poomse competition, but slid down fast when the A-team women started losing consecutively in the key match ups. The roller coaster bounced back up even higher when Men A1 and A2 teams bravely rallied to acquire huge points gaps over MIT, but it nearly freefell to the ground when Cornell Women’s C team faltered and Men C team staggered. With the heroic push, the roller coaster sailed through the cloud when miraculously, the Women B team, perennially viewed as the weakest link in the Cornell team, posted the biggest margin of victory in the last 10 tournaments and opened the point gap to three digit lead again. With Men’s B team to go, the roller coaster wasn’t coming down from the stratosphere. Everything was coming together for Cornell. MIT seemed to wilt as each match played out.
By this time both teams knew it was mathematically impossible for MIT to catch up to Cornell, but the mood of the Cornellians remained rather subdued. All the story book scenario of the day needed was the memorable ending. An ending that could allow the whole Cornell team to unleash all the emotions they carried for the whole year. An emotion they carried from the painful year of ’05.
It happened in the semi-finals match in the Men’s B team Division between Cornell Men B2 versus MIT Men B1. Fortunately, in the other semi-finals, Cornell Men B1 had already made the finals round by destroying MIT Men B2. Everyone expected the dramatic finals match up of the “Showdown in Chinatown” between Cornell Men B1 versus MIT Men B1. This was not the first time they met like this, but it would definitely be the last time. No one gave Cornell Men B2 a chance. No one but Kevin, Marc, and Robbie. Everyone waited for the heavily favored MIT Men B1 to beat Cornell Men B2 and expected to see the final showdown between MIT B1 and Cornell B1. There were no more matches left for the tournament so everyone in the tournament gathered around to see the match up. MIT on one side, Cornell on the other.
As it was ready to start, someone from Cornell yelled out, “Finish it here!”
First, Cornell Men B2 lightweight, Kevin Kim walked into the ring. He had been suffering from sickness and weight cutting, so his performance has been suffering though still winning. The match was closer than what he would’ve liked, but, in the end, Kevin did his job. Once a person find his winning ways, he finds a way to win, no matter how he feels. Winning is about attitude…as is losing. Next, Cornell Men B2 middleweight, Marc Sackeli, the hero of the NYU tournament, stepped in the ring and sparred one of the smartest match he ever sparred. Unlike other times when he would kick spastically, this time he kept his composure and scored his point efficiently. Everyone thought the tournament was over when he landed the high section kick that opened up the lead, but the MIT middleweight hung tough and pulled a last second victory.
MIT was already celebrating because the split in light and middleweight meant their heavyweight would have a chance to close out. And they had the best closer. For the entire year, no one in the league, including Cornell, had an answer for the MIT B1 heavyweight, Richard. He was that good. Like Gordon, Richard was the best heavyweight in the A team, but he was only a red belt, so that also qualified him in the B team division. No one thought about beating him in the B team. Even Harrison, the decorated Cornell Men A1 and B1 heavyweight suffered his only defeat from Richard. Some of the Cornell B1 team was already warming up to gear up for the final show. Harrison knew he had a fight of his life in his hand. In fact, he had been preparing for this match up since the NYU tournament 2 months ago.
Everyone thought the Cornell Men B2 team was as good as over. But Robbie, our heavyweight, had a different thought in mind. But then everyone always has one before they step in the ring…until they get hit. Yes, indeed, many dreams have disappeared in the ring. It is the nature of the fight sport. Only the strong survives.
Robbie’s only chance of beating the super fast Richard was to play defensively throughout the match and stay close in points until the end when he could pull out a quick surprise point using his longer reach. It was crucial for Robbie to remain competitive until the end of the match to have any chance of winning because Richard had capability to score multiple points in a very short amount time. The problem was Robbie’s game was never a defensive one. He was always the hunter, never hunted. Asking him to change his style was like asking him to change his personality.
But that was what he did. Robbie looked like a totally different guy as he played his defensive game. It was like a bully being a metro sexual. As Richard pressed on, daring Robbie to be more aggressive, Robbie kept his composure and showed his patience. Until then, no one knew he had one. He never needed one. At the end of the first round, everyone was in disbelief that the score was even. Harrison, the most. Robbie not only stayed close, but he was on par with Richard!
