Estafania Tremel has been practicing karate for five years and already received three medals representing Venezuela in the Olympics. The specific type of martial arts she practices is Shotokan, a form that emphasizes power and speed while still maintaining its traditional foundation. It is the most widely practiced style of karate. Shotokan is divided into three schools: basics, patterns, and sparring. Estefania’s favorite part is the kata, a type of sparring. Outside the world of karate and martial arts, kata also represents training to achieve mastery at an art.
In the past few Olympics, medals for taekwondo have been awarded to female Venezuelans. In the 2004 Athens Olympic games, Adriana Carmona won Bronze. Four years later in Beijing, Dalia Contreras also brought home a Bronze medal for Venezuela. Currently, Estefania is training for the Summer Olympics in 2016 and hopes to win more medals for Venezuela. Her training consists of daily rigorous gym workouts. Lucky for her, training here in Santa Barbara allows for beach exercises amidst the palm trees and sea lions. Surely not a bad setting to be training for the Olympics!
Estefania endures the strenuous training with a smile on her face. For her, all the hard work is worth it when she can proudly display her flag and medals for the entire world to see. Her passion for karate is evident in the way she lights up when talking about the sport. Not only does she enjoy practicing karate herself, she is also an instructor for children. She loves to see her students grow, both in their athletic skills and their personal development.
Estefania has traveled all over the world for competitions and training but she says her favorite place was Japan. One day, she hopes to to be able to visit Japan again. But for now, she will continue training in the USA and Venezuela. She is very proud and excited to be representing her home country in the Olympics. We know she’ll kick some serious butt. Good luck Estefania!
