Lucas Feeley, right, and his father/trainer, Chris, will be in Finland in September while Lucas competes at the ITF World Championships. photo supplied
For Lucas Feeley, a Taekwon-Do world title has been the dream for quite some time, and now he is one step closer to turning that dream into reality.
About two months ago, 18-year-old Feeley, who trains at Torrent TKD, was mentally preparing to compete at the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) National Championships in Vernon, BC.
Jump to the present and Feeley is once again preparing for competition, but this time, for the ITF World Championships in Finland from September 4-10.
After winning national gold in sparring and silver in skilled technique in Vernon, Feeley booked his ticket to a selection camp June 9-11 in hopes of making the national team.
Things went well for Feeley during selection camp and he described the entire experience as one he will never forget.
“It was pretty surreal to line up with my teammates from Canada for the first time,” he said.
With only 53 days left to Finland, Feeley knows it's time to give it his all to prepare mentally and physically to face the best Taekwon-Do athletes in the world.
“I know a lot of sacrifices have to be made because now I am training at least two hours a day, six days a week, so I only rest one day a week,” he said.
“On that day off I'm focusing on recovery so I'm sleeping in, we just had an ice bath so I'm taking ice baths, I'm also trying heat therapy, stretching twice a day; it's just non-stop.
“This is now the number one thing I'm focusing on. Everything I do I try to put it second while thinking 'is this going to benefit me to be a world champion?'”
Feeley made three places on Team Canada for Worlds in Specialty Technique, which is an event of high kicks, individual sparring, as well as team sparring, something her father/trainer, Chris, is eager to see.
“Team combat is a prestigious place,” said Chris, who is also the owner and lead instructor at Torrent TKD.
“Of all the people who fight individually, there are six selected for the team, so he is one of those six.
"That's the event where you really carry the flag on your back for the team."
Having stepped into his son's shoes not long ago for the World Cup in Germany, Chris said it's important to aim for the moon.
“You can't control what others will do, but the key is to prepare as best you can and get in the best shape possible for the event,” he said.
“Factually, I think he has a good chance, especially in the special kick event, I think he has a very good chance to get on the podium there; He also has a good opportunity in sparring”.
At Worlds, Feeley looks forward to seeing how athletes from different countries fight, which kicks they use the most and how they punch. He also explained that he doesn't worry too much about competition before a fight.
"I don't like to look at the guys I'm going to compete against and build them up in my head because they become a bigger problem than they really are."
Feeley also noted that he is excited to potentially trade his Team Canada dobox with international athletes after the competition is over, a long-standing tradition in ITF competitions.
“There are guys on the Canada team with doboxes from Ireland, Ukraine and Poland; it's cool and quite prestigious to get a dobox from one of these countries where Taekwon-Do is the number one sport. Bringing it back home and using it during team training is amazing to see."
For Chris and the entire Torrent TKD team, having an athlete on Team Canada has been inspiring.
“This is huge. It's already been a huge boost in student morale; It's gotten everyone excited and everyone excited to know it's a possibility,” Chris said. “I've been talking about this with our students since they were young saying 'hey, you're my future world champions.'
The Feeleys, as well as Torrent TKD, would like to thank all of their sponsors for helping Lucas to Finland.
Sponsors include The Sticks Billiard and Lounge, Noralta Technologies, Guest Controls, Cenovus, Home Hardware, Classic Oilfield Services, A&K New Life, the Rurka family, the Reineger family, the Samarin family, the Hunt family, the Tomayer family, the Proskurov and the McLean family.
