Combining exuberant spirit with spectacular technique,
Carlos Navarro is one of the leading lights in the rising
generation of Latin American taekwondo
If you are looking for a taekwondo male model, Carlos “Charley” Navarro might just fit the bill. As energetic as a power station, as slim as a rapier, and with the slicked-back hair, flashing grin and Latin good looks of a tango maestro, the kid from Juarez, Mexico, is one of the leading lights of taekwondo’s upcoming generation.
He loves the game. “I do taekwondo because I love it!” he said. “When you get to such a high level, like now, competitors may lose the spark, but I can’t: I fight with passion!”
His exuberant spark was on full display at the Moscow Grand Prix. Despite his youth, the 19-year-old does not play the “new” game – characterized by stand-off, tactical play favoring the front leg. Instead, he displays a full range of flamboyant techniques, notably the high kicks and spins that the crowd love to watch.
And he does not let a spill throw him off his stride.
In the finals of the men’s -58kg category, his opponent was Iran’s Farzan “The Tsunami” Ashourzadeh Fallah, the most dominant fighter in the division. But Navarro was unfazed by the Iranian powerhouse, battling him point for point. It was intense stuff: In mid-combat, Navarro went off the mats, crashing into a promotional stand and sending it flying. He draw smiles from the crowd when he replaced the stand – then surged back into action.
Was he fazed by the spill? Apparently not. “I was spinning a lot and realized I was out and crashed into the stand ,” he said. “But I moved right back.”
The match could have gone either way until “The Tsunami” – in a show of professionalism common to many of the Iranian fighters – shifted up a gear in the final round and pulled ahead. That forced the Mexican to uncork a down-to-the-wire series of spinning kicks from the very edge of the mat, but at the final bell, “The Tsunami” had won an 8-5 victory.
Though he had to be satisfied with silver, the young Mexican’s style and sportsmanship had caught the eye of another legendary fighter – none other than WTF Technical Committee Chairman Kook-hyun Jung.
“He has a lot of potential: Good game management and kicking movements, good basic movements, a variety of techniques and he has a good physique and fitness,” Jung said of Navarro. “Good fighting – very good fighting! I don’t care about the results! He fought very good matches!”
In a post-mortem the following day, Navarro dissected the fight. “In the Farzan match, I felt really strong mentally and physically. We were 5-5 with a minute to go and we knew it was going to go to the very end.” He was not upset settling for silver. “One of the things is that most people, when they lose, get upset and think, ‘I can’t beat him,’” he said. “But I erase everything; I will get him next time – and there will be a next time.”
In addition to his silver in Moscow, he took gold at the Pan American Games in 2015 and won a fifth placing in the World Championships at Chelyabinsk.
“Charley” started taekwondo at age 5: “My parents thought it was a good idea because I was so energetic all the time,” he said. “I am still energetic, but am more disciplined now.”
As a player, he has a wide range of assets.
“The back kick is my favorite and obviously all the face kicks and round kicks,“ he said. “All the speed-related kicks.” Stamina is no problem – “I like to run a lot” – though he admitted that making the weight can be challenging. And he confesses that there is one element of tourney preparation he does not enjoy. “I hate watching my opponent’s fight, I don’t like it,” he said. “My coach always tells me I have to, but I hate it! I know what they do and know what I am going to do.”
As for the mental game, he has a simple recipe. “I believe I am very strong mentally, I am very passionate about taekwondo, and I like to have fun,” he said. “That is the key to success: having fun in everything.”
Despite the pressures weighing on all athletes in the 2015 fighting season – the lead-up to Rio – Navarro remains upbeat. “Close to the Olympics, there is a lot of tension: People don’t talk to each other, it’s very tense,” he said. But characteristically, at the World Championships in Chelyabinsk, Navarro traded t-shirts with his competitors.
With taekwondo being the number two sport in Mexico after football, Navarro is happy with media and sponsorship opportunities.
“Since I won the World Junior Championships in 2010 when I was 13, I have had a lot of help and sponsorships and all the people in Mexico watch me – it’s crazy, the TV, the magazines!” he said. “When the team came back from the Pan Ams, I have never seen so many cameras at the airport waiting for the taekwondo team.” He is sponsored by Adidas taekwondo, and hopes to gain additional sponsorship with Adidas clothing. “And yes, I do wear Adidas!” he added, with a grin.
A full-time athlete who lives at the National Training Center in Mexico City, Navarro is also a part-time student taking an online course in sport management at ITSON University. Currently unattached – “no girlfriend!” he said – he enjoys hanging with friends, watching movies, playing football and spending time at home: “My family is the most important thing in the world.”
Looking into the future, his dream is predictable. “Obviously, every athlete’s dream is Olympic gold,” he said. But whether or not he makes it through to Rio – and Team Mexico has a wide pool of fighters in his weight category – he knows that, at his age, there will be future opportunities.
“I don’t worry about many things,” he said. “I’m always smiling.”
