Jayda Skye Irizarry is just like any other seven-year-old girl. She is a shy second grader who loves to play, swim, read and hopes to eventually learn how to play the guitar. Where she differs from her peers is her record of a 32-0 undefeated Junior Olympian gold medalist in Taekwondo.
Irizarry, who lives in Ridgewood, started taking martial arts at the age of five, and is now a first place competitor in Olympic Style Sparring and holds a Red One belt, thanks to intense, five-times-a-week training.
Jose Irizarry, Jayda’s father stated, “From her very first day at New Beginnings Taekwondo she enjoyed it. Eventually she came to sparring after being motivated by the equipment.”
According to her father, Jayda is nicknamed “Baby Dragon,” weighs only 65 pounds and is considered to be a “Taekwondo Child Prodigy” by many Grand Masters and the Martial Arts world.
“We ran into a family in Buffalo who recognized Jayda from Taekwondo Times magazine and wanted to take pictures with her. It was great to see people actually recognize her,” he added.
On Saturday, March 6, Irizarry won first place at the USA Taekwondo State Championship that has held at Queens College. She also won first place at the national qualifiers in York, Pennsylvania on Sunday, March 28.
“She really enjoys sparring and looks forward to these events. For such a young age, I am blessed to have her be so focused,” Jose said.
She is now training hard for this summer’s Junior Olympics that will be taking place at the convention center in Orlando, FL. Last year she won first place at the Junior Olympics in Austin, TX, by defeating two competitors 7-0.
Irizarry has trained with Olympians like Juan Moreno and Peter Bardatsos, the vice president of the World Taekwondo Federation. She has also met Master Paul Mormando, who is including her in his documentary of the greatest martial artists ever.
According to Jayda, all she had to say when asked how it felt to be an undefeated champion was, “good.”
The Irizarry family is currently working on a foundation, Jayda Skye Rising Stars, to help aspiring children reach their goals in Taekwondo and allow them the funding to be able to attend these events.
Anyone interested in seeing Irizarry’s fighting ability can watch her more than 200 videos on YouTube.