As amazed as everyone was, they also knew Richard’s performance always heightened in the 2nd round. Now that he figured out Robbie’s plan, Richard was expected to make his adjustment and dazzle the audience on the MIT side, like he’d done many times before. On so many occasions, Cornellians helplessly watched Richard’s brilliant performance. Could it be the same again?
As Robbie walked in for the second round, the Cornellians kept their cheers in check for their man. Robbie was about to get the harsh doses of reality.
Once again, Robbie played defensively. Richard was turning up his level even more and really stayed aggressive, urging Robbie to open up and play offensive. This new energy from Richard seemed to draw Robbie in to his natural instinct. Robbie slowly seemed to succumbed to Richard’s wishes. He seemed to lose his composure and ready to throw out his game plan. He wanted to take Richard’s on head-to-head. This was what Richard wanted. Though still careful, Robbie started to open up, throwing more kicks, giving more targets for Richard’s lighting fast counter attacks. Richard seemed to smile because he knew Robbie was now playing into Richard’s game. As soon as Robbie played offensive, Richard started scoring. But to everyone’s surprise, Robbie started scoring, too. The points went up high, but from both sides, not just from Richard’s, as everyone had anticipated. Robbie was matching kick for kick, step for step, and point for point with the fastest heavyweight in the league. The noise was deafening, the loudest it ever been in the entire day. And when Robbie finally overtook the lead, the noise level doubled. The crowd started going frenzy. With 20 seconds to go, a chorus began at Cornell, “Finish it here! Finish it here!” Instead of concentrating on his match, Robbie all of sudden pumped his hands high up in the air as if he knew what would happen next, and lounged himself at Richard with full force, landing the jumping axe kick that lifted all Cornellians to about 3 feet in the air!
It was every bit as memorable as the Jenn Burg’s famous axe kick of ’04.
As the clock ticked zero, all of the Cornellians nearly buried themselves in the pile of crowd. The referee just gave up trying to control his ring. The movie just delivered the critical climax scene. All it needed was some rocking music and the still shot photo because this was the greatest movie the Cornell Team had ever been in. The spirit of the members of seniors of ’05 was now permanently sealed. Yes, dreams do come true.
At the award ceremony, in a classic gesture, MIT team gave standing ovation to the newly crowned Cornell team. The Cornell team, in return, gave standing ovation to the lion-heart MIT team who showed how a true champion should compete. They took a team picture together with their warm up jackets exchanged. It’s ritual that’s been past since 2003, when MIT became Cornell archrival. Both teams knew they needed each other to bring out their best. Both teams knew they were one of the same. This is why INCTL is the greatest TKD league in the country. No one comes close to the experience and camaraderie the league can offer.
Oh, by the way, to those of you who thinks Sabomnim Han Cho makes a habit of choking his words on his league cup acceptance speech, well…that was the first.
P.S. To the MIT team,
Thank you, this cup would not have meant so much to us had you not brought out the best in us.
To my Cornell team,
My only regret now is watching you slowly dissolve. I don’t think I would’ve ever gotten tired of being buried in the magic we all felt this year.
To Cornell Sport TKD Alumni,
With passing years, my memories of you become more special.
To The Seniors of ’05,
I’ll always measure a student’s loyalty and dedication to the standard you set.
To Alice,
Thank you for all you support. Without it, I don’t think I could’ve been involved so deeply with this amazing team.
Final standings available at http://www.inctl.org/
Columbia Tournament recap: The Showdown in Chinatown
By Han D. Cho
With the must-win victory two weeks ago at Upenn, the Cornell team pulled ahead in the league standing and was ready for the final showdown hosted by Columbia U on Saturday, April 28, 2007. Columbia University usually hosts the last of the five INCTL tournaments. Due to scheduling problems, however, the site of the tournament wasn’t at the usual place on campus, but at a local public school gym located on the outskirts of Chinatown.
Following closely behind Cornell in the standing was the reigning league champion, MIT, who has kept the league cup for the last four years. Only 44 points separated these two teams, which was considered nearly a tie given that these two teams can regularly acquire more than 500 points in a tournament.
