There is no weak player under coach Han Jong Ae (pictured). This is what Jang Kyong Ok, department chief of the Korean Taekwon-Do Committee, answered a reporter who asked for her brief comment on the female catchweight individual sparring matches at the recent national Taekwon-Do all-star tournament for Jonsung Cup. At the fierce matches a player trained by Han timely grasped her opponents’ fortes and movements, used various moving techniques to adjust distance and landed successful blows by combining feints and various attacks. “Han’s trainee was excellent at moving, which constituted a key factor in having the initiative and grasping her chances of striking at the bouts. This was just the triumph of the coach who attached importance to moving in sparring,” said Jang. As she started coaching, Han paid the closest attention to making her trainees master their fortes. She once discovered that the players failed to fully display their techniques at matches unlike in training. In the course of analysing data on the previous domestic and international games, she realized that moving is fundamental and essential in sparring. So she organized training with emphasis put on moving as vital in mastering fortes. Her efforts produced desired results. A typical example is the win of Kim Ryu Gyong, member of the Taekwon-Do team of the Korean Taekwon-Do Committee. She claimed the individual technical prize by taking the first place at the third dan pattern, 67kg-category sparring and individual forte events in the Taekwon-Do competition of the Mangyongdae Prize national martial art championships held in April last year in celebration the Day of the Sun. Han Jong Ae, who is famous abroad as well as at home, has trained many players into national team members for nearly ten years since she started her career as Taekwon-Do coach. After attending the 11th junior Taekwon-Do world championships as coach, she had her players participate in the Taekwon-Do world championships and the Asian Taekwon-Do championships four times to contribute to exalting the country’s honour as the home of Taekwon-Do. Especially, the 9th Asian Taekwon-Do championships held in 2018 was an opportunity for Han to display her ability as a coach. At the championships eight DPRK players were all awarded gold medals by winning women’s individual sparring events in their body weights. At the competition Han, who coached the players flexibly, enabled them to grab 18 gold medals and her country to retain championship in total rankings of countries. She was chosen as one of the top ten coaches of the DPRK in 2021 and is also famous for making exact demands on players. “Don’t hope for any luck.” This is what she repeats frequently. Without reducing exact demands on herself as well as players, Han strenuously trains them so that they can develop into Taekwon-do stars. THE PYONGYANG TIMES 
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