This is Harue Jules Takagishi, IV Dan, who at 55 years old is the oldest in Japan’s Taekwon-Do ITF, is ready to compete in the 2022 ITF World Championship in Amsterdam. “Does being 55 years old make me old?” she laughs. “If I didn’t know when my birthday is, I don’t think I’d ever say I’m 55.”
Jules started training in ITF Taekwon-Do at the age of 34 in Dubai. Since then, she has moved to Singapore and then to Japan. She has managed to find good instructors to train in all three places. Jules was born in Japan, but she lived in the United States as a child, where she became fluent in English, and she worked in Australia, Dubai, and Singapore before returning to Japan, where she now lives.
“The Taekwon-Do Principles guide me in all areas of my life.” “I took a four-year hiatus to have my twins, but before that, I was in the dojang until I couldn’t fit in a dobok anymore. Other pregnant women go to yoga or swimming classes. I was in the dojang practicing and teaching forms. I can say that my twins have been practicing Taekwon-Do even before they were born.”
The twins received their first dobok when they were four years old although at that time they were not yet enrolled in classes and Jules wasn’t even sure if the twins wanted to learn Taekwon-Do. Since then, the Takagishi have never stopped training. Jules says that being a martial artist helps her to be a consistent and reliable mother even when the children go through challenging phases, her twins are 16 years old today.
Every time Jules enters a competition, there is at least one referee or official who says, “Are you still competing?” referring to her age. This is because in general the referees or officials are her age or even younger. “If another competitor gets to have one more contest because I’m there, then my participation in the contest has a purpose.”
“This doesn’t mean I go in there expecting to lose, quite the opposite. But I can’t compete let alone win without an opponent in a competition. I’m thankful that the other person wants to be in the ring too.”
Jules, who will compete in the IV Senior Female patterns competition at this World Cup, tells us: “General Choi said that when a child is small, he should respect his parents because they are bigger and stronger. As the child grows up, she respects her parents for her experience and wisdom. I keep training and competing because I want my kids to be proud of me and to be a mom worth beating.”