Though the Cornell team remained optimistic, it could not deny the memories of last several years where the team came up short against MIT in similar situations. One of those years was more memorable, the 2004 - 05 season. With the dedicated seniors like Tanya, Jenn, Brian, David, Naji, Jacque, Lou, Mary, and Anastasia, the Cornell team led most of the season before falling short in the end. Tim Gera, a media major at U of Buffalo, captured that season’s magic and frustration beautifully in his documentary, “The Cornell Fight Team.”
The underclassmen who followed that year were now the leaders of the current Cornell team. To them, winning the cup this year meant more than recapturing the long dominance Cornell enjoyed before the MIT emergence in 2003. It was Gordon, Evan, Harrison, Scott, Karen, and Sam’s way of giving tribute to the seniors of ’05 who have helped them become what they are today.
This Columbia tournament was more than a game to the group of 50 individuals on the Cornell team. It was far more than that. It was about dreaming and seeing it if dreams do come true if they work hard to achieve it. It was about character. Because of that, the stakes were high. Monumental victories or defeats can and do change lives. As the season went on, the stakes got higher and higher until no one could control it. It got bigger than anyone had anticipated. Nothing but victory was acceptable. Anything else would set up the biggest fall in the history of the team.
To say there was electricity in the air would be an understatement. The Cornell and MIT teams were on a collision course, and no school, none of the 16 in the league, could stop them. In the poomse competition, Cornell’s Jason Oh placed 1st in the Men’s black belt division while Nicole placed 3rd, and with numerous other Cornell color belts (including a 1-2-3 sweep in the women’s red belt division) placing, Cornell actually led by 6 points going into sparring competition. This was good because MIT always had a strong showing in the poomse competition.
The West Point Military Academy Team was the dark horse of the tournament. They did not possess the complete team like Cornell and MIT to threaten the overall standing, but they did have enough talent in the advanced divisions, A-teams mostly, to spoil Cornell’s and/or MIT’s plans. Everyone was anxious to see the announcement of the match ups. After careful calculations and double-checking, the bracketing was finalized and posted in front of eager captains of the 16 different teams. The West Point team matched up with the MIT team in the men’s division, and it was matched up with Cornell in the Women’s division. It was clear that how Cornell and MIT handled the West Point team would become the key factor in the A-team division where the points were awarded the most.
Cornell Women A-teams started the sparring competition first, looking to set a good example for the day. The whole Cornell team gathered around to cheer, but not much noise came out of them except for numbing sighs. The women kept losing. Four consecutive losses resulted from Cornell Women A2-team’s fall to West Point, while Cornell Women A3-team also fell to MIT Women A2-team. Only the Cornell Women A1-team was able to move on to the 2nd round. Facing the Harvard team next, whose heavyweight handed our heavyweight, Karen, her only loss in the last 3 years, the members of the Cornell Women A-team was in disarray.
More bad news followed as both MIT Women A1 and A2 made it to the point rounds (the semifinal rounds), securing at least 135 points and looking for more. Whatever the small lead the Cornell team enjoyed as the 1st place in the league standing was now gone. MIT was on top. It was a must-win situation for Cornell Women A1, who needed to defeat the Harvard team to get to the point round or the point gap might be too big for the entire team to recover. Karen Chin knew how to handle pressure though. As she had done many times in this situation, Karen finally scored the Cornell Women team’s first major victory by beating her nemesis, her best competition in the tournament, and got to the point rounds, but not without reinjuring the foot injury she’s suffered in the past. Nonetheless, the Cornell team seemed to be back in the rhythm from Karen’s success and was ready to chase the gold medal once again.
Standing in their way was the always tough West Point Women A1-team, fresh from trouncing the Cornell Women A2-team with ease. But the Cornell Women A1-team was too skillful, too experienced to let the overly aggressive West Point team have it their way. Nicole, Cornell’s newly recruited lightweight, and Karen never allowed West Point to get in the flow of their game plan and handed their first defeat. The entire West Point team seemed confused from such skillful dominance by the Cornell Women A1 team.
With the win over West Point Women A1 in the semi-finals, Cornell Women A1 moved on to the finals to face MIT Women A1. It was their fourth time of meeting in the finals this academic year. Coached by Cornell ’05 MVP, Tanya Derosa, Nicole delivered the first telling blow to the MIT team by defeating the reigning league MVP, Erica Chen. In fact, Nicole had already beaten Erica three times this year, a feat no one had predicted, especially from a freshman. At the end of the match, even Erica knew the torch had been passed. As great a player as Erica was in the last four years, Nicole (little Tanya we call her) was the new sheriff in town. As expected, Karen easily finished her opponent and secured the Gold medal for the Women’s A1 team. She was also named the league’s MVP of the year!
