Open International Taekwondo Championships

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New Britain’s Ceana Rodriguez winning all over world, sets sight on Olympics

The New Britain High School student won two gold medals competing in South Korea recently, one coming at the Jeonju Open International Taekwondo Championships on July 20 and again at the more prestigious Chuncheon Korea Open International Taekwondo Championships this week, an event consisting of some 2,500 competitors from 50 countries.

“The Korea Open is the (most competitive) international championship in the world,” said Master Kiye Cho, Rodriguez’s coach.

With competitors in her division from Russia, Korea, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Congo, Rodriguez prevailed as best in the world.

“(Hearing them announce) ‘First Place, USA, Ceana Rodriguez’ … it was just an unbelievable feeling that I’m number one against all these different countries,” Rodriguez told the Herald from South Korea.

Rodriguez’s mother, Dinah Bissoni, who works a full-shift job and then drives her daughter to train daily, noted how special it was for Rodriguez to win in South Korea.

“To bring back a gold medal from where Taekwondo was born is an honored accomplishment,” Bissoni said.

Rodriguez battled a competitor from Uzbekistan in the final.

“We were both very cautious and very quick,” Rodriguez said.

Toward the end of the match, however, Rodriguez made her move.

“She came in with a kick and I blocked a kick that was so close to scoring and I reacted and popped her with a kick, and with three seconds left, she came rushing at me with everything she had to try to get the points back. I was blocking head shots and kicks,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez won the gold was atop the winner’s platform as champion.

It’s something the 16-year-old student-athlete is accustomed to.

She has an extensive list of accolades, ranging from a gold medal in the 2013 USAT (USA Taekwondo) National Championships, to being a 2015 USAT Junior National Team Member who placed first at both the 2015 AAU National Championships and at the 2015 USAT National Championships.

The friendly, 5-foot-5 Rodriguez got  into Taekwondo through her family.  Her father had a history of Taekwondo experience, and when she was five years old, her godfather took her to a Taekwondo tournament in New Britain.

“Seeing the sparring interested me. I never looked at it like fighting. I looked at it as playing tag,” Rodriguez said. “It was cool and kind of fun.”

Pop culture also played a hand in sparking her interest in the sport.

“I was curious and very interested in martial arts. I watched the Karate Kid and movies with Bruce Lee,” she said.

In 2010, at age 11, she made her first AAU cadet team, which is a national Taekwondo group.

“That’s when we started realizing she was the best in the country for her division,” Bissoni said. “She was fighting people from all over the United States to make that team.”

Although she is done with her competitions in South Korea, Rodriguez will stay there to train until the end of August. Being able to train in South Korea is a great opportunity for Rodriguez.

“In the United States, she is very good, but in Korea, everybody is good,” Cho said.

Rodriguez’s training regiment in South Korea is unrelenting. She trains four times a day.

“Six in the morning to 8 a.m., then breakfast. Ten to 1 p.m., then lunch. Three to 6 p.m., then dinner. Then 8 to 9 p.m. Every day,” Cho said.

It’s a stark contrast to what Rodriguez’s friends back home are doing on their summer vacation.

“I talk to my friends at home and they’re on the couch watching a movie, eating popcorn. I’ve gotten used to it,” she said.

Although her time in South Korea is primarily focused on becoming a better taekwondo competitor, Rodriguez has managed to forge friendships along the way.

“I’ve made a lot of new friends here, going through hard training with them,” she said. “I enjoy meeting new people and going to other countries and experiencing things that other people don’t … the culture is so different.”

Rodriguez’s schedule back home is just as hectic and demanding. Last fall, she balanced being a full-time high school student, a strong member of the New Britain High  varsity soccer team, a volunteer coach for a youth soccer team called the New Britain Soccer League Little Kickers and her training.

On a typical Tuesday, for example, Rodriguez, who is an honors student and takes multiple advanced placement courses, goes to school until dismissal at 2:30 p.m., then stays at school for an extra two hours working with her teachers. At 5:30 p.m., she coaches the Little Kickers for an hour, then hustles over to the Olympic Taekwondo Academy in Unionville for two hours of training with Cho.

Friday nights are set to allow Rodriguez to relax, but the schedule doesn’t let up.

“Every Friday and every Saturday we have team training and each class is three hours,” Cho said.

For someone who spends so much time with her coach, it is not surprising they have a mutual respect, trust and understanding of each other.

“A bond with a coach is the most important thing. We 100 percent trust each other,” Rodriguez said. “He picks me up in the morning and we train all day. In the ring we have a bond. When he tells me to do something I automatically know why.”

Cho, who has trained Rodriguez for the past three years at the academy, is a champion in his own right. Cho holds a sixth-degree black belt in Taekwondo and a fourth-degree black belt in Do Bong Sool. He is also a two-time International Champion.

“She’s a fighter. Whenever she loses, she doesn’t like it,” Cho said of his star pupil. “That’s her personality. That is good for Taekwondo, especially sparring.”

Her drive helps her overcome one disadvantage Rodriguez is typically faced with — her height.

“She’s a little shorter than her competitors,” Cho said. “Whenever she goes to tournaments, (the opponents) are one head bigger than her.”

It is harder to make head contact when the target is higher up and your reach only goes so far, a problem for Rodriguez since body contact is worth one point and head contact is worth three.

Outside of being a fierce competitor, the Olympic hopeful is held in very high esteem by her trainer.

“I like her personality. She’s very respectful, she’s very friendly and is also respectful toward her parents,” Cho said.

Rodriguez is also well known at New Britain High. She recalled a time in Spanish class when students watched one of her videos.

“My videos are on YouTube and they will be in complete shock,” she said. “They couldn’t believe that I’m a fighter because my personality doesn’t match the way I spar in competitions.”

Because Taekwondo is a full-contact sport, participants must be 18 years or older to qualify for the Olympics, meaning the earliest Rodriguez could possibly compete would come in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

When asked about the possibility, Rodriguez lit up.

“I’ve always had the dream of going to the Olympics,” she said. “That’s all I think about when I think of Taekwondo.”

The next competition for Rodriguez is the Jr. Pan American Championships held in Aguascalientes, Mexico starting September 9.