Beyond Power Rangers: 11-Year-Old Takes Home Gold in Tae Kwon Do Competition

Proving that skill and practice trump age any day, an 11-year-old from Broadneck earned a gold medal in a national Tae Kwon Do competition last weekend.

Connor Guarniere practices at least an hour each day at his home, in addition to the time he spends training at East Coast Martial Arts in Annapolis with Master Tommy Lee. That training allowed him to earn a black belt at the age of 10, six years after he set out to learn Tae Kwon Do. 

Now, he's a first-degree black belt at age 11.

“If you don’t practice, train to win, you will lose it all. It will just blow right out of your mind,” Guarniere said.

On July 5, Guarniere earned a gold medal in a forms competition during the AAU TaeKwonDo National Championships in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. In that competition, Guarniere, 11, was placed in the 12-13 year old age bracket due to the proximity of his birthday. He was just two days shy of the cutoff for age 12, but allowed to compete.

“It’s challenging because if you win, you have to keep going and going. And it can be scary, because you’re worried about slipping or messing up one of your kicks,” he said.

Despite the odds, Guarniere came out on top. The next day, with the help of his friends, he also won the bronze medal in sparring for his age group. 

He was quick to highlight the success of his team and his friends before his own achievements. Led by Tommy Lee, East Coast Martial Arts won the 2013 Chairman's Cup for forms, beating out every other team in the country.

What set Guarniere down this path? He said when he was 4 years old, he began getting bored with soccer, and so his mom looked for another sport for him.

“My mom asked me, ‘Connor, do you want to be a Power Ranger?’” he said, laughing. “So that’s how I got into it, thinking I’d become a Power Ranger. But soon after, that mindset went away and I began going up the ranks.”

Competing on the national level  can be nerve-wracking, Guarniere said. But it’s nothing like what’s depicted in 1980’s martial arts movie The Karate Kid, he said. Most competitors are polite and shake hands after a match.

“They’ll graciously shake your hand and if you did well, will tell you, ‘Good job.’ ,” he said.

Guarniere is an 11-year-old student at East Coast Marital Arts in Annapolis and attends Annapolis Middle School.