Long-term training program key to tae kwon do success

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Tae kwon do administrators in Central Java and West Java are clearly doing something right.

For the fifth straight year, it was a two-team tussle between the provinces at the 5th LG National Tae kwon do championship last week.

With athletes in the elite Indonesia Awakens training program not competing, Central Java retained its title as overall champion with five golds, followed by its neighbor with four golds and four silvers.

West Java won the nationals in 2000, 2001 and 2002, and Central Java took the honors in the last two years.

The provinces also each won six golds in the 2004 National Games (PON) in Palembang.

The formula for success, according to Central Java head coach Bambang Widjanarko, is his province's comprehensive, long-term training program, begun in 1997, to find young talent.

"With the long-term training program, the development of sport for competition (PPOP), our athletes are ready to fight and win at any event," said Bambang, who was selected the best coach at the meet.

"Remember that last December our athletes Derry Darmansyah and Amalia Kurniasih also contributed the only two golds for Indonesia in the 7th LG ASEAN Tae kwon do Championship amid the domination by Vietnam, which won 12 golds."

The program is in contrast to the approach of other provinces, which tend to organize short-term training stints focused on a specific event.

PPOP, with full financing from the provincial budget, accommodates 10 athletes, with third year junior high school students the youngest recruits and second year high school students the oldest.

Athletes are recruited among champions from local tournaments and through testing at the junior level within a yearlong period to ensure regeneration.

They practice twice a day in the morning and in the evening at the center in Semarang. Through cooperation with local SMU 9 high school, they are also able to study close to the center.

After graduating from the program, they are permitted to continue their studies at Diponegoro University under a special program for outstanding athletes.

For West Java and Jakarta, which finished third in the standings, the holding of regular tournaments is the means to hone talented athletes.

West Java coach Agus Sumarno said the province long relied on competition to produce champions, who have included Lamtin and Shinta Berliana Heru, since the sport first became popular in the 1970s.

"We believe in our tournaments to make champions and maintain regeneration. With many tournaments, athletes are forced to keep practicing."

At least four series of competitions at the junior, university and adult level are held annually in West Java, he added.

Of course, their success is inspiring other provinces, particularly those with ample funds following decentralization.

Oil-rich East Kalimantan, which secured one gold and three silvers at the nationals, will implement its own long-term program next month, with the goal of winning on home soil when it hosts the 2008 PON.

The province produced such top athletes as Dirk Richard and Alfons in the past, and has taken gold at the National Games since the 1990s, but a lack of younger talent has caused its decline in the sport since 2000.

"We will train 16 senior athletes and 10 junior athletes daily under the program, dubbed 'East Kalimantan Awakens'," said Azis Rewa, head of the technical commission of the province's chapter of the Tae kwon do Indonesia Association.

It will also hire a coach from the sport's homeland of South Korea, send its athletes to undergo one month's training in that country and also hold competitions against other nations.

Other wealthy provinces such as Papua and Riau also have the funds to effect such measures.

Meanwhile, for Lampung team manager Fajarini, the programs are a dream.

"Now Central Java has first, second and third level athletes in tae kwon do," she said. "It is difficult to challenge them because we lack funds to hold such a long-term program in our province, but we hope that our administration will undertake one."

Her province relies on local competitions and the athletes' own efforts to maintain their training in preparing for competition.

Indonesian Tae kwon do Association (PB TI) secretary-general Ade Lukman acknowledged that provinces must hold long-term training programs to compete against the national powerhouses.

"Vietnam's tae kwon do success at the international level is because at every club throughout the country, they have a long -term training program. Additionally, they often hold competitions with fighters from other countries."

Although some complained that the presence of older athletes at the nationals showed the sport was not producing enough young talent, Ade was heartened by the fact that Central Java, West Java, East Java, Yogyakarta and East Kalimantan featured squads with young and older members.

About 60 percent of the 16 athletes of Central Java at the championship were young, West Java sent 12 young athletes out of 16 and most athletes from East Java and East Kalimantan were also young.

While it's true that gold medalist finweight fighter Pares D. Laratmas of Papua, 29, took the best male athlete at the nationals, the best female athlete was 18-year-old finweight fighter Fransisca Valentina of Central Java.

Ade recognizes that young athletes must be found and groomed for success.

"We need young athletes because current athletes like Olympian Satrio Rahadani and Juana Wangsa Putri won't be at peak performance after the 2006 Asian Games."