Despite the first place finish from Cornell in the Women’s A-team division, the MIT team still managed to gain 30 points more than Cornell due to their multiple team placement. Their Women A1 took 2nd and their A2 took 3rd. This added more pressure on the Cornell Men A teams who faced a field of 16 teams. And they fought. Cornell Men A3 got knocked off first in the 2nd round by Harvard Men A1. Cornell A4 also fell to the feet of West Point Men A1. Luckily, West Point Men A1 had also beaten MIT Men A1. And when Cornell Men A2 knocked off MIT Men A2, Cornell realized all MIT Men A teams were knocked off before the point rounds. This meant that any points Cornell gained will be in the positive column of the point gap over MIT! Excited and optimistic, the remaining survivors of Cornell’s Men A teams, A1 and A2, raced to the point round. The A2 team reached first, securing at least 55 points, but was stopped there once again because of the powerful Harvard Men A1. Cornell A1 also reached the point round securing another 55 points, but the players on the team weren’t going to stop there. Winning the Men A team division was the statement Cornell wanted to make even before the start of the tournament. They were ready for West Point and Harvard.
The battle between Cornell Men A1 and West Point Men A1 was monumental. Both teams were stacked with top notch players and two out of three matches decided who would reign supreme. West Point Men A1 was favored because they had beaten Cornell Men A1 before. From the beginning, Gordon, the Cornell lightweight, was behind on points and the score stayed that way throughout the match, despite the furious pace from the two warriors. With 15 seconds to go, Gordon turned up another notch and unleashed his double, triple, quadruple kicks. Before the West Point player could respond from Gordon’s last second surge, time had expired and Gordon raised his arms in front of the frenzied Cornell crowd.
The noise never got lower as Evan stepped in the ring. Coached by Master Craig Derosa, Cornell’s assistant coach, in a non-stop action, and in deafening noise, Evan showed clarity in his eyes that only a few had the chance to possess in their lifetime. Down by points, out classed, out experienced, Evan’s desire to win for the team could not be denied. Evan’s heart secured the Gold medal round for the Cornell A1 team. The inspiring story of ordinary individuals doing extraordinary things in extraordinary circumstances is what we base our lives on. Gordon and Evan will live a lifetime from the precious seconds they faced, when they reached higher than they thought they could ever reach.
The Cornell Men A1 moved on to face Harvard Men A1, but Harvard decided to forfeit the match. After watching the tough West Point Men A1 go down by Cornell Men A1, Harvard knew they had no chance of beating Cornell. In an almost unthinkable move, Harvard decided to forgo the A-team finals and concentrate on keeping some of their key members injure-free for the B-team competition. This meant Cornell A1 had taken 1st place for the second consecutive time this year.
Because of the huge success from Cornell’s Men A-teams, Cornell had a 125-point lead over MIT at the end of the A-team sparring competition. C-team sparring (white to green belt) was next. Cornell was confident because this division was the area Cornell has made the most improvements. In fact, the Cornell Women C-team has been the story of the team this semester because of the deep talent in ‘Newbies,’ the Spring class of ’07, that made up C1, C2, C3, and C4. These yellow belts surprised everyone at the last Upenn tournament. Some of them were so good that they also competed in B-teams and had successes there as well. The confidence on the Cornell team ran even higher with Men C- teams. Cornell Men C1 had been winning the C-team division for the last 10 tournaments. This was an incredible feat given that Men C-team in the league drew more teams than any other divisions, topping at an average of 20 teams per tournament!
Given all these factors, the Cornell team had every reason to be confident, even cocky, going into C-team rounds, expecting to widen the lead before its heavily favored Men B teams ran away with it. The Cornell Men B team was largely made up of the Cornell Men A-team that just finished dominating the tournament. The Cornell Men B1, B2, and B3 had consistently placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the last 3 tournaments! This was the exact situation Cornell had hoped for. Everything was unfolding just like how the team had planned. Everyone knew if Cornell lead after the A-team rounds, the game was over. And Cornell led more than anyone had anticipated. MIT could not catch up with Cornell with its C and B teams because there weren’t enough points to be shared. The strategy worked perfectly for Cornell. Too perfect.
