Hello Everyone!

We are Claudia Suarez (4th Degree Black Belt), and Stephanie Suarez (3rd Degree Black Belt), from Queens Taekwon-Do Center. Taekwon-Do has been a part of our lives for as long as we can remember. Our father, Master Ruben Suarez, immigrated to the US from Cali, Colombia in 1990 and fulfilled his dream of opening his own Taekwon-Do school in New York City in 1992. After a rough start our dad has more than exceeded everyone’s expectations; in March we celebrate 25 years of Queens Taekwon-Do Center opening its doors to the community in Jackson Heights, Queens.

Now, as his daughters we are attempting to fulfill our dream of competing… and winning… in the next ITF World Cup. We have been training specifically for this international tournament for over a year. We are two sisters with the goal of becoming World Cup Gold medalists at the 2016 ITF World Cup in Budapest, Hungary.

The problem is we don’t have the funds to make it there, and that’s where you come in…


Claudia's commentary:

This tournament is such a big deal to me because I took 10 years off from training due to work and other responsibilities. I have been back since 2011, but only began training for competition in the past year-and-a-half, and it is my dream, and a goal that I set for myself, to compete internationally.

Watching my younger sister, Stephanie, compete and win at the international level has really inspired and motivated me. I thought, “If she can do it, so can I, and age is only a number… so I'm doing this!!!”

For those who are wondering, I’m now 35 years old, but I feel like I’m 25…lol.

Stephanie has a pretty impressive trajectory, in my opinion. Her first victory was at the 2008 World Cup in Riva del Garda, Italy. She brought home a Gold Medal in sparring and I almost fell off my seat when I heard!! Most recently, in the 2015 World Championship in Jesolo, Italy she also won a Bronze Medal in sparring, as well as a Silver Medal in patterns. The year prior, in the World Cup in Montego Bay, Jamaica she again took home the Silver Medal for patterns.

My sister has been my inspiration for many years and, with that said, it is my turn to bring home two Gold Medals this year!

Please help us to make this dream come true!


Stephanie's commentary:

I have been competing internationally for about ten years now, taking time off here and there in order to focus on my education. As a junior competitor (under 18 years old), I won a Gold Medal in sparring at the 2008 World Cup in Riva del Garda, and another Gold Medal in 2009 in sparring at the ITF World Championship in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

As an adult, competition gets much harder, but for the past two years I’ve been training consistently in order to accomplish my goal of winning a Gold Medal in an international tournament. While I have succeeded in winning Bronze and Silver Medals, I am dedicated to training more this time so I can bring home the Gold Medal in both Sparring and Patterns.

In total we are 14 competitors from QTC trained under Master William Perlaza and Master Ruben Suarez. Without the hard work and dedication that Master Perlaza provides us, and the guidance and technical knowledge of Master Suarez, we wouldn’t be as competent as we are. We truly feel that we are working with two of the most passionate and dedicated masters in the ITF Taekwon-Do industry.

We have been training very hard with the intention of the most successful outcome; training approximately four hours a day—two in the morning and two in the evening—and regulating our diets in order to maintain the appropriate weight class. So far we had a draw for an iPad, and next week our school will be hosting a boat party in efforts to raise money for the team.

Still the cost of travelling to Europe, and covering all the costs required of competitors is expensive.

While we have our dreams and work to see them through, sometimes it is only possible with the support and collaboration of others. We look to you—our friends, family and supporters—to help us on our journey.

It is said that the distance between reality and dreams is hard work. We hope you can work with us to see our dreams come true.

Thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity!





you can check out our taekwondo school here

WWW.QTC-ITF.COM