Other fighters merely adopt taekwondo; Skylar Park was born in it, moulded by it.Â
And thatâs not even hyperbole.
âFrom the very beginning, I was crawling on the mats⌠I first put on pads and stepped into the ring for competition at two years old,â the 22-year-old tells Complex.Â
The Winnipeg native was born into a family of 16 black belts. Her grandfather, who taught hapkido to the U.S. military in South Korea, is a grandmaster. So is her dad, Jae, whoâs also her taekwondo coach. Her first coach, though, was her mom, Andrea, who also goes by Master Andy. Both of her brothers and all 10 of her cousins are black belts. Her aunts and uncles? Same deal.
Turns out that sort of environment can rub off on a kid.
Today, Skylar, who got her black belt when she was seven, is fast becoming the face of taekwondo in Canada. Sheâs one of the top fighters in the world in her weight class, an adidas-sponsored athlete, and the only Canadian in the taekwondo competition at this summerâs Tokyo Olympic Games.Â
You mightâve also caught her in the Canadian Olympic Committeeâs new âGlory From Anywhereâ campaign, which celebrates not just athletes, but regular Canadians who perform incredible feats.
Over the phone, Park herself sounds like a regular 22-year-old. Sheâs easygoing, quick to laugh, and speaks fondly of hanging with friends when sheâs not training or pursuing a kinesiology degree at the University of Manitoba. But on the mat, sheâs a cold-blooded menace. Park moves swiftly and unpredictably, delivering staggering axe kicks to her opponentsâ heads, from the oddest of angles, without warning.
That killer instinct led to a breakout gold medal win at the 2016 World Junior Championships, and several other medal-winning performances over the last few years. Earlier this month, she defeated all challengers to claim gold in the womenâs 57-kilogram division at the Pan Am Championships in Mexico. Sheâs now headed to Tokyo ranked third in the world, and has a legit shot at bringing Canada its first Olympic gold medal ever in taekwondo. Not only that, sheâs got a real opportunity to inspire young women, Asian-Canadians, and all-around fans across the nation.
So, you know, no pressure.
We caught up with Park to chat about her quest for gold, her unexpected choice of a pump-up song, and her desire to empower others.
So, how does it feel, at 22, to represent Canada in taekwondo all by yourself at the Olympics?
Itâs pretty crazy and honestly surreal to think about it, but itâs been a goal of mine and a dream of mine for so long. Finally getting to this stage and having the opportunity to go to the Olympics and fight for that gold medal is something that Iâm grateful for.Â
When did this whole taekwondo journey start for you?
For me, it started as soon as I could walk. I have a long history of taekwondo in my family and Iâm the third generation of martial artists. Taekwondo comes from Korea, which is where my dadâs family is from. And my grandpa taught hapkido, which is another Korean martial art, to the U.S. military in Korea. My dad got his Black belt in Korea when he was six, so his family immigrated to Winnipeg and in 1993, he and my grandpa opened up a taekwondo school, the Tae Ryong Park Academy, which is where I grew up. From the very beginning, I was crawling on the mats and just hanging out there. I first put on pads and stepped into the ring for competition at two years old.
Whatâs it like having a dad who is also your coach? Are you able to separate family and taekwondo, or is there no use even trying?
At this point, no, we donât even try to separate it. Itâs just all Iâve ever known and all my dad has too. Itâs all my familyâs ever known, just to be together in the sport, to be together at home. Sometimes it is a lot, especially during the pandemic, when we arenât able to get away from each other. Iâm super blessed to have my family still be on this journey with me, but obviously there are some challenges to it. If you have a hard day in practice or in a competition, youâre in the car next to them, youâre eating dinner across from them. You just never get away from it. So thereâs that. [Laughs.]Â
Whatâs on your training playlist? What do you play to get in the zone?
This is actually a funny question because I donât love to listen to music right before I fight. A lot of athletes do, but I like to hear whatâs going on around me. Right before the World Championships in 2019 when I won a bronze medal, my dad wanted me to get into a rhythm before I fought. So he suggested I listen to the song âRelaxâ by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. I donât know if you know it, but I had that playing over and over in my headphones all competition. And everyoneâs like, âWhat are you listening to?â I was like, âYou donât even want to know.â So yeah, thatâs my go-to before I fight, if Iâm going to listen to music.
âI hope to empower as many people as I can, whether that be the Asian community or whether that be young girls who see me.â
Right on! âRelax.â I mean, itâs no âEye of the Tiger,â but if it works, it works.
Yeah. I think it just puts me in the rhythm of my style of fighting. I donât know, it seems to work so Iâm going to keep doing it. [Laughs.] Another one is âFighterâ by Christina Aguilera. Thatâs one Iâve listened to since I was little.
There have been concerns about the Tokyo Games moving forward with the number of COVID infections still pretty high in Japan. Theyâre still battling a fourth wave. What are your thoughts on going into the Olympics right now? Are you worried?
