‘Baby Dragon’ has only one defeat

There is a pint-sized powerhouse roaming the martial arts studios of Queens and she’s itching to add to her growing list of vanquished opponents.
Jayda Skye Irizarry, 8, is known as “Baby Dragon” in Taekwondo circles. The name fits her well – because while she is a smiling baby face, according to her father she breathes fire in the fighting ring.
And her 39-1 record is indicative of her fighting intensity.
“Jayda loves to train and has a great smile,” said Jose, her father. “But she has the eye of an eagle when she’s watching her master teach her new techniques.”
Irizarry trains at New Beginnings TKD in Jamaica under the watchful eye of Master Steven Nazario, whom she has trained with since she was five years old. A quick learner, Irizarry has incredible speed and a lot of power – even though she is the youngest in her fighting team, Irizarry routinely fights older competition.
“She trains with black belts and spars against older boys and girls – this conditions her and gives her an edge when she fights within her own age and weight class,” said Jose. “Jayda’s become a Taekwondo child prodigy. Athletes and masters recognize her at events and love to watch her fight in the ring.”
Her father credits New Beginning’s insistence on using state-of-the-art equipment when training its students. He feels cutting edge technology, while expensive, is the only way for fighters to stay on a competitive level.
Even with her level of skill, Irizarry remains a happy, yet shy, third grader. She attends P.S. 81 in Ridgewood and counts math as her favorite subject. Her father said that outside of the ring, she is just like every other girl her age.
Except that unlike most young girls, this “Baby Dragon” is training for the 2011 Junior Olympics in San Jose, California. The only loss on her record came at last year’s Olympics, when she lost by kyongo – which is a penalty for an illegal infraction.
“She did not lose because of her fighting skills, she lost because of politics,” said her father. “After that loss, she got right back to her intense training regimen. She is now bigger and stronger with a determination to keep learning new techniques. She knows that this will help her achieve gold at the Juniors.”
Her father is currently working on creating a foundation to help Irizarry and other talented children receive the financial support they need to continue pursuing their Olympic dreams. Representing Team U.S.A. for the gold in taekwondo is an expensive endeavor – with all of the equipment and classes that are needed, the costs can really pile up.
“The foundation is called Jayda Skye’s Rising Stars and we are looking for sponsors who believe in making dreams come true for these gifted kids in the martial arts world,” he said. “We believe her fighting skills are unique and the exposure created through a foundation will help her reach that status of a young champion.”
Irizarry hopes to compete in the taekwondo’s U.S. Open and various international tournaments. But for now she will continue to train hard for local tournaments and prepare for state and national qualifiers in order to participate in 2011 Junior Olympics.
For the “Baby Dragon” herself, the best part of taekwondo is the time she spends sparring with other students and her masters. Grand Master Khan, who manages the elite fighting team, has over 35 years of experience to pass on to the young fighter.
“Training and sparring is my favorite part of taekwondo,” said Irizarry, who knows that in order to win, she must be flawless in her fighting skills. “I love learning from the masters.”