Oh wants to find Indonesia's next tae kwon do champions

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Expatriate workers come and go, but tae kwon do coach Oh Il Nam is here for the long haul in the country he considers his second home.

In the past 16 years, the Korean has used his expertise in developing the sport here to groom future champions for success. He has also had to deal with the criticism that comes when his athletes fall short of their goals.

Indonesia, which dominated tae kwon do in the early 1990s in Southeast Asia and took medals at several Asian Games, has been left behind recently by Vietnam at the regional level.

It's easy to lay blame, especially when the target is a foreigner, but Oh, 45, has stayed put despite some calling for his resignation.

He acknowledges there is a problem in finding new talent and grooming them to become champions.

"Indonesia has great potential because it has a huge population and many talented athletes, but regeneration in tae kwon do did not run well here," he said.

"Now we have a new center for tae kwon do in Cibubur, East Jakarta and I indeed want to seek and train young fighters in the new center."

The center, opened last month for the nationals, was built with funding from the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

Oh would like to pick 50 top juniors of both sexes and train them at the Cibubur center, making sure that they also continue their education.

The big question -- as always in Indonesian sport -- is finding funds to support such a program.

Oh arrived in Indonesia in 1989 after the National Sports Council (KONI) requested the World Tae kwon do Federation to provide a coach.

"I didn't know Indonesia at that time, but I agreed to coach in the country," said the father of a 14-year-old son and 12- year-old daughter.

He fell in love with his new home and decided he would stay.

"Although KONI did not extend my contract in 1990, I decided to stay to develop tae kwon do here, with my salary paid by KOICA."

Oh has produced several Asian Games silver medalists, and also helped train 2003 world women's flyweight champion Juana Wangsa Putri and Olympian Satrio Rahadani.

Over the years, he has also become fluent in Indonesian.

"I used to hear my athletes speak the Indonesian language, until one day I was just able to speak Indonesian."

Known for being serious and focused on the goal at hand, Oh's rapport with his athletes may also have to deal with his own experiences before becoming a coach in 1983.

"The best moment was in 1981 when I won gold in the light middleweight class in the World Games," he said, referring to the international event featuring sports that have yet to become part of the Olympics (tae kwon do first became an Olympic demonstration sport in the 1988 Seoul Olympics).

Unbeaten for the whole year, Oh was named Korea's best male athlete in 1981.

He also won gold in the 1981 World Games, the Asian Tae kwon do Championship in 1978 in the lightweight class, and in 1980 and 1982 in welterweight.

He had overcome injury, an experience which probably strengthened his resolve in dealing with coaching's h.

"I had knee and back injuries, and I achieved nothing in 1979 because I couldn't compete," he said.

"But I worked very hard to recover as I wanted to prove that I was still around, and in 1980 I succeeded in returning to the national training center."