Jenny Quezada found her martial arts inspiration early on in life.
“I wanted to do any sort of martial arts, my dream was to become a Power Ranger,” she said.
Her aspiration to be one of the action heroes led her to take up taekwondo, and now she is competing internationally in the sport.
The exercise and wellness junior will be competing in the World University Games in Shenzhen, China, on the US National Collegiate Team in August.
Quezada will be competing in sparring, which is a type of free-form fighting that is common among many types of martial arts. She received in a gold medal in sparring at the Collegiate Championships in April, which qualified her for international competition.
This is Quezada’s second time competing at an international level. Last summer, she competed in sparring in the World University Games which took place in Vigo, Spain.
And it all started when interest was still sparked by those Power Rangers television shows.
“Then once the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers movie came out and I watched it on VHS every single day until my parents finally decided I could try out taekwondo,” she said.
Quezada joined the American Taekwondo Association when she was eight years old. She taught at a martial arts location in Mesa when she was in high school, but had to stop once she started college.
“I really miss teaching,” she said. “It was so rewarding to see students succeed in competitions and know that you were part of it.”
Once she moved to Tempe, Quezada started doing Olympic taekwondo through the World Taekwondo Federation. She also joined the ASU Taekwondo Team.
“Taekwondo is interesting to me because I love training hard and pushing through the pain,” she said.
Quezada enjoys getting to know other practitioners during tournaments.
“I am motivated by my teammates and can relate to the work that has to be put into preparing for competitions,” she said. “It’s my outlet. It’s nice to go out to train hard and forget about everything else going on in life at the time.”
In the future, Quezada hopes to continue qualifying for the US National Collegiate Team and eventually be on the US National Team so that she can keep competing internationally.
Quezada is currently a fourth degree black belt in Taekwondo. Some of the training she does for competition includes situational training, where certain scenarios are set up.
“Besides physically pushing my body I have to make sure my mental strength is at its best,” she said. “I have to trust is what my coach has been teaching me and believe in myself so that I can execute well in the ring.”
Even though the US National Collegiate Team doesn’t compete until August, Quezada has already been able to meet and train with her teammates in a camp in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
“It’s nice to get to spend time together because it forms a strong relationship within the team before we actually compete in China,” she said. “I think we have a solid team and we will have a great outcome in China.”
One of her favorite things about Taewkondo is that it gives her the ability to meet amazing people wherever she goes.
“It’s amazing how easy it is to get to know one another because we share the same passion in taekwondo,” she said.
Reach the reporter at katherine.torres@asu.edu
