As she attacks a target in the Woo Kim Langley Taekwondo School with quick, powerful high kicks, Chutong Huang starts laughing.
The 14-year-old Surrey resident explains that it is nervous laughter over having a photo and video taken for a Langley Times article.
The giggly moment doesn’t last very long.
In just a few moments, Huang has her focus back, fixes the target with an intimidating stare and deploys a hook kick.
When her foot makes contact withe the handheld target, the loud sound echoes in the room.
Huang will be competing in the “Cadet” under-41 kilogram division of full-contact fighting at the 2017 Pan American competitions in Costa Rica next week, where competitors wear head and body protection.
She is a two-time Canadian national champion, undefeated at national championships, and a US Open bronze medalist.
The person holding the target is one of the Team Canada coaches, Gary McLaughlin, the headmaster of Woo Kim Langley Taekwondo School.
McLaughlin will be coaching Huang and two other taekwondo competitors from Ontario.
He ranks Team Canada’s chances as “very good.”
“Team Canada is very strong in taekwondo and its going to be a very exciting time.”
On the day of the photo shoot, Huang’s team Canada uniform has just arrived and she wears it with pride, assuming a fighting stance for a picture.
She is polite about being interviewed, but it’s clear she would rather be sparring.
The nervous laughter starts again, then stops just long enough for her to say she is “very happy” to be representing Canada in the games.
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The 2017 Pan American Cadet and Junior Championships will be held from Aug. 29 to Aug. 31 in San Jose, Costa Rica.
The event is expected to host the best junior athletes in the Pan American region.
If Huang does as well as her coach thinks she will, it will get her one step closer to qualifying for the 2018 Junior Olympic Games.
Taekwondo Canada is sending 23 Poomsae athletes (where competitors demonstrate form with a set sequence of movements that consists of the various fundamental stances, blocks, punches and kicks), 44 Kyorugi (full-contact sparring) athletes and 22 coaches to the event.
Huang will be competing in the Kyorugi competition.
The line-up for Cost Rica includes 2016 WTF World Junior Championships bronze medalist Zachary Hiebert, as well as Michelle Lee and Mark Bush, both bronze medalists in Individual Freestyle Poomsae divisions at the 2016 World Poomsae Championships.
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