By Jo Hsuan Wu
OCA Young Reporter from Chinese Taipei
Toyohashi, Japan, October 2, 2026: When Kyrgyzstan’s Azhar Berikovna Makhmetova wanted to learn more about freestyle poomsae, one of the places she turned to was YouTube.
The 25-year-old competed in the women’s individual poomsae event at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games in Toyohashi, bringing with her a journey shaped by curiosity, self-learning and a determination to develop in a discipline that is still growing in her country.
Makhmetova explained that taekwondo in Kyrgyzstan is more commonly focused on kyorugi. While she has received taekwondo and poomsae training, opportunities to learn specialised freestyle poomsae have been more limited.
That is where YouTube became useful.
She watched videos of other athletes online, studying freestyle poomsae techniques and movements and using what she saw as another way to learn and improve.
When asked whether she had learned some of her freestyle skills by herself, her answer was simple: “Yes.”
Freestyle poomsae combines taekwondo techniques with acrobatic and performance elements, making specialised training particularly valuable. For Makhmetova, online videos became an additional learning resource when that kind of instruction was not always easily available around her.
Her commitment to freestyle poomsae has also required a personal financial investment. During the interview, she explained that she had paid for parts of her training and preparation herself.
“I just pay for this by myself,” she said.
Makhmetova’s experience highlights how athletes can arrive at the same international competition through very different paths. While the Asian Games brings competitors from across the continent on to the same stage, the resources and opportunities available to them at home can vary greatly.
For Makhmetova, YouTube did not replace her coaches or her existing taekwondo training. Instead, it gave her another way to explore freestyle poomsae, study other athletes and continue developing her skills.
Those hours of watching, learning and practising eventually became part of a much bigger journey, one that brought her to Toyohashi to represent Kyrgyzstan at the Asian Games.
Her story shows how curiosity can sometimes become a training tool. For Makhmetova, a screen opened another window into freestyle poomsae and helped her keep learning on her way to one of Asia’s biggest sporting stages.