It's 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Rain drizzles down in front of Jackson gym as a group of sleepy students huddle with their coach. The group represents one of the least publicized club sports on campus: Tufts Tae Kwon Do (TKD).
The ten students - black belts Matt Berlin ('03), Sean Bjerke ('04), Craig Wenner ('03), Chen Wu ('03) and Joe Tuggle ('03), red belt Alex Lehman ('99), yellow belts Mike Lambert ('03) and Carolyn Whitten ('04), and white belts Kevin Keating ('04) and Matt Smith ('03) - make up about half of the TKD team. Earlier this month, they traveled to Yale University for one of the largest TKD-club tournaments in the region.
Teams score points in Tae kwon-do by directly contacting the opponent's chest protector or head protector with a kick (punches do not count). Kicks below the belt and punches to the head are considered illegal, and result in the subtraction of points.
Competition at the tournament was split into two different categories: forms and sparring. The tournament was broken down further by gender and rank. All members of Tufts TKD participated in sparring; Bjerke, Lehman, Wenner, and Wu competed in forms. Forms, an essential portion of martial arts study, include a series of movements in set directions, usually numbering 15 to 30 movements and ranging from a simple series of blocks and punches to rapid sets of lunges and flying kicks.
The forms were judged on knowledge of the form, accuracy of movement, and the crispness of each form. The Jumbos, who study the older ITF school of Tae kwon-do, found themselves at a disadvantage. The forms they study differ slightly from those of the newer WTF, a modified set of rules and regulations used in the Tae kwon-do of the Olympic games.
Sparring, unlike forms, does not depend greatly upon accuracy of movement. In the second part of the competition, TKD members of similar ranks formed teams. The students fought full contact - in full padding - against teams from other schools. Each bout consisted of a pair of two-minute rounds, and involved one member of each team fighting the other. Tufts was again at a disadvantage, as a third of its black belt points were forfeited due to the lack of lightweight fighters to form complete teams.
Due to its small size, Tufts was unable to place overall, and very few of the TKD team members advanced beyond their first round of sparring or forms. Nevertheless, the team maintains its high morale.
"This is my first year in Tae kwon, and my only experience was in the [Tufts Shotokan Karate] tournament. It's good to practice fighting by WTF rules, and it's fun," Keating said. The Yale tournament is the only Tae kwon-do tournament that Tufts TKD traditionally competes in, though the club competes every semester in the tournaments held by Tufts Shotokan Karate Club, and some members participate in other local tournaments - some in martial arts, others in Tae kwon-do.
"It's good to get away from Tufts and to see what other schools' clubs are doing, and it's good practice. Although the only way to really improve your technique is to practice and work out regularly," Whitten said.
Tufts TKD meets three times a week, and is taught by black belt students Berlin and junior Jed Fowler. Next year, Bjerke and possibly Wu will instruct classes as well. Coach Henry Parker, who has practiced the martial art for over 20 years, occasionally meets with club members to give pointers on style and technique, especially prior to tournaments.
"It's really great to have Henry here," said Lehman. "I've been putting in a lot of practice time working towards my black belt, and he stopped promoting in the '70s, and I still can't come close to beating him in a match."
One of three martial arts clubs at Tufts (the others are a Shotokan Karate club and a Tai Chi Chuan club), the Tae kwon-do team accepts new members at the start of each semester, regardless of previous experience. Many students who have previously studied other martial arts enjoy the TKD team, citing its friendly atmosphere and unique style.
Lambert is also a black belt in Jiujitsu, and said compared to Tae kwon-do, Jiujitsu is less practical. Tae kwon-do is "more of a sport, but it's fun," he said.
Whitten, who has a black belt in Kempo, said Tae kwon-do is "a completely different style [than Kempo], and an interesting change of pace."