Cornell was wrong.
The emotional roller coaster ride of the tournament took a down turn for Cornell. This time it was steep. MIT wasn’t going to lay down without a fight. Somebody forgot to tell their C Team that the tournament was all but over. They came in hard and aggressive and caught Cornell by surprise. Cornell Women C1 and C2 fell victims to the determined MIT Women C1 and C2 teams. And when RPI knocked off Cornell Women C3, Cornell realized no women C-teams would have a chance of getting points. What’s more, three of the MIT Women C-teams made the point rounds, acquiring 80 points and closing the point gap to 45 points.
The bleeding continued in the Men’s division. All Cornell Men C-teams, except C1, were knocked off before reaching the point rounds as well, while two of MIT Men C-teams reached it, securing at least another 50 more points. Cornell was on course to a deficit in points before moving on to the B-team division!
The entire Cornell team was in a state of disbelief. No one knew what was going on. Panic set in. Suddenly, the team realized that going into B team division with the point deficit could be more trouble than they anticipated. Although Cornell Men B-teams were strong, the weakest part of Cornell team was on the Women’s B-teams. Usually the men’s B-teams could overcompensate the shortcomings of Women B-team but not if MIT B-teams decimated them like they did on the Women C-team side. And though the Cornell Women B-team was reinforced by the Newbies of Spring ’07, how could they do it on the B-teams if they couldn’t do it on the C-teams?
It was time for the Cornell team to respond. If they ever dreamed of bringing the cup back, this was the time they had to make a move. This was the defining moment. The Cornell team held an emergency meeting to reinforce once and for all what they came here to do, how much sacrifice they made to get there, and how much this meant to them. Champions were made, everyone was reminded, not born. MIT had called the shot and now Cornell had to answer the call. Men’s C1-team needed to make the point round to slow the MIT team down and the Cornell B-teams needed to perform at a higher level than ever before. It was now or never.
The Cornell Men C1 team answered the call first. With injured but unwavering Cornell C1 middleweight, Arzika, as the anchor of the team, and Kenkoku, the lightweight and Donald, the heavyweight, rolled through twenty teams to capture the Gold medal, decisively defeating MIT Men C1 in the finals! It was Cornell Men C1’s eleventh consecutive C-team division victory. The MIT team placed 2nd and 3rd and acquired 70 more points but at least Cornell could relax knowing that they had slowed down the bleeding. Going into the B-team division, Cornell was still leading by 35 points. It could have been far worse. Everyone held their breath for the wild finish.
And what a wild finish it was! The Cornell team could not have drawn up a better storybook ending than this. Emotions ran high. It came down to who wanted it the most.
The Newbies of Spring ’07 answered the call next. Led by the emotional Women B-team leader, Louise Huang, the B-team girls rolled through the competition like their C-team failure never happened. No one predicted such success, especially after the C-team debacle, from which many were now competing in the B-teams. It was their best performance in the last ten tournaments. All but the B4 team made the point rounds. So dominant was the Cornell Women B-teams that its B1 captured the Gold by way of forfeit because its B2 also made the finals. The coach of the MIT team, Master Dan Chuang, commented that the decisive moment swing for his team happened when his Women B2 team lost a key match up to Cornell B2, thereby eliminating them from the point rounds while Cornell got the points. Any dual match ups between Cornell and MIT doubled the impact because of the point gap significance of the two schools. In that match, Cornell Women B2 heavyweight, Tiffany Jones, played critical role as she beat the MIT Women B2 heavyweight, 1-0. Before this win, Tiffany had lost to the same player for the last 4 times they met. This was the telltale sign. Everyone was inspired. Everyone started believing. Yet no one dared to celebrate.
At the end of the Women’s B team sparring, Cornell had increased its point gap over MIT by a three digit number, 125.
When Men’s B team came around, it was Gordon, Harrison, Kevin, and Robbie’s time. These guys had been so reliable over the course of the whole year that it seemed the proper question was not if Cornell would win, but by how much. Only this fact held the team from celebrating. These guys wanted to make statement to all the opposing schools, including MIT, that Cornell was back!
