Jason Maglinao has traveled this road before.  It was just last year, as a brown belt, that Maglinao took home two golds from the U.S. Gold Cup Tae Kwon Do Championships.  What followed was a trip to the state championships -- He won gold -- followed by a trip to the nationals -- another gold -- and then to the Pan American Games.  Yup another gold.  This year’s sixth U.S. Gold Cup held Saturday at Antelope Valley College, could be the start of a similar cycle.  Maglinao, now a deputy black belt competing in his third U.S. Gold Cup, took home double gold again, winning poomse (forms) and two tough kyroogi (sparring) matches.  “I just wanted to try my best,” Maglinao, 10, said.  “I wanted to try to get two golds... just like everyone else.  I wanted to do well for my family and for my sister, it’s her birthday.”  They can all be proud of Jason, who battled with his first sparring opponent all over the ring, chasing each other out several times.  He stuck in there after a kick to the head and won the match.  He captured the gold after chasing his second opponent away with an ax kick, combined with timely moves.  Maglinao, who will enter the state championships in Anaheim in a couple of weeks confident from last year’s experience, said he doesn’t feel anything in terms of pressure until he finds out the decision of the judges.  Among the crowd favorites Saturday, Maglinao felt the strategy he entered with would come through.  “I didn’t change my strategy, I just kept trying to do the same things,” Maglinao said.  “(Being chased) I didn’t get as many kicks in, but it worked out.”  It certainly did, and it certainly may again in the near future.  

 

Family Man

Lonnie Wall Jr., 40, found himself sparring with a 25-year-old prison guard for a gold medal, and Wall didn’t  seem to mind.  Wall, of Chino, joined a Tae Kwon Do Academy in December after being out of martial arts for 13 years  He joined so his eldest daughter, Leslie, would have someone with which to enter the program.  Wall’s son, Lonnie II, (who won a gold in sparring) and daughter, Victoria, joined as well.  “ I spar every week, I have nothing to prove.  I’m out here just having fun,” Wall said before his matches.  Wall, a yellow belt, walked away with the unexpected -- a silver medal in his first competition.

Full Day

Megan Johnson, a 15-year-old red belt from Bakersfield, had a full day on Saturday.  Johnson, competing in her first tournament, took a bronze medal in forms, and almost suffered an asthma attack during her sparring event.  “I was scared out of my mind,” Johnson, 15, said.  “I was afraid out there, I couldn’t breathe well.  But this was a fun tournament for me.”  Johnson took the gold.

High Flyer

Jimmy Nguyen’s talent during Saturday’s demonstration equally was displayed in his gold medal wins in forms and sparring.  Nguyen, who has won seven golds and one silver in four years of the U.S. Gold Cup, executed one of the more spectacular demonstrations.  Blindfolded with his legs tied together, Nguyen, 15, kicked an apple off the tip of a sword about six feet in the air while doing a back flip.

Not This Year

Michele LeWay, 15, and Kenny Kain, 16, are close friends.  They were even partners in the opening ceremonies’ demonstration.  But when the two black belts from the host school, Yin’s Tae Kwon Do, were to face off for the sparring gold, neither seemed anxious to go at the other.  “We sparred last year (in the Gold Cup) and there were problems picking a winner,” LeWay said.  “We are real close, like brothers.  We have the same speed, (Kain) has power, I have technique.  We decided not to (spar) this year.”  Both LeWay and Kain were given golds, making it a double-gold day for both of them.