When freshman Rohin Saharoy steps foot on the dojo, he doesn’t focus on the crowd of audience or judges intensely staring at him. Instead, he visualizes the dozens of kicks and punches which he has practiced over and over again, executing them with immense precision against his opponent. He lets nothing prevent him from trying his hardest to win the match. Over years of training, karate has become one of the biggest parts of Saharoy’s life, a lifelong passion in which he has amassed numerous accomplishments.
After his mother signed him up for local karate classes in kindergarten, Saharoy started attending the California Karate Academy. Initially, he found no real interest in the sport; however, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Saharoy was stuck at home with little to do, so he began seriously pursuing the sport.
“I trained as much as I could, and when lockdown ended, I had earned my blackbelt,” Saharoy said.
It wasn’t until the summer before eighth grade that Saharoy competed in his first official karate tournament, the International Karate Federation Tournament. At this event, Saharoy went up against the Pan American World Champion of his age group in the very first round and an opponent on the United States National Team, resulting in major losses.
“After the tournament, I quit for a few months,” Saharoy said. “Later, I started training again and attending some local tournaments, which I did well in.”
Unfortunately, in the fall of that year, Saharoy suffered the loss of his karate teacher. As a result, Saharoy started attending the Okaigan Dojo, where he trained alongside a team of coaches and teammates who provided a support system and motivated him.
At the start of freshman year, Saharoy set many goals for himself, with his top goals consisting of making the US national team and becoming a Pan American Medalist. In order to achieve the latter, Saharoy would have to place at the US Team Trials, which will be happening in July.
This school year, Saharoy competed at multiple prestigious tournaments, placing highly in almost all of them. In September, he competed in the Fall Classic, taking home a gold medal in his age division and a silver medal in the older division.
The biggest tournament that Saharoy attended this year was the US Open where he competed in the lead division, going up against US national team members, Mexico national team members and competitors from Venezuela and Canada. At the US Open, Saharoy won every single match until the semifinals — losing to the reigning national champion. Competing against extremely talented opponents presented a challenge for Saharoy, but he enjoyed the tournament. His bronze medal match was his greatest experience from the tournament.
“My opponent was beating me for the majority of the two-minute match, but in the last ten seconds, I secured a point to win,” Saharoy said.
While competing in a local tournament in the spring, Saharoy suffered a serious injury after his opponent illegally kicked him in the throat, causing him to pass out for 20 seconds. After regaining consciousness, Saharoy chose to continue competing, fighting through the pain of a throat contusion.
“I felt like I couldn’t even breathe for a while,” Saharoy said. “But after I woke up, I wanted to keep fighting, and they let me. I finished the tournament with a gold medal, winning every single round after my injury and winning the finals 8-0.”
This year, Saharoy competed in Karate tournaments at the local, national and international level, including the US Open and the West Coast Championships. Saharoy placed highly in many of these competitions even while competing against some of the strongest opponents in his age group and older. Saharoy has many personal goals lined up for the future — making the US national team and becoming a Pan-American Medalist are his top priorities.
Saharoy’s experiences training karate helped him to realize the importance of effort and discipline. Although he previously encountered many devastating losses and setbacks in his time on the dojo, Saharoy hopes to learn from them in order to better himself.
“Karate has made me much more disciplined in everything else I do, and it helps me focus,” Saharoy said. “I’ve also realized that if I actually want to be good at the sport, I have to consistently put in the time and effort.”
