“A Warrior Has No Destination, Only a Path." An Interview With ITF Taekwon-Do Coach Maksym Vatrych

On ITF Taekwon-Do as a sport, his own club, and the values of young athletes.

Maksym Vatrych is a Ukrainian coach in the Korean martial art of ITF Taekwon-Do. He holds a 5th-degree black belt, is an international-class instructor, and a national-category referee. Maksym works in Kyiv Oblast and is an active member of the ITF Taekwon-Do Federation of Ukraine.

While Maksym's athletes prepare for the World Championships, taking place in October in Jesolo, Italy, the coach spoke with DeTalks in an exclusive interview about his path in ITF Taekwon-Do, and shared principles that matter not just in sport, but in life.

What drew you into the world of taekwondo, and how did your path in this sport begin?

"Honestly, I was interested in different martial arts since childhood. Where I grew up, there weren't any sports like that — the nearest town only had boxing. My father was supposed to sign me up, but he always put it off. Luckily, though, a taekwondo section opened up nearby."

"I hadn't even dreamed of trying it out at a training session back then. I showed up in jeans and regular shoes, and they told me: 'Line up and give it a try.' So I just joined in wearing whatever I had on. It was awkward, but it felt great. I trained there for about a year and tested for my yellow belt."

"Later, our coach left to study elsewhere, and we kept going to the district center, even though there were very few of us left. As for how I got into coaching — since I was young, I always saw myself as not just an athlete, but a coach too. So at 15, already holding a blue belt, I gathered some friends and started running training sessions.

My mom worked as a shop clerk at a store that had a basement. I cleaned it up and turned it into a small gym, where my friends and I brought in punching bags and various dumbbells so we could train extra."

How did the idea to open your own club come about?

"When I was 18, I put together my own team, which didn't have a name at first. I arranged for a gym on the outskirts of Obukhiv and started coaching. Once the team had come together and we started winning medals at various competitions, we began thinking about a name. My wife and I went back and forth for a long time, since we wanted something tied to philosophy. Eventually, we found a name that immediately struck a chord with us: 'Mukido,' which translates to 'the path of the warrior spirit.'"

What core principles do you teach your athletes, not just for sport, but for life?

"One of the main principles is the ability to rely on yourself. Once athletes head into adult life, I want them to be persistent and to achieve their goals. I always teach my athletes to stay psychologically composed. That matters not just in sport, but in any job."

"You have to work without aggression and have patience, building your path toward your desires and goals step by step. A lot of athletes burn bright at the start, then quickly burn out. With our more experienced athletes, the ones who've been training with us a long time, you can already see they approach everything gradually and calmly."

"It's also really important to fight your own fears, since they tend to show up in high-stakes moments. I believe the meaning of our life is to improve, gain experience, and find enjoyment along the way."

            

How do you assess the level of taekwondo's development in Ukraine?

"Taekwondo is very well developed in Ukraine, thanks to competition and our first great masters. Even now, the younger generation keeps refining that longstanding technique and building experience from it. Competitions draw close to a thousand participants, and categories for compound exercises can have anywhere from 60 to 120 people.

This is a very demanding sport in that you can't win through brute strength, and you can't win on willpower alone. I often say taekwondo is an intellectual sport, because you can't use your full strength."

"Your strikes have to be controlled, you need to think fast and make quick decisions, since there's no time to hesitate. That's why, as I said earlier, an athlete needs to be mentally resilient. When you're driven by aggression, fear, or uncertainty, you won't find the right decision, and you won't unlock your full potential. When you're calm and confident in what you're doing, everything comes out at a higher level."

"Popularizing the sport also needs media support. Right now, it's only just starting — coaches themselves are taking the initiative and using social media to work on this."

What are your biggest achievements as a coach, and what goals are you setting for the future?

"One of our best achievements is Mukido's results at the World Cup. We have champions among kids aged 9-10 and 11-13, and many European medalists and champions since 2019. What goals do I set for myself? As they say, a warrior has no destination, only a path. And the most important thing is for that path to be enjoyable, while keeping everything in balance."

"Honestly, a lot of people underestimate coaching work, since a coach never knows who's going to walk in to train, or when that athlete will stop training. There have been a lot of promising, wonderful kids that a coach wishes hadn't stepped away from their sporting path. Balance is what holds everything together — there are always some athletes who keep showing up and bringing joy. That's what it all rests on."

For more on Ukrainian youth sports, check out our "Pulse" section.