LATHAM, N.Y. -- A New York Army National Guard Soldier with the persistence to win has kicked and punched her way into an international Taekwondo completion.
Spc. Nashayla Harper, a 42nd Combat Aviation Brigade flight-operations specialist, beat a Virginia resident in the welter-weight class for 18 to 32-year old women at the 2016 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Taekwondo National Championships held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from July 4 to 9.
Her victory clinched her a spot on the national women's team, and she'll be representing the United States in her weight class during an international competition -- possibly the German open -- in 2017, according to Joe Hasan, the Adirondack AAU Taekwondo district director.
Harper, who joined the New York Army National Guard in 2014, also hopes to someday qualify for the United States Olympics team, like her aunt and coach, Mechelle Smith. Both women reside in Schenectady, New York.
Though her niece won national victories at the teenage level, her recent national adult win was the result of long, hard effort, according to Mechelle, who won a gold medal for Taekwondo in the 1992 Pan American Games, served as an alternate on the 1988 United States Olympic Taekwondo team and was inducted into the National Martial Arts Hall of Fame twice.
"It gets harder at the adult level," Mechelle said. "It's taken her a long time."
A Korean martial art, Taekwondo was developed in the 40s and 50s by combining and incorporating elements of older Korean martial-arts traditions and other martial-arts practices.
Harper said she took up Taekwondo when she was just three years old, and described the sport as a "family thing" for her. Her mother Shaunelle Smith also competes in the sport, and her father Michael Harper racked up seven national championships, she said.
Then as now, competitions require her to practice Taekwondo and work out daily, she said. Along with maintaining her peak physical condition and fighting weight, Taekwondo prepared her for the rigorous physical demands of Army basic training and Army life, she explained.
"I'm a lot more conditioned for Taekwondo," she explained. "But Taekwondo got me in more 'Army shape' even before basic (training)."
During three 2-minute rounds, Taekwondo competitors score points by kicking and punching their opponents, Harper said. She feels Taekwondo requires more skill than boxing.
"As precise as boxers are with their hands, we have to be with our feet," she said.
Along with padding, competitors wear pressure-sensitive electronic sensors on their hands and feet that register hits and points, Harper said.
"You have tons of gear on," she said.
In addition to being geared up, she's usually psyched up -- and more than a little nervous -- before matches, Harper said.
"Usually, the first and second round, you get all that adrenaline out," she said. "The second and third round, it's a battle of who wants to win the most. Anything can happen."
Harper's nerves may have played a part in her previous adult matches, according to Mechelle.
Though her niece began competing when she was eight years old and won two junior-level National AAU Championships in her teens, she suffered defeats in the adult matches for the past several years, she recalled. In some of those matches, she only lost by a point, she added.
"It's a win-or-lose situation," Mechelle said. "The loser goes home."
But after every loss and disappointing trip home, she would console her niece and encourage her to try again, she recalled.
To make weight for the 2016 competition, she performed hard cardio workouts and used the sauna, Harper said. She competed against eight opponents in 2015, but only had to contend with one opponent this year, she added.
Still it wasn't easy, she said.
"I got lucky, with just one (opponent)," Harper said. "She made me fight for it."
Her coach and fans matched Harper's mood by screaming and cheering her on, she recalled.
"It's pretty cool, but stressful," Harper said. "It was really emotional. I worked really hard for it."
Mechelle cried when she won, Harper said.
"I was so happy for her," Mechelle said. "I know how much it meant to her. Finally, she was on the winning side of it."
Mechelle believes that her niece's National Guard experience, along with her numerous wins this year, gave her the maturity and confidence to win the national match. But the international competition is ahead, so it's not over yet, Mechelle stressed.
"She has a lot of training ahead of her," she said.
According to Hasan, Harper will take part in team training with other national team members and the national coaching staff.
"The national coaching staff is comprised of very talented coaches with excellent coaching and personal competition records, up to and including Olympic Gold," Hasan wrote via email.
Competing in the Olympics remains her "top dream of all time," Harper said.
"It doesn't get any higher than that," she said.
Mechelle shares her niece's hopes.
"It's a long drawn-out process," she said. "It takes a lot of mental toughness. But if she wants that, I'll be right there by her side."
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