One of the most popular expressions in the sandbox these days is ‘no tojang’. It means “Noh Bum-soo is at it again.

Noh Bum-soo (25, Ulju-guncheong), a lightweight wrestler, has entered his prime. Noh, who made his name on the sports entertainment program “The Joy of Wrestling” while still a student at Ulsan University in 2019, swept the bull trophy upon his debut on the folk wrestling stage the following year. He won four titles in his first year, five the following year, and six last year. This year, he has already won four trophies in all the competitions held so far this month. He has won 19 Jangsa titles, including 18 in the taebaek class (80 kilograms or less) and one in the kumite class (90 kilograms or less).

Noh Bum-soo, who is driving the popularity of wrestling with his handsome appearance and spectacular skills, met with The Korea Times at the Boeun National Sports Center in Chungcheongbuk-do on the 22nd and laughed, saying, “I keep winning, so ‘Noh To-jang’ is the right word,” and then added, “Coach Lee Dae-jin and the seniors on the team are supporting me, and I’m working out in a good team atmosphere, so I think the results are good.”

Currently, the taekwondo division is dominated by Noh Bum-soo. He has perfected all his skills, including his main weapon, the catch, and has gained confidence as he continues to taste victory. His wrestling intelligence is also good, and he is said to be able to react quickly. “When I appeared on “The Joy of Wrestling,” I was just a good wrestler at the university,” Noh said, “and I had no confidence that I would be able to do well in folk wrestling to this extent.

He has a 100 percent win rate this season, but he’s not letting his guard down. Moon Jun-seok, a seven-time taebaek champion, and four-time champion Heo Sun-haeng (Suwon Special City Hall) are his competitors. Once he gets into the groove, he’ll have his work cut out for him. “I’m always confident, but I can fall from a high position quickly,” Noh explains, “and when my juniors work harder than me, I try to keep up with them.”

When asked about being labeled a “wrestling genius,” he says, “I’m not. He started wrestling in the fifth grade, but he was smaller than his peers and his skills lagged behind. There were many days when I was in tears because no matter how much I practiced, I couldn’t see any results. In her third year of middle school, she even tried to quit wrestling altogether.

But his brother, who started wrestling after him, encouraged him, and he grew in stature during his freshman year of high school. As he practiced with university players and won one or two matches, his confidence grew, and he finally won his first national championship in his sophomore year of high school. “I won the gold medal later than my friends, so I worked out even harder,” Noh said.

Now that he has surpassed his first goal of winning eight titles in the taekwondo division, he has even bigger dreams. With one more victory, he will match Lim Tae-hyuk (Suwon Special City Hall) for the most active titles (20) and hopefully surpass Yongin University professor Lee Tae-hyun’s record (40).메이저사이트

“No one has ever won an entire season of folk wrestling tournaments, so I want to win all of the tournaments scheduled for this year,” Noh said. Folk wrestling is now held ten times a year, with more commercial tournaments than ever before. “You set big goals, and records are meant to be broken,” he said. “I think I’ll finish Professor Lee’s record before I go to the army. If I can’t, I’ll just have to keep up my performance after I leave the army and win once or twice a year. That’s why I’m training hard every minute.”

Because wrestling is so intense, the risk of injury is high, and the physical demands are great. “I’ve never had a major injury yet,” he says, “but I’ve had a few, like, “Oh, yeah. I once burned my leg while grilling meat and had to miss a tournament for a month to heal,” he says with a wry smile.