Through Aline Chatel
Published on
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Great stories sometimes have upset origins. Tristan Hery was 7 years old when he discovered the taekwondo. “We were looking for a sport so that I could assert myself,” he says with astonishing maturity. I was too shy and let myself be too much. “Ten years later, this high school student in Terminale has become triple champion de France senior from his first year in the premier category. And as happiness, it seems, never comes alone, he shared this success with his mother Céline, herself double champion of France masters on this January 8, 2022.
A former ballet dancer
Could Céline Hery adopt the sport chosen by her only son without imagining devoting herself entirely to it? Probably not. As a young girl, she had given up ballet when she realized that she would never be a first dancer, “only” a member of the corps de ballet. She had then preferred to leave her sport-studies in Paris to branch off into psychology… and naturally become valedictorian.
From dancing, which had stopped two decades earlier, this forty-year-old has kept her flexibility, rigor and attention to detail. “Initially, I was very elegant but not very martial,” she smiles. Technical taekwondo, which does not consist of confronting an opponent but of executing codified movements, requires “feeling a real impression of combat” according to the writings of the French federation. Mastery, power, rhythm, breathing or gaze are all scoring criteria.
The art of life
Céline and Tristan have made Poomsae, this sequence of movements, a way of life. They train six times a week and criss-cross part of the globe to compete or simply progress. Céline Hery, a work psychologist, spends almost all her holidays there. “We went to Korea, the country of Taekwondo, for a two-week course,” says his son. The average level over there is the top level in France. It was intense, but we learned a lot. In one day, the Herys did more rehearsals than in a year.
A close relationship
Ten years after their debut, Céline and Tristan Hery have triumphed together. Quite logically, finally. Taekwondo has further cemented the mother-son bond. “I have a ‘plus plus’ relationship with my mother. We are fusion. In training, both in the room made available by Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse or with their master at Insep, mutual aid prevails. “We both have things to pass on to each other,” says the son. We also motivate each other. The two also support each other, sometimes, after the hard knocks.
There were times when we wanted to stop but luckily it didn’t happen at the same time!
A few years ago, Tristan Hery finished penultimate in the French championships, he who was already at the top of the basket. Deprived of the France team for a year, he was plunged into misunderstanding. “I hit rock bottom several times. It forged me. »
For these born competitors, defeat is not always easy to digest. “My husband sometimes finds us in pieces,” admits Céline. The non-taekwondoist of the family then knows how to find the right words, in his capacity as the “biggest fan” of his two protégés. However, titles are not the only purpose of a discipline where values are omnipresent. “There is a great solidarity and a lot of benevolence between the competitors. »
At the World Championship in April
Céline and Tristan Hery would be “incomplete” without this taekwondo which constitutes a common thread in their existence. They have every intention of making the fun last as long as possible. Tristan, former third in the European Junior Championships, qualified for the World Championships by winning in Valencia. Céline can also claim it, but the distant trip to Asia may be too expensive for the federation to agree to present its category. Money is a non-negligible reality in a sport with low visibility.
We earn absolutely no money and we pay for all our trips, except with the France team…
Passion prevails over the rest, but the Herys can’t imagine anything other than this total investment. Not just for the emotions they share. “It’s a great trainer for Tristan’s future life. The taste for effort, efficient work, high standards… All of this will serve him well in his studies and professional life. “Before that, the teenager had fulfilled his original objective wonderfully. “Socially, taekwondo has helped me a lot! It was still the initial idea…
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