While the transition from the dojang, a taekwondo studio to his own home has been a struggle, senior Ryan Real remains focused on training for virtual tournaments.
Real said he works out with his competition team, the Eagles Team from Eagle Taekwondo, at home over Zoom. Real said that he has been training during the quarantine break using his usual regimen which involves stretching and conditioning, as well as technique training.
In addition, Real said he visited his dojang as a volunteer instructor during the summer to help teach online students alongside his master. The class offers different training sessions for other groups in-person, but follows strict social distancing rules.
“My master’s really meticulous about the safety standards, doing temperature checks, enforcing mask-wearing, and six feet distancing,” Real said via Instagram.
Real admits that there are many problems that come with practicing at home. For example, he finds it harder than normal to keep himself motivated and driven without his teammates training alongside him. He added that his sister, class of 2020 alumna Karyn Real, has helped him through the process because she trains with him.
Many of Real’s competitions were originally scheduled from March to June but were rescheduled from August to December online

There have been many technical difficulties with the new competition formats making them significantly harder to judge than in-person versions. Since the tournament was held virtually, competitors were judged by the performance of their form and sparring combos.
“There were WiFi and sound issues which is especially a problem for live online competitions because if the referees can’t hear or see, they cannot judge,” Real said. “The camera also stays in one spot during each performance so referees obviously can’t see everything.”
Real said that there is a new competition format that the referees have not been trained for. As a result, the scores have been disparate and disorganized at many competitions.
“At normal competitions, as you progress through each round you can see what referees are rewarding or deducting and make adjustments from there,” Real said. “With the new video submission competition style, you don’t get that opportunity to adjust.”
Despite the difficulties of the new online format, Real won many awards at his virtual competitions. He won first place in the Taekwondo Association Online Competition, Wuxi World Online Championships, Pan American Online Open and the Samjokowon II Online Open. Additionally, he won second place in the USA Taekwondo Summer of Poomsae Championships.
“There are a few more [competitions] coming up in October and December so hopefully I’ll have some more,” Real said. “I’ve made it a point to compete in these online competitions as much as I can because this will be the new normal for the time being so I have to get accustomed and stay prepared.”