Harrison made the statement first by knocking out his West Point opponent with an Axe kick. The kick was so strong that the West Point player needed an EMS to help him get back to his feet. After that no one wanted to fight him. Not even MIT. They forfeited their match against Harrison in a crucial semi-final match up, allowing Cornell Men B1 to move on to the finals handily. Gordon also made his statement with all his opponents, winning by large margins. If no one on the A-team could beat him, how could any color belts in the B-team beat him? Kevin continued his winning ways as well. Robbie followed Harrison’s foot steps and kept nailing everyone with his axe kicks. Though his were not as deadly accurate as Harrison’s, they were stronger and higher.
“I’d better watch out for those myself,” Harrison joked while watching Robbie’s performance.
It seemed the day’s event wouldn’t be complete without a storybook ending. By this time everyone from the Cornell team was exhausted from the emotional roller coaster. It started high when they were excited to move into sparring competition by actually leading in the poomse competition, but slid down fast when the A-team women started losing consecutively in the key match ups. The roller coaster bounced back up even higher when Men A1 and A2 teams bravely rallied to acquire huge points gaps over MIT, but it nearly freefell to the ground when Cornell Women’s C team faltered and Men C team staggered. With the heroic push, the roller coaster sailed through the cloud when miraculously, the Women B team, perennially viewed as the weakest link in the Cornell team, posted the biggest margin of victory in the last 10 tournaments and opened the point gap to three digit lead again. With Men’s B team to go, the roller coaster wasn’t coming down from the stratosphere. Everything was coming together for Cornell. MIT seemed to wilt as each match played out.
By this time both teams knew it was mathematically impossible for MIT to catch up to Cornell, but the mood of the Cornellians remained rather subdued. All the story book scenario of the day needed was the memorable ending. An ending that could allow the whole Cornell team to unleash all the emotions they carried for the whole year. An emotion they carried from the painful year of ’05.
It happened in the semi-finals match in the Men’s B team Division between Cornell Men B2 versus MIT Men B1. Fortunately, in the other semi-finals, Cornell Men B1 had already made the finals round by destroying MIT Men B2. Everyone expected the dramatic finals match up of the “Showdown in Chinatown” between Cornell Men B1 versus MIT Men B1. This was not the first time they met like this, but it would definitely be the last time. No one gave Cornell Men B2 a chance. No one but Kevin, Marc, and Robbie. Everyone waited for the heavily favored MIT Men B1 to beat Cornell Men B2 and expected to see the final showdown between MIT B1 and Cornell B1. There were no more matches left for the tournament so everyone in the tournament gathered around to see the match up. MIT on one side, Cornell on the other.
As it was ready to start, someone from Cornell yelled out, “Finish it here!”
First, Cornell Men B2 lightweight, Kevin Kim walked into the ring. He had been suffering from sickness and weight cutting, so his performance has been suffering though still winning. The match was closer than what he would’ve liked, but, in the end, Kevin did his job. Once a person find his winning ways, he finds a way to win, no matter how he feels. Winning is about attitude…as is losing. Next, Cornell Men B2 middleweight, Marc Sackeli, the hero of the NYU tournament, stepped in the ring and sparred one of the smartest match he ever sparred. Unlike other times when he would kick spastically, this time he kept his composure and scored his point efficiently. Everyone thought the tournament was over when he landed the high section kick that opened up the lead, but the MIT middleweight hung tough and pulled a last second victory.
MIT was already celebrating because the split in light and middleweight meant their heavyweight would have a chance to close out. And they had the best closer. For the entire year, no one in the league, including Cornell, had an answer for the MIT B1 heavyweight, Richard. He was that good. Like Gordon, Richard was the best heavyweight in the A team, but he was only a red belt, so that also qualified him in the B team division. No one thought about beating him in the B team. Even Harrison, the decorated Cornell Men A1 and B1 heavyweight suffered his only defeat from Richard. Some of the Cornell B1 team was already warming up to gear up for the final show. Harrison knew he had a fight of his life in his hand. In fact, he had been preparing for this match up since the NYU tournament 2 months ago.
Everyone thought the Cornell Men B2 team was as good as over. But Robbie, our heavyweight, had a different thought in mind. But then everyone always has one before they step in the ring…until they get hit. Yes, indeed, many dreams have disappeared in the ring. It is the nature of the fight sport. Only the strong survives.
