{"id":1101,"date":"2014-07-25T18:18:13","date_gmt":"2014-07-26T02:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncta-usa.com\/?p=1101"},"modified":"2014-07-25T18:19:21","modified_gmt":"2014-07-26T02:19:21","slug":"focused-on-the-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncta-usa.com\/wordpress\/2014\/07\/25\/focused-on-the-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"Focused on the Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest post by\u00a0Ryan Lucas. Cross post from Team USA<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Along the tightrope of elite sports, very few athletes are as steady in balance as Carissa Fu.<\/p>\n

In academics, the 25 year old is a superstar; she\u2019s scheduled to finalize her master\u2019s degree in forensic anthropology from the Boston University School of Medicine in September, having earned a B.A. from Princeton in 2011.<\/p>\n

On the taekwondo mat, Fu is one of the game\u2019s young American luminaries.<\/p>\n

The 2014 National Collegiate Taekwondo Association\u2019s Female Athlete of the Year, she is both accomplished and well-rounded; according to the NCTA website, this year she became the first female in Team USA history to qualify for both the poomsae and sparring events at the World University Taekwondo Championship.<\/p>\n

Whether pushing herself in sparring or poomsae, Fu is all about equilibrium.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think both benefit events each other greatly, so it\u2019s not like I\u2019m just going to be doing one and, when that\u2019s finished, doing the other,\u201d she said earlier this month at the 2014 USA Taekwondo National Championships in San Jose, Calif. \u201cI think they both definitely help strengthen each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to do both at a high level consistently, being able to stay healthy, knowing when I need to rest so I don\u2019t overwork myself or get beyond the point in which I feel comfortable and just being able to manage myself in training will be a very challenging yet fruitful process for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Off the mat, the tenor of Fu\u2019s second half in 2014 will take her from the bliss of graduation at BU to the pangs of uncertainty in searching for a job. As a competitor, maintaining focus as she prepares for the World Poomsae Championships in October and the next incarnation of the USAT National Team Trials, the date of which is still undetermined, will be essential.<\/p>\n

Replicating her success from the 2014 National Collegiate Taekwondo Championships\u2014where she earned gold medals in sparring (bantam world class) and poomsae (pairs), along with a bronze medal in individual poomsae\u2014and the 2014 USAT National Championships\u2014where she hauled in four medals, including a gold in individual poomsae\u2014will not be easy.<\/p>\n

Fu\u2019s poise as a multitalented athlete, therefore, has never been more important. And, in both of her events, she knows she must continue to rely upon the bulwark of her support system.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt times, I think it can be difficult, but I think it\u2019s just a matter of being able to manage it with my coach and my teammates in both poomsae and sparring,\u201d Fu said. \u201cThere are a lot of us in Boston who do both, so at least we have that mutual community there to help each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fu can also move forward with the added confidence of having attained two major goals in 2014. Her performances in poomsae pairs and sparring at the 2014 NCAT Championships made for a memorable event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the first year I\u2019d made the poomsae pairs with my partner, David Chan, so that was a huge accomplishment for both of us,\u201d Fu said. \u201cJust being able to make the team in that was special because it\u2019s always such a stacked event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, in sparring, people having been noticing that I\u2019ve been knocking at the door for some time, so that was definitely quite a rush. I was able to get through the day in a double-elimination bracket, so it was definitely a very amazing day.\u201d<\/p>\n

With her thoughts aligned in the moment, Fu is reluctant to envision her place in taekwondo a few years into the future.<\/p>\n

The arc of her course through the sport\u2014beginning in Southern California at age 7, moving to Beijing with her family at age 14, taking a hiatus late in high school to focus on college applications, restarting in competition upon her return to the U.S.\u2014and the difficulty of the tasks ahead lead her to take nothing for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to see where I could go, both in poomsae and in sparring,\u201d Fu said. \u201cYou never know, and we\u2019ll see how things progress in terms of being able to go to U.S. Opens with points and all that, so I think it has to be one step at a time right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to become a Senior National Team member in poomsae, so we\u2019ll see how far I can go in terms of my placement in the world. Then for sparring, we\u2019ll see how I\u2019m able to do with the USA Team Trials, but it\u2019d be wonderful to progressively go up the levels and just take it one step at a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would hope that maybe the Olympics are in sight, but we\u2019ll see. I want to take it slowly at this point right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest post by\u00a0Ryan Lucas. Cross post from Team USA. Along the tightrope of elite sports, very few athletes are as steady in balance as Carissa Fu. In academics, the 25 year old is a superstar; she\u2019s scheduled to finalize her master\u2019s degree in forensic anthropology from the Boston University School of Medicine in September, having […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements","category-team","count-0","even alt","author-webmaster","last"],"yoast_head":"\nFocused on the Moment - NCTA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ncta-usa.com\/wordpress\/2014\/07\/25\/focused-on-the-moment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Focused on the Moment - NCTA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Guest post by\u00a0Ryan Lucas. 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