Kicking ass with Aaron Cook

5 April 2012

In the latest in our series trying out the Olympic disciplines, Bella Blissett squares up to the British and European taekwondo champion, Aaron Cook...

We stare into each other's eyes and take our kyung yet (bow). Let battle commence.

Wearing something akin to a pair of pyjamas three sizes too big for me, I'm facing my opponent: 20-year-old Aaron Cook - the British and European taekwondo champion, who's one of team GB's greatest hopes of snaring a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

When we meet for our training session in west London, he's reserved, bordering on shy, and has a disarmingly gentle handshake. Without the white competition robe (known as a dobok) you'd be forgiven for mistaking him for any other, slightly gangly 6ft-tall man. But the black belt around his waist, which represents his attainment of the highest skill level in the sport, indicates otherwise.

"To compete at Olympic level, taekwondo players have to be exceptionally lean, generate explosive kicking power from the legs, use their core muscles for stability and have split-second reflexes," says Cook. His body fat is just seven per cent and he maintains his weight at 78kg to keep him within the 80kg limit of his competition category.

It was his childhood love of the Power Rangers that first attracted him to taekwondo. Now he is being made an honorary Ranger, as part of a new toy launch from Bandai.

When, aged five, he started practising Power Ranger moves on his brother, his parents signed him up for a local martial arts class in Dorchester. Five years later, he'd worked his way up the six basic taekwondo grades and was wearing the black belt. By the time he reached the Olympic semi-finals in Beijing, he'd beaten older, more experienced competitors from all over the world.

He could flatten me with one nifty high kick, so we start with the basics. Entering the 8m2 makeshift court, we bow. I take my stance: strongest leg at the back, knees bent with my hands raised in front of my face to block kicks. The referee signals the start of the first of three two-minute rounds and the clock starts ticking.

Within minutes I'm performing front kicks (raising my right leg, pointing my toes and aiming at Cook's abdomen), side kicks (using my upper body as a lever to propel my leg and flat foot in a similar direction) and turning kicks (swinging my left leg around to hit his kidneys or solar plexus with the upper part of my foot).

"One point is awarded for hitting your opponent's body, three for their head. Whoever has the most points at the end of round three wins but a knockout at any point will gain you victory, no matter what's on the scoreboard," explains Cook.

My high kicks - achieved by lifting the thigh, then snapping the lower leg upwards at a 45 degree angle - aren't bad, though a little stilted. Cook's are so fast and fluid, I don't even see his leg moving. Then he adds jumps and spins - all of which would gain him more points in a true match scenario.

To get him fighting fit for next year, he trains with a strength and conditioning coach for two hours each morning, combining weight lifting with plyometric jumps (fast, dynamic movements to build power) and running drills near his home in Manchester.

"I need strong quadriceps to kick," says Cook. "My calves keep me light on my feet and give me elevation when jumping, while my core helps me twist, spin and maintain balance as I absorb kicks from my opponent."

To hone his reflexes, he uses a machine with flashing, moving lights, requiring him to touch as many as he can in a minute. In the afternoons, he has kicking practice and stretching sessions, or a Bikram yoga class to increase his leg muscle flexibility. Along with broken feet and ankle damage, hamstring problems are the most common injuries among taekwondo athletes.

I may be injury-free but acquiring the physical skill is only one part of what it takes to become an Olympic taekwondo champion. "It's a mental discipline that requires you to channel aggression in a controlled, focused way," says Cook.

"When you're out there on the mat, you're alone. Losing concentration for even a split second could not only cost you the match, it could end your career if you're seriously injured. "You must also have respect for your teacher and opponent. Whatever the score at the end, you bow to the other player." Clearly, there are no bad losers in taekwondo.

Cook admits that "showing off his flashiest moves in front of thousands of people" is something he's looking forward to when he goes for gold next year.

And by the end of our fight, I've taken to the showing off part like a natural, high kicking around the court like an extra from The Karate Kid.

"Your technique and kicks are good - you've got a lot of potential," says Cook, with characteristic politeness.

A few miskicks and wayward spins later and it's clear that borrowing Cook's black belt for the past hour is as close as I'm ever going to get to taekwondo greatness.

The vital statistics

Aaron Cook

Age: 20
Home town: Dorchester.
Measuring up: 6ft, 78 kg.
Relationship status: In a relationship with Bianca Walkden, fellow team GB taekwondo athlete.
Training hours: Six hours a day, six days a week.
Sporting bling: Four European golds at junior and senior level. He won gold on the Mexican Taekwondo Pro Tour, where he knocked out five-time world champion Steven Lopez.
Starting block: The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) European Cadets in 2005 at the age of 14 - he won.
Olympic dreams: "I narrowly missed out on a medal last time. This time, I want gold."

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The vital statistics