Robbie’s only chance of beating the super fast Richard was to play defensively throughout the match and stay close in points until the end when he could pull out a quick surprise point using his longer reach. It was crucial for Robbie to remain competitive until the end of the match to have any chance of winning because Richard had capability to score multiple points in a very short amount time. The problem was Robbie’s game was never a defensive one. He was always the hunter, never hunted. Asking him to change his style was like asking him to change his personality.
But that was what he did. Robbie looked like a totally different guy as he played his defensive game. It was like a bully being a metro sexual. As Richard pressed on, daring Robbie to be more aggressive, Robbie kept his composure and showed his patience. Until then, no one knew he had one. He never needed one. At the end of the first round, everyone was in disbelief that the score was even. Harrison, the most. Robbie not only stayed close, but he was on par with Richard!
As amazed as everyone was, they also knew Richard’s performance always heightened in the 2nd round. Now that he figured out Robbie’s plan, Richard was expected to make his adjustment and dazzle the audience on the MIT side, like he’d done many times before. On so many occasions, Cornellians helplessly watched Richard’s brilliant performance. Could it be the same again?
As Robbie walked in for the second round, the Cornellians kept their cheers in check for their man. Robbie was about to get the harsh doses of reality.
Once again, Robbie played defensively. Richard was turning up his level even more and really stayed aggressive, urging Robbie to open up and play offensive. This new energy from Richard seemed to draw Robbie in to his natural instinct. Robbie slowly seemed to succumbed to Richard’s wishes. He seemed to lose his composure and ready to throw out his game plan. He wanted to take Richard’s on head-to-head. This was what Richard wanted. Though still careful, Robbie started to open up, throwing more kicks, giving more targets for Richard’s lighting fast counter attacks. Richard seemed to smile because he knew Robbie was now playing into Richard’s game. As soon as Robbie played offensive, Richard started scoring. But to everyone’s surprise, Robbie started scoring, too. The points went up high, but from both sides, not just from Richard’s, as everyone had anticipated. Robbie was matching kick for kick, step for step, and point for point with the fastest heavyweight in the league. The noise was deafening, the loudest it ever been in the entire day. And when Robbie finally overtook the lead, the noise level doubled. The crowd started going frenzy. With 20 seconds to go, a chorus began at Cornell, “Finish it here! Finish it here!” Instead of concentrating on his match, Robbie all of sudden pumped his hands high up in the air as if he knew what would happen next, and lounged himself at Richard with full force, landing the jumping axe kick that lifted all Cornellians to about 3 feet in the air!
It was every bit as memorable as the Jenn Burg’s famous axe kick of ’04.
As the clock ticked zero, all of the Cornellians nearly buried themselves in the pile of crowd. The referee just gave up trying to control his ring. The movie just delivered the critical climax scene. All it needed was some rocking music and the still shot photo because this was the greatest movie the Cornell Team had ever been in. The spirit of the members of seniors of ’05 was now permanently sealed. Yes, dreams do come true.
At the award ceremony, in a classic gesture, MIT team gave standing ovation to the newly crowned Cornell team. The Cornell team, in return, gave standing ovation to the lion-heart MIT team who showed how a true champion should compete. They took a team picture together with their warm up jackets exchanged. It’s ritual that’s been past since 2003, when MIT became Cornell archrival. Both teams knew they needed each other to bring out their best. Both teams knew they were one of the same. This is why INCTL is the greatest TKD league in the country. No one comes close to the experience and camaraderie the league can offer.
Oh, by the way, to those of you who thinks Sabomnim Han Cho makes a habit of choking his words on his league cup acceptance speech, well…that was the first.
P.S. To the MIT team,
Thank you, this cup would not have meant so much to us had you not brought out the best in us.
To my Cornell team,
My only regret now is watching you slowly dissolve. I don’t think I would’ve ever gotten tired of being buried in the magic we all felt this year.
To Cornell Sport TKD Alumni,
With passing years, my memories of you become more special.
To The Seniors of ’05,
I’ll always measure a student’s loyalty and dedication to the standard you set.
To Alice,
Thank you for all you support. Without it, I don’t think I could’ve been involved so deeply with this amazing team.