Ever since they postponed it, which I guess was now over a year ago, [our mindset] has been that weâre going to compete in the summer of 2021. I think as athletes, we just have to really be like, itâs happening, weâre training for it, and no matter what happens, weâre going to be ready when the day comes. So I know that Iâm competing on July 25 and whether that happens or not, Iâm very optimistic that it is going to happen, especially with the Glory From Anywhere campaign coming out now and everything. Itâs getting real. But I think for me, Iâve just been blocking out the noise and just really believing that itâs going to happen and being ready for it.
Just slap those headphones on and blast the Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Yes, exactly. [Laughs.] Those are the vibes going into Tokyo.
Itâs been a really messed up year, obviously. On top of the pandemic, weâve seen the reopening of racial wounds in North America. And lately, weâve also seen a surge in anti-Asian hate crimes, especially in Canada. I know, being Asian myself, itâs definitely affected me, just seeing people who look like my mom get victimized. Whatâs it been like for you, being Korean-Canadian, to see all this stuff happening?
Iâm very proud to be Korean-Canadian, especially doing taekwondo and having these opportunities and still having that connection to Korea and to my family there, and all the history. Itâs super important to me. Iâve been lucky to not have experienced much racism and my family has been grateful not to have experienced much racism, but I know that it is a real thing. And I think itâs important that itâs coming to the forefront and people are talking about it. Itâs sad to see in this day that itâs still a problem, and that itâs still happening to people. But I think itâs important that weâre starting to talk about it and starting to stand up for our communities and for everyone as a whole.Â
I was reading this article recently by an Asian writer, who was saying watching martial arts movies like Mortal Kombat right now is a cathartic experience for them, because they depict Asians as powerful, which counters the stereotypes of us being timid and weak. Do you feel that youâre doing that in a wayâempowering other Asians by fighting and succeeding?
Yeah, thatâs definitely something thatâs important to me. Iâm very proud to represent Canada, obviously, but also my family and where we come from. I think it is empowering. I hope to empower as many people as I can, whether that be the Asian community or whether that be young girls who see me. I know Iâve really been inspired by so many other athletes whoâve come before me. And I think especially right now, we talk a lot about representation and thatâs very important. So, yeah, Iâm proud to be representing my Korean heritage as well as my mom, whoâs from Chile and from Italy. Just being able to represent all of that while being Canadian, I think thatâs a big part of what being Canadian is all about. And I think, as weâre talking, thatâs kind of what this new campaign is all about. Itâs really just about finding glory from anywhere and being Canadian and representing those Olympic values. Iâm proud to be able to do that, have the opportunity to fight, and have people watch and be inspired by that.
I know the UKâs Jade Jones is ranked No. 1 in your weight division going into the Olympics. But I also know youâve been putting in a ton of work. What do you think your chances are of taking the gold this year?Â
Yeah, she is probably the favorite going in, having won the past two Olympic Games. But hopefully weâll be able to stop her from winning a third. The goal for me has always been a gold medal. I remember telling my dad, even when I was little, it was never that I wanted to go to the Olympicsâit was that I wanted to win a gold medal for Canada. And for me, thatâs still the goal. I really feel like I have the potential to do that and I have the opportunity in five weeks to realize that goal. So Iâm going to put everything I have into that and try and give my best performance. Hopefully thatâll lead me to the top of the podium.Â
What do you think winning a gold medal in taekwondo would do for Canada?
Hopefully itâll inspire others, and hopefully itâll raise the profile of taekwondo a little bit. Taekwondo is not one of the most popular sports. And I donât think a lot of people know exactly how it works. So hopefully itâll raise the profile of the sport and inspire others to get involved, because, I could be biased, but I think taekwondo is great for young people and especially young girls, to help empower them. Taekwondo has really given me a lot of confidence and helped me develop a lot of those skills within myself. Iâve been able to teach it at my familyâs taekwondo school and see the power that itâs had on so many other young girls, and the confidence itâs been able to bring them.Â
Did you ever deal with bullies at school growing up? And did you put them in their place? Â
I donât think I ever, thankfully, had to deal with them. Everyone at my school knew me and my brothers did taekwondo. [Laughs.] No, Iâm kidding. But definitely thereâs times when, whether it be me that people were picking on or others, I just had the courage and ability to confront them. And not only confront them, but also to be respectful about it and do it in a way that was obviously safe and that made sense. Thatâs something that taekwondo has taught me. So not using kicks and punches per se, but having the confidence and discipline and respect to confront them in a proper way.Â
Do you ever envision winning gold at the Olympics in your mind? Set the scene for me. What does that look like?
Yeah, I think visualization is very powerful and important. Itâs been something Iâve been working on with a sports psychologist at the Canadian Sports Centre, just thinking about what it means to win a gold medal, what it means to me, and what will happen if I win it. Just envisioning me standing atop the podium, but also envisioning the way I want to fight and who I want to be on that day. Just how I want to show up. Even the work Iâve done within the past year, Iâve seen it reflected in Mexico during my performances and seen the benefits of that come into play.
Do you have, like, a finishing move? Or signature move?
I would say an axe kick, which is kind of where you just bring your leg straight up and straight down. Itâs a head shot, so it scores three points. And yeah, thatâs kinda my go-to. [Laughs.]
OK. So, on that day, youâll do a big axe kick and thatâll be it. Boom! Finish âem!
Yes. [Laughs.] Sounds good.