Meet Joshua Aguirre: An 11-year-old with a 3rd Degree Black Belt

Original article by Daniel Larlham Jr. published in the Lebanon Daily News

LEBANON, Penn. (February 9, 2023) -- Joshua Aguirre was just 4 when he discovered old martial arts movies.

The little kid, who had energy to burn, immediately took to Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee, so much so that he mirrored their kicks and punches while standing in front of the TV.

His parents, Milena Escolar and Jorge Aguirre, knew they had to put Joshua into a sport to burn out some of the excess energy but couldn’t decide on what.

His mother, from Colombia, wanted to see him play soccer, while his father, from Cuba, thought baseball would be a better fit.
Joshua, on the other hand, wanted to be just like his Hollywood heroes and take up martial arts.

Since then, the 11-year-old martial arts prodigy has become one of the youngest people to ever receive a 3rd degree black belt in Taekwondo and has brought home hundreds of medals and awards from tournaments across the world -- recently winning six gold medals and three silver medals at the 2022 AAU Junior Olympic Games.

From pee-wee to 3rd degree black belt

Joshua began his journey at about 4 and a half, joining the pee-wee karate program at Lebanon Karate.

There, he progressed quickly, said Master David Gladwell, owner of Family Karate. Almost immediately, Joshua showed attention to detail in form and technique, an uncommon trait in someone so young and not something that the instructors focus on in that age bracket.

He would bring home what he learned, practicing in the kitchen and showing off moves to his parents.

“Usually at pee-wees, we have them take like one class, maybe two a week. But his parents wanted him to come more,” Gladwell said. “I kind of discouraged it in the beginning, but they said if he doesn’t practice here, he’s going to be practicing at home.”

He quickly moved from the pee-wee program into regular Taekwondo classes.

“He had his blackbelt at 6 and a half,” Gladwell said. “Which, at that age, new students at 6 and a half, we’re putting them in the pee-wee program.”

It wasn't just punches and kicks that he brought home either, his mother said. She could see changes in his demeanor and how he carried himself. He became more respectful, conscious of others and confident in himself.

Escolar has heard people say his commitment to the sport is just a phase. They’ve said this every year since he began taking the sport seriously on a competitive level when he was 6.

At a national tournament in Utah, the first one they had to travel to, was when they knew that Joshua was truly committed to martial arts.
 
“He didn’t win all the events,” she said, “but it doesn’t matter. It was how happy he was to be competing and to see his drive.”

Before they had even left Utah, Joshua was already asking them when and where his next tournament was.

Jack-of-all-trades in competition

Joshua has traveled all over the world for competition, his favorite countries being Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada. He has participated in many major martial arts tournaments, including the Junior Olympics and the World Championships.

He’s won over 200 medals and awards.


Some of Joshua's medals from the AAU Junior Olympic Games. Photo credit: Dan Rainville, USA Today Network - PA

Escolar took classes to be certified to act as his coach during events, meaning that she is right on the mat with him when he competes. At home, she helps with his training and in the creation of his creative forms — a choreographed set of offensive and defense moves arranged in pattern that, depending on the specific event, can be paired with music.

Joshua has been learning to play music on the piano, guitar and ukulele. While he has picked instruments up mostly for fun, it has also helped with the creative process of crafting his creative and musical forms.

As a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, Joshua participates in as many events as he can at every tournament, meaning he has to practice different styles of forms, sparring and board breaking and even weapons leading up to a tournament, a somewhat uncommon pursuit, according to his trainers.
Joshua trains at least two to three hours for five to six days a week. Once a week he logs on with instructor Master Kwang Jin Ha, from Connecticut, and participates in a class through Zoom, where he receives training more specific to competing.

He also continues to take classes once a week at Family Karate.
When he’s not in class, he practices at his Lebanon home in the attic, where he and his family have put together their own studio that serves his needs using jigsaw-piece multicolored floor padding, water filled kicking bags, and a few electric space heaters.

When Joshua’s not in school or training, he enjoys playing with his younger brother, Alex, being outside, and talking to the friends he’s made all over the world through martial arts.

But even when he’s not doing martial arts, he’s still kind of doing martial arts. Escolar said that when he plays games with other kids at the park, he’ll often teach others or incorporate something from martial arts into his play.

Escolar said that she gets nervous on the days and hours leading up to Joshua’s tournaments but tries her hardest not to show it.

Often, she pays a coach for sparring events because she can’t help but to cheer him on during the fight.

Joshua, on the other hand, said he doesn’t get nervous leading up to a competition. Rather, he remains calm-headed, focusing on his performance through meditation and practice leading up to events.

"I'll always try to meditate before anything," Joshua said. "I always put some calming music on, I breath, I say, 'I can do this.' I'm always confident. I always say that I can achieve what I've been working for. Blood, sweat and a lot of training always pays off."

During the 2023 World Cup Open Martial Arts Championship, where he secured five medals, Joshua and his mom had to come up with creative form in only 5 minutes because the name of a division was changed, and he didn't want to show the judges the form already performed for them.

"I was actually kind of nervous, for once," he said.
 

Olympic dreams

One of Joshua’s more immediate goals is to compete for Team USA in the 2028 Olympics held in Los Angeles, California.

Joshua will be 16 by the time the 2028 Olympic Games come around, old enough to compete.

To qualify to try out for Team USA, Joshua would have to aggregate a number of points from specific tournaments around the world, which each have their own rating, which determines how many points one receives by winning.

But because those are Olympics are so far away, Joshua isn't going to start worrying about points until he enters his next age division at 13-14.
Instead, Joshua is focused on becoming better and keeping his body healthy, flexible and uninjured while he trains for other big tournaments like the Junior Olympics and World Taekwondo Championships.

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