THEY?RE young, they?re beautiful, and they can kick your ass.

Meet the country?s latest sports heroines: Rani Ann Ortega, Janice Lagman, and Camille Alarilla ? the Philippine Taekwondo team?s triple threat who waltzed off with the gold medal in the poomsae event of last December?s 25th Southeast Asian Games held in Vientiane, Laos.

Poomsae are forms or patterns ? a set of taekwondo movements used in training. (Sparring is the other taekwondo event.) Ortega, Lagman and Alarilla wowed the judges with the grace, power, and precision they showed in performing two technically-demanding poomsae. It certainly didn?t hurt that the three, who are first cousins, share the same height, physique and ? to be frank ? good looks. Moving in perfect synchronization, they were a joy to watch.

Having bagged the prize early on in the games, the high-kicking trio was totally unaware that they had become instant celebrities back home until their triumphant return two weeks later, to a flurry of TV guest appearances. By then, they had been on the front page of every newspaper in town. The Internet was also abuzz with fans posting mash notes to their favorite taekwondo-jin.

The buzz has died down a bit, but lately, local taekwondo dojang have been besieged by inquiries from girls wanting to take up the Korean martial art.

The girls, however, are unfazed by all the attention they?ve been getting. Taekwondo is still their focus.

?We can?t relax,? says Ortega, 23, a Sports Science graduate of the University of the Philippines.

?We?re training for the annual national team selection. Every year there?s a selection for the national pool, then there?s a competition within the pool to determine who will compete in the world championships.?

Apart from rigorous taekwondo workouts every evening, the three also do physical conditioning in the mornings, hitting the weights with a personal trainer three to four times a week, and running on other days. On top of that, they all teach taekwondo classes in Miriam and Claret schools. It?s a grueling schedule that leaves little time for anything else, but the three seem to thrive on it, thanks to the discipline and mental toughness inculcated by years of taekwondo.

Ortega was the first to get into the martial art.

?My sister and I started back in grade school,? says Ortega. ?Actually we wanted to study gymnastics, but our father wanted us to learn self-defense to build up our self-confidence, so he enrolled us in taekwondo classes.?

?At first, my only goal was to lose weight, because I was so fat when I started taekwondo ? I weighed 160 pounds in Grade 7! But my sister and I liked competing with guys, and training every Saturday. In the beginning we only did it because of my dad, but after I earned my red belt, I really began to enjoy it, and it?s been non-stop from then on.?

Janice Lagman, 22 and now a registered nurse, caught the bug from her cousins.

?They urged me to try it out, so my brother and I did, and we liked it. Because of the levels of promotion in taekwondo, you get a feeling of success and accomplishment when you graduate to the next level ? from white belt to black. But that?s not the end, there?s 2nd dan, 3rd dan and so on ? it?s continuous improvement.?

Camille Alarilla, 22 and a Management Economics graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University, was also encouraged to give it a go. She didn?t get serious, however, until high school when she joined the Miriam varsity taekwondo team.

?I liked the feeling when I was able to score points in competition,? she says. ?It encouraged me to train more.?

She became even more serious in college when she joined the Ateneo varsity taekwondo team.

The three cousins were taken under coach Igor Mella?s wing when they reached the intermediate yellow belt level. This meant more serious training in a real dojang (taekwondo training hall).

Eventually, Ortega joined the national team, where she experienced elite level training. Once, while sparring with visiting (male) Korean taekwondo-jin, she parried a kick and fractured the bones in her hand, requiring surgery. All par for the course.

Juggling serious training with a full-time academic schedule was another challenge, but the three cousins were nothing if not focused.

?Our parents told us we could train after school as long as we got high grades. But if they fell, we would have to stop training,? recalls Ortega ?So we were motivated to study so we could continue with taekwondo.?

?We learned to manage our time because we had to balance school and taekwondo,? adds Alarilla. ?Even after training in the evening, I would study before going to sleep. I would study in the morning and during every break, because I had to use every spare moment. So taekwondo taught us discipline and time management.?

The three cousins all have long-term goals for the future. Ortega plans to pursue advanced studies in sports science, Lagman hopes to eventually make use of her nursing license, and Alarilla plans to go to on law school. But for the moment, taekwondo is their life. All of their energies are devoted to keeping their top spot in the women?s poomsae event, with an eye on the world championship later this year. They are also training a handful of promising young teenagers who, if all goes well, just might take their place on the podium sometime in the future.

It?s all good, thanks to the lessons they?ve learned from practicing taekwondo.

?The most useful thing I learned is self-control,? says Alarilla. ?If your goal is to get the gold, then you have to focus on training, and you can?t allow yourself to be distracted. You have to watch your diet, no junk food.?

?Being responsible is what taekwondo has taught me,? says Lagman. ?As a member of the national team, you?re representing the Philippines, so it?s your responsibility to keep up with the high level of training and performance.?

?We dwell on the values we?ve learned from taekwondo, more than the skills,? says Ortega. ?Discipline, courtesy, being goal-oriented, striving to be a champion in everything that you do. It really is a way of life.? ?