Here is how Cuba native Ariel Torres went from Hialeah karate kid to Tokyo Olympian
That little Cuban-American boy in karate gear going car to car with a donation jar on the corner of E. 21st St. and 4th Ave. in Hialeah in 2007 is now a 23-year-old Olympian heading to Tokyo next week with gold medal hopes.
Ariel Torres is ranked No. 6 in the world and the top male Team USA Olympian in “kata,” the non-fighting karate discipline known as “forms.” He has vivid memories of spending long hours at that intersection fundraising for karate tournament fees his immigrant parents couldn’t afford.
His older sister, Yusleykys, made a poster board that read “Donations for Karate Competition” and affixed a pair of Ariel’s medals on it. His father carried the sign while he collected money from passers-by.
“Whenever there was a red light, I would do a kata, a little short basic form, then I would do a yell and then I would go car by car putting the jar in front of them,” said Torres, following a training session Wednesday at Shotokan/Kenseikan Dojo in West Kendall. “Most people gave a donation, and we were able to come up with the funds to rent a car and drive to North Carolina for the national championship and I won in both kata and fighting.”
Torres, who graduated from Westland Hialeah High, said he is forever indebted to the community of Hialeah for all the support over the years.
Torres was born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, and came to Miami at age 4 in 2002 with his mother, Andrea, and sister. His father, Ariel Torres Sr., had emigrated to New Jersey two years prior and was living for free with a friend and working in an auto body shop to save money for when the rest of the family arrived.
Ariel Jr. has only limited memories of Cuba.
“I remember we had a red phone and after my Dad had left Cuba, I would pick up the phone, push the buttons and pretend I was talking to him,” Torres said. “My Mom would tell me over and over that we are going to see him very soon. My other memory is of the ice cream truck, which stopped by our house every day.”
Once the family reunited in the United States, Ariel’s parents decided to settle in Hialeah. His mother, who is blind in one eye, cleaned houses and babysat to make money. His father started NCR Gutters Inc., a company that makes and installs seamless rain gutters. He still owns the business.
Karate helped Torres focus
Ariel began attending Hialeah Elementary School, and unlike his sister, who was patient and studious, Ariel had trouble paying attention to teachers and staying focused.
A doctor told his parents that he was hyperactive and suggested they put him in a martial arts sport that teaches discipline. There was a karate school within walking distance from the Torres home, which was perfect because they did not own a car. Ariel started taking lessons from a Cuban immigrant sensei named Toy Malvarres, and he fell in love with karate.
He eventually got so good that Malvarres introduced him to highly respected sensei Robert Young, who was working at a school owned by Doug Stein, an attorney and former executive with USA Karate.
“I loved the unity of all the kids, punching together, kicking together, screaming together, doing pushups,” Torres said. “I wanted to be better and that eventually that gave birth to the competitive side in me.”
His parents, seeing how much he enjoyed karate, told him not to let their lack of money keep him from pursuing his goals.
“It didn’t hit me at the time, I was just happy I could compete and now I’m like, ‘Wow,’ I can’t believe they believed in me so much,” he said. “I don’t know many parents who would sacrifice everything for such a childish dream. And they sacrificed for my sister, too.”
Torres made it a point to heap praise on his sister, who attended Miami Dade College Honors program, Barry University and Nova University. Now 31, she is a medical researcher who studies Alzheimer’s patients.
“I’m going to the Olympics, but what my sister has done is far more incredible than what I have done,” he said. “All the awards I have in karate, she has 10 times more in schooling. She always had her head buried in the books and studied so hard while I was running around doing karate. She inspired me because I saw how hard she studied for school, and I wanted to work that hard at my passion.”
When he was a senior in high school, sensei Young told him the International Olympic Committee was adding karate to the program for the Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled for 2020. Young urged Torres to aim for the Olympics, so he took his training to another level.
He devoted all of his free time to the sport, skipped parties and even skipped his prom to attend competitions where he could earn points to raise his world rankings. Once he reached top 12 in the world, he qualified for U.S. Olympic Committee funding.
Karate is one of five sports added to the Tokyo sport list, but it did not make the cut for Paris 2024, so this may be Torres’ only chance to compete for an Olympic medal.
Young is one of the most respected senseis in the sport and introduced Torres to some of the most successful coaches and athletes in the world. Young also trains Grace Lau, a 29-year-old who is representing Hong Kong at the Tokyo Olympics.
Torres dabbled in cross-country when he was in school but was always more drawn to karate. Although it is not quite the same as the movie “The Karate Kid,” the sport does center around life virtues as it shows in the film.
“Karate teaches you virtues of life that we try to follow, character, compassion, time management, all these things we try to do to be a better member of society,” he said. “I want to be a better person, a better son, a better friend. That’s what I love most about karate, trying to be better in all aspects of my life.”
Torres competes in Tokyo on Aug. 6. His parents cannot be there, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, but he will be thinking of them on that day.
“I feel extremely blessed,” he said. “It’s a dream come true. I feel like many people doubted me but from that early age I was determined to go and I kept fighting and my parents always gave full support, even after I had tough losses.”
Proud of his Cuban roots
Although he has lived in the United States the majority of his life and will be competing for Team USA, Torres said he still feels deeply connected to his Cuban roots. He has close relatives still on the island and has been paying close attention to the news of street protests the past few days.
“I would say I’m 100 percent Cuban and 100 percent American, I’m both,” he said. “My family in Cuba is very proud of me. I’m a proud Cuban-American. I’m proud of the freedom I have in this country. I’ve been able to chase my dream at the highest level, and I want to inspire all the Cuban people and show that if everything was lifted from them and they were liberated then they, too, could make their dreams come true because us Cubans have a strong heart and we turn our emotions into power.”
His message to the people in Cuba: “Keep it alive. Keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t give up. I wish the best for them and hope they can be as free as I am one day and fulfill their dreams.”
Tokyo Olympics
When: July 23-Aug. 8.
Nations: 206.
Athletes expected: 11,091.
New sports: Karate, sport climbing, surfing, skateboarding. Baseball and softball return for first time since 2008.
TV: NBC, also streaming on NBCOlympics.com and Peacock.
U.S. athletes to Watch: Simone Biles (gymnastics); Caeleb Dressel (swimming); Trayvon Bromell (track); Katie Ledecky (swimming); Sydney McLaughlin (track); Heimana Reynolds (skateboarding); Allyson Felix (track); Noah Lyles (track); Eddy Alvarez (baseball, Marlins).
This story was originally published July 16, 2021 at 6:20 PM.