Ricardo Santiago Jr. gets a kick out of martial arts

Martial arts have become a huge part of mainstream sports, and the discipline of taekwondo was one of the early pillars of this wave.
Even while athletes are competing in their respective sports, they already begin to think of what they can do after — most get into coaching, but there have been quite a few that have become officials or referees.
Ricardo Santiago Jr. took up the sport because he was frustrated that he didn’t make it to the basketball varsity because of his height. He looked to martial arts so he could shape his own destiny, and taekwondo had one of the best organizations in the country with a clear set of goals.
He was hooked to taekwondo because he said it teaches the values of respect for parents, respect for authority, self-discipline, and the right dose of confidence. It also teaches self-defense.  His daughter, who is now two years old, is required to become a blackbelt.
Along the way, Ricky saw another opportunity to serve the sport — as a referee — and he was one of the chosen few who officiated at the recent Rio Olympics.

PHILIPPINE STAR: Talk about your experience representing the country as an athlete.

RICKY SANTIAGO JR.: I was a National Team player from 1991-1998 and was team captain in my last year. I recall the moment when, after being installed in the ranks of the national squad and on my first day of training with the team during cardiovascular long runs at the Rizal Memorial track oval, I saw the other national athletes in track & field, like Elma Muros, and I felt so honored to be part of the RP team together with my idols.

Throughout my stint in the RP team, I felt like a soldier of my country, with so much pride and dignity to represent the Philippines.  I really worked hard to develop myself during those years, fighting in events such as the 1994 Cayman World Cup, 1995 Chang Mai and 1997 Jakarta SEAGames, 1996 Melbourne Asian Championships, 1997 Hong Kong World Championships.  It made me dream of the Olympic Games in 2000 Sydney and what an honor it would be to fight for my country!  The Olympics is every fighter’s dream.

When did your interest in becoming a referee begin?

In 1991, the Philippine Taekwondo Association hosted the International Referee refresher seminar at the Hyatt Hotel, Manila.  Though I was only 1st dan blackbelt at that time and since we were a developing taekwondo country, even though one should be 4th dan blackbelt, I was allowed to take the course.  I borrowed money from my parents to pay for the $1,000 seminar fee.  I thought it was a great chance and opportunity for my development. I just enjoyed everything taekwondo and followed whatever my grandmaster Sung Chon Hong advised.
I was a national fighter at that time, too.  And when I had my first referee assignment in Korea in 1994 during the KBS Cup, I was the youngest international referee in the world while being an active fighter.

Your focus is obviously different —  from an athlete to a referee.

Yes, it is very different.  As a fighter, the limelight is on you, including all the glamour. As a referee, nobody sees you, and that means you are a good referee especially if the match is full of drama and excitement.  You only get noticed in a negative way if you do a bad job.  The similar thing, however, is the pressure, as well as the feeling of service and honor, the sense of enjoyment and motivation, and the adrenalin rush.

How was the Rio experience?

It was an amazing and awesome one! It was a fairy tale, a dream come true.  I was a referee also at the Athens Olympic Games 12 years ago.  However, this second time around, to be part of the top 30 best IRs in the world, selected and evaluated over a period of eight years under the modern era of electronic taekwondo and a new global game landscape, is such a rare experience. One feels he’s in the cutting-edge of the Olympic sport.  I really had to work hard for this dream and proved to myself that dreams do come true.  I felt such honor and pride to be part of that team and every time I went up on the 9 center referee assignments I was given a chance to officiate in, I brought with me my whole country, and I thank God and family for being there with the best, and being given such an opportunity. I didn’t make it as a fighter in Sydney 2000, but I made it two times as an international referee. What a twist! But the Olympics is the Olympics, and just being part of such a universal feeling is inspiring.  You get connected to the supreme feeling of humankind’s spirit to achieve greatness beyond one’s limits.

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