Tae Kwan Do Club kicks off the semester

The Tae Kwan Do Club kicked off its year last Friday night, literally. In a demonstration in Jackson Gym, students from various ability levels performed an array of different kicks, board breaking techniques, and several short sparring matches.

"We generally have a demo to develop interest at the beginning of each semester, touching on basics: forms, sparring, and sometimes board breaking," instructor Sean Bjerke said. The demonstration was one of many that the club has held since its founding in 1990.

After starting out with some traditional routines, club members donned protective gear to exhibit their sparring skills. Demonstrations of different types of board breaking followed. The audience cheered as the participants kicked, punched, or headed the boards into pieces. Later, audience members were invited to join the Tae Kwan Do Club's members on the gymnasium floor to try out some basic moves like kicks and punches.

Students looking to take advantage of the offerings of the Tae Kwon Do Club found the demonstration to be helpful. Freshman Patty Kral said she had "no prior experience with any kind of martial arts" and saw the demonstration as a "good opportunity" to see what the club was like.

Other prospective members came with years of experience under their belts. Freshman Matt Miller, who is a black belt, said he enjoyed Tae Kwon Do as a type of exercise and "...as a form of self-defense."

The Tae Kwon Do Club holds classes three times a week, charging a fee of $50 per semester. Class size usually range from 15 to 20 students, and the classes are open to different ability levels. Among roughly 40 participants in the club, the amount of experience greatly varies.

"Perhaps one-third of the people who join our club are experienced martial artists, coming from Tae Kwon Do or other martial arts," said Eric Mitton, a former president of the club. "But at least two-thirds of the people who join have never done any martial arts in their life, or perhaps just a few classes in their youth."

Not only does the club offer classes, but members get involved in competitions, traveling to compete with students from other college Tae Kwon Do associations.

Members typically take a trip to Yale every spring and compete against colleges in the area. While participating in the competitions is not mandatory for club members, Mitton said that there is always "plenty of opportunity to compete."

Members of the group enjoy Tae Kwan Do because, like other martial arts, it has mental benefits as well as physical ones.

"Apart from all the physical aspects, I have learned to be a model citizen," Bjerke said. "It helps you not only to set an example for other people: it makes you generally more aware as a person."

Those benefits, group members say, extend into the academic arena. "Tae Kwon Do really develops self-confidence, perseverance, and the ability to concentrate," Mitton said. "This holds true even in unrelated environments, like a literature seminar."

Students looking into Tae Kwon Do may wonder how quickly they can progress through the different belts, and how soon they might be expected to break their first pine board. Because there are different techniques for breaking boards, some are easier than others. A beginner or a white belt would learn to break a board with a simple kick, Bjerke said.

An incoming student with no previous experience could be expected to progress a significant amount in four years.

"Potentially a student could get as far as a red belt," Bjerke said. Butthat progression would depend on how dedicated the student was to Tae Kwan Do, and whether or not the student took time out from practicing for studying abroad.

However, the emphasis at the Tae Kwon Do Club is not entirely on rank. While the student instructors are chosen based upon their merits as martial artists, the four officers of the club are elected. "People worry too much about what belt [they are]," Mitton said. "I say I've learned a ton since I started."

"Tufts Tae Kwon Do definitely doesn't feel like a gym class," Mitton added. He stresses that the club's members were not intimidating people. "We're just a bunch of ordinary Tufts students having a lot of fun.