In the 1970s, American pro sports hit a turning point.
Physical training was uniform. Visibility was rising. Pressure was mounting — teams needed an edge.

Sports psychology pioneer Dr. Bob Rotella introduced systematic mental training to free performance under pressure.

By the 1990s, his protégé Dr. John Eliot was applying those methods inside dynasties like the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Astros, and leading Olympic programs.

Mindset became a skill - trainable, repeatable, and essential for sustained success. 

Taekwondo has faced the same shift.

Since becoming an Olympic sport in 2000 — and with electronic scoring from 2009 — technique, tactics, and conditioning have become universal.

Visibility has grown. Commercialization has accelerated. Pressure has intensified.

Yet mental training never became standard. What pro sports made routine decades ago, Taekwondo still treats as optional.  

Every sport has one athlete who proves what mastering the mind can produce.

In Taekwondo, that athlete is Steven Lopez. He won nationally, regionally, and on the world stage, at every age and across two scoring eras.

Steven’s mental approach laid the foundation for one of the greatest careers in sports history — and made him untouchable when it counted most.