Raphael Gaanan: Winning at a young age

In a large, clean mat where thousands of sweat and tears were shed, stands a young man wearing his white judogi with an obi wrapped around his waist. He is not one of the world-renowned judokas yet, but a young man who’s willing to get bruised and battered for the glory of his city.

Proving that one is never too young to compete, this 13-year-old strong-willed and determined judoka from British Columbia smashed down his competitors, who were mostly 14 and 15 years old, in the Canadian Open National under U16-60 kg division. Among the 19 judokas who came from different parts the country and have aimed to get a spot on the podium of the biggest event for Judo in Canada, Raphael Gaanan was fortunate enough to add another achievement under his belt, winning a silver medal.

When he stepped up to the podium as he claimed his award, not only did Raphael bring pride and honor to the Canadian city he represents but he as well raised the flag of his homeland.

Speaking with Philippine Canadian Inquirer (PCI) is this Filipino-Canadian; letting his journey all the way to the mats be told.

Proud Filipino-Canadian

Before he enjoyed the scenery that Canada offered to him, Raphael has first witnessed the beauty of his home country, the Philippines, known for its breathtaking beaches and landscapes. But along with these world-class and post-card-worthy tourist attractions comes the side of the Pearl of the Orient Seas’ humid air and hot weather as a tropical country. Unfortunately, Raphael’s family migrated to British Columbia in 2010 as these factors have made the young judoka, younger sister Astrud, and his mother suffer from asthma.

Although he seemed to have adjusted to the pace of life and fit in so well in the Great White North as he has been living there for nine years already, there is one thing that indeed sets him apart from any other Canadians: it’s his Pinoy blood that still flows within him. In every “Filipino event” they attend to in Canada, he would always apply the basic Filipino manners he learned by greeting the elders at the gathering with “mano po” and being polite to them by answering their questions with “po” and “opo.” He may be often heard uttering words in English, but whenever he’s at home, he would talk to his family members in Tagalog.

Raphael never forgets where he came from, saying that he still embraces the Filipino culture by being respectful and obedient to elders, attending Sunday masses with the whole family, and above all, having the mentality of putting his family first — thanks to his parents, Ron and Cecilia, for raising their son to take pride in his cultural heritage.

But not only did Raphael come from a family that cherishes their being Filipino despite living in a foreign country, he was raised by the family who’s in love with outdoor activities that’s why it is no surprise how physical activities comes naturally in him.

Entering the battleground

Being a fan of all kinds of combat sports that he is, Ron signed up his son to the nearest martial arts centre that is now recognized as one of the strongest and largest clubs on the west coast, the Burnaby Judo Club, when Raphael was just five and a half years old.

Since the beginning, both Ron and Cecilia have been their son’s best fans, supporting him by allotting time to drive him to every practice, making an appearance at his meets and games, constantly giving him positivity, and being his tower of strength. Their encouragement and motivation have unleashed tenfold the competitive spirit living inside the body of this boy who, at such a young age, has struck gold.

“Their support is all I need to push myself forward. The very first time I fought, when I was five [years old], I got gold [medal] and from there I strive to aim for more.”

Practicing Judo for more than seven years, for sure he, like any other athletes, have gone through a rough patch that went beyond the physical. To improve his physical prowess and athletic ability, Raphael spends countless of hours to train to the point that sometimes, he has to sacrifice what is supposed to be his quality time with his family. Usually, Raphael attends practice four times a week, for two to three hours per day. However, when it is tournament season, his training days will be raised to six, not to mention the camps he attends every year.

“Being in high performance of Team BC, it requires a lot of time that will interfere with school and some family affairs. I am usually either out for competition or training for days, weeks.”

But other than having an inevitable jam-packed schedule that is somehow wreaking havoc on his personal life commitments, everything else related to his Judo career was well-supported by his parents, teachers, and coaches.

Onto the mats

Inside his circle, Raphael is known to his friends as the funniest one, however, everything changes as soon as he walks onto the combat zone. From being the funny guy, Raphael instantly shifts to being the most serious and fiercest person in the group.

If it was not only because of his dad, pursuing a career in sports would probably never come to his mind. A fan of his mom, Raphael, instead, has imagined himself wearing a white coat and carrying a stethoscope one day. He recalled how he watches his mom perform surgeries to her patients whilst he was outside the operating room, playing his Ben 10 toys. Even though practicing Judo wasn’t initially what he desired for, he eventually fell in love with it.

Compared to other sports, Raphael enjoys Judo the most for he gets the satisfaction of putting in both his entire physical and mental effort. Despite how tough the practice for him that there were times he would be thrown with no trace of mercy and pinned down at will; the difficulty surprisingly motivated him.

“The amount of sweat you are producing can already signify how hard you’re pushing yourself.”

As a competitive athlete, Raphael admitted that whenever he suffers from heartbreaking losses, he easily blames himself for it. So to cope and bounce back from disappointments, he looks up to the “Mamba mentality” of his favorite sports hero, Kobe Bryant, who has helped him become mentally strong and determined. If he has a chink in his armor, then Raphael definitely has a strong suit to bring out from his closet.

Focused, determined young blood

With his focus and determination to win, Raphael became his team’s asset when they competed at the Canadian Open National held in the University of Alberta in Edmonton three months ago.

To prepare himself before he comes to blows with his opponent in the mats, Raphael had to pass through the eye of a needle by training himself vigorously regularly and attending multiple camps, including his once a week strength and conditioning. Along with his team, he also flew to Japan to get training from Kodokan Judo for two weeks. In the midst of his extensive practice session, Raphael, unfortunately, suffered from a “severely injured L groin sprain.” But not wanting to give up, this young Judoka did not let his injury become a hindrance in his fight all the way to the finals.

It was “upsetting” for him not to be able to bag a gold medal as what his coaches were expecting from him but winning silver isn’t bad either after all.

“Surprisingly, I still got into the podium by God’s grace. That’s an overwhelming feeling.”

Just for this year, he already added three gold medals and a silver under his belt. For Raphael, ranking second nationally in -60kg under 16 division is his greatest accomplishment so far, as well as being trained outside Canada and being part of the high performance team for two years. Despite winning multiple awards at such a young age, this 13-year-old athlete still believes that there are still a lot of things he has to enhance in his performance.

At this stage, Raphael is suiting himself up as he will be fighting two divisions in the coming tournaments where his competitors are all experienced fighters. There will be around eight major tournaments left for him this year, both in Canada and the United States.