Mililani Teens Collecting More World Martial Arts Titles
Christian (left), Ken and Angela Lee returned to Hawaii with gold medals from the Aug. 15-18 FILA World Championships in Croatia. Photo courtesy Ken Lee.
Mililani’s own Christian and Angela Lee have done Hawaii proud at the 2013 FILA World Championships, which took place Aug. 15-18 in Split, Croatia.
They said the country was beautiful, and they fully appreciate the opportunity they had to travel and compete in an international competition.
The pressure and expectations were that much more intense on that level as well. Both siblings said there is a huge sense of pride in knowing they were representing the United States of America.
The brother-sister duo has brought home a handful of gold medals and many life lessons.
Father Ken is extremely proud of his two oldest children and said they exemplified what it means to be a champion.
“They were outstanding,” he said. “They trained like champions, fought like champions and remained humble, like true champions.”
Christian was voted “Most Outstanding Fighter” (15-year-old division and 17-year-old division) of the tournament by the head coaches from the participating countries. He also won gold in the Brazilian jiu-jitsu 63 kilograms and 69 kilograms, grappling 63 kilograms, cadet pankration 69 kilograms and cadet MMA 69 kilograms.
Angela took home gold in the cadet MMA 53 kilograms and cadet pankration 53 kilograms, and a silver medal in cadet exhibition pankration 65 kilograms.
“There is always going to be disappointment with anything less than gold, that’s just the mentality of a high-level competitor,” Angela relayed. “We always strive for No. 1.
“I do feel like I could have performed better, but because of this humbling experience I was able to learn a lot more than I could have if I won.”
Both trained extremely hard leading up to the tournament, and their high-level competitive mentality helped pull them through with gold medals.
“I feel like I’ve never performed so well in my life,” Christian said, and noted that he owes it all to his dad (who also is his coach).
Christian experienced a slight setback during a sparring session before the tournament when he injured his foot.
“I ended up having to limp from fight to fight, but I did what I needed to do,” he said.
While the competition has come to an end, the siblings have much to look forward to in their fighting careers. Christian will be defending his USFL 140-pounds title in Arizona, and Angela will be fighting for a USFL Cadet Girls Title on the same card.
