TAEKWONDO champion and Fil-Am artist Pauline Lopez will dauntlessly venture into showbiz this year. She will be in the cast of director Erik Matti’s hard action flick, ‘Buy Bust 2,’ the next franchise with actress Anne Curtis, this time appearing in a nine-part series.

The series will be produced by Dondon Monteverde, who also signed up Pauline under his Virtual Plyground management.

“I went into acting workshops (with Angeli Bayani]) to prepare for my role in Buy Bust, 2,” Pauline said. “I need to practice my Tagalog, learning and reading it. That’s important.

“I need to do extra work knowing that I really want to join showbiz. Everything is not given to you. The world doesn’t owe us a favor. You work hard for it.”

Pauline will also team up with taekwondo champion Monsour del Rosario in an action film, ‘Battle Ready,’ with Brandon Vera. They already brainstormed for the project and is set to start working this March.

Born in Los Angeles, Pauline was brought by her parents (Jun and Maria Francesca Lopez) back to the Philippines when she was only a baby. However, her family returned to the US when Lopez turned seven.

At eight, Pauline observed her dad teaching taekwondo. “I wanted to do this,” she said then. “I was pushing my dad and I was telling my him, I really want to do taekwondo. You can’t tell me taekwondo is a man’s sport.

“I want to prove something and I want to show my dad that I can. But I was not the talented one among the kids. My older sister and my younger brother were so natural in taekwondo.

“I had to compensate for that and work really hard. My dad eventually saw my potential. Let alone, I was the only one who continued. My dad really changed his mindset. He said taekwondo is not an old man’s sport, combat or martial arts. It’s actually everyone’s sport.”

The taekwondo belts start from white, yellow, red, brown and then the first degree of black belt, as informed by Pauline.

When she turned 13, Pauline earned her black belt in taekwondo. There was no more stopping her from competing, bringing home trophies and medals here and abroad.

“I didn’t know how I was going to be in the international field,” Pauline said. “I didn’t know how to do it, but I told my dad, let’s be serious with it.

“I was trying to be in the US national team, but I ended up representing the Philippines from the US. I shuttled between the US and the Philippines. That was the sacrifice I had to make. Represent the country and fight for the country.”

In 2016, Pauline made her move back to Manila and lives by her lonesome. That same year, she entered Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU).

Because of her competitions, her college graduation got delayed. But she is finally marching this June and getting her diploma.

Today, with the guidance of her management outfit, Dondon Monteverde’s Virtual Playground, along with her seniors in taekwondo guiding her, Pauline is passing down what she knows to the next generation to turn them also into champions in the future.

“Taekwondo is not just about kicking and punching,” Pauline asserted. “It’s about the discipline in and out of the studio, in and out of the ring.”

“If you love something that you’re doing, it doesn’t feel like it’s work every day. That is something I’m always grateful for.”

She also put up her own school, Shero, defined as a woman admired or idealized for her courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities.

Last Sunday, Pauline hosted the taekwondo competition in Quezon City for a city meet. All the participants competed. They even got an endorsement from QC Vice Mayor, Gian Sotto for the venue they used at the Amoranto Stadium.

“This is the first time that this happened and we tried it out in QC,” Pauline said. “The participants were from toddlers all the way up to seniors, who were around 18 years old. For the competition, I really wanted to focus on grassroots who were the young kids.”

Toddlers who were as young as five or six years old joined the competition. They competed in the fun division.

“It’s not necessary that everyone gets a medal in this competition,” Pauline maintained. “It’s them having this ability to know, that me joining this competition, is a win in itself.”

The taekwondo competition and championship saw more than 600 participants at the Amoranto Stadium in Roces Avenue, Quezon City.

The Mapata taekwondo event enjoined students who registered from Makati, Pasay and Taguig. “My taekwondo school, Shero, is in BGC (Bonifacio Global City), so Taguig was also covered,” Pauline informed.

The taekwondo players are Pauline’s students in her taekwondo school, Shero, which is also her advocacy. Her martial arts school aims to empower aspiring taekwondo athletes.

Shero’s taekwondo classes are in a module-based program, with 16 sessions for students who want to learn the sport in Pauline’s gym which she opened last year at BGC in Taguig.

Students are taught in hybrid, online, face-to-face or a mix of both face-to-face and online. Shero also offers private sessions.

Classes are offered every Saturdays and Sundays at Shiro. Pauline also goes to different parts of the country to do sparring seminars in Bacolod which had over 200 participants this January 2024 alone.

Pauline started teaching after she opened her Shero taekwondo school at BGC in May 2022. The transition from athlete to coach was undoubtedly a challenge for her.

“The doubt that came in, how will I expound this knowledge that I have,” she admitted. “From being an athlete and a coach is still a learning process. Just like anything, you have to do seminars.

“You have to teach the kids how will they be receptive to it. From elite athletes and coaches working together with elite background, I have to learn how to pass on the knowledge that I learned to a kid.”

What inspired Pauline to put up Shero is remembering to leave your mark to the next generation. “I had good guidance from the people managing me along the way, as well as from my parents,” she said.

“I went to a school, Quast, in the West Coast. “It’s not always about the competition itself. It’s how you can serve and pass down what you know to the next generation. That’s how the sport will evolve and continue.”

With Shero accepting students, Pauline took a break from competing. “I still love it. I still miss it. I’m still very passionate about it. But if something inside me sparks up to fight again, why not? I’m not closing the door completely.

“Teaching actually brought out the passion and the fire again why I’m doing what I’m doing. What’s the purpose of taekwondo and the values that came with it, reminded me of that.”

To date, Pauline has about 50 students enrolled in her Shero taekwondo school, in a studio at 4th Strip, BGC.

“When we opened the school in May 2022, I started teaching taekwondo classes face to face,” Pauline shared. “We started small initially and eventually started to grow.”

Pauline started teaching by her lonesome at Shero. Today, she hired another coach and an assistant coach, who is very passionate with taekwondo.

She is accepting as young as four-year-old students. “But I assess them first to do a trial class if they could follow instructions and they can. It’s fun for them, without knowing that they are actually learning discipline and instructions.”