In rooms 136 and 229 of Kirby Sports Center, about 10 members of the Lafayette student body gather with Master Park to learn the art of taekwondo.
“It’s a really good environment to learn and to mess up,” senior Benny Putnam said.
Master Park, whose name is actually Chun Myung, a multi-degree black belt, leads training sessions on Tuesdays, while the club reviews techniques and completes complementary exercises on Thursdays.
“The way we practice taekwondo here is we don’t do any sparring,” Putnam said. “It’s a non-contact sort of practice, but it’s definitely physically demanding. There’s a lot of cardio involved, punches and kicks … and a lot of movement.”
While the club does not participate in any intercollegiate taekwondo competitions, members have the opportunity to push themselves through belt testing. Athletes begin the process with no belts and progressively work towards the esteemed black belt.
“It’s more of a competition with yourself than anything, and so that part is really rewarding,” Putnam said.
The club allows its members to receive a black belt during their time at Lafayette by testing two belts at a time.
“With the belt testing system, it’s supposed to be accelerated so you can get a black belt in four years,” said freshman Kira Baker, the vice president of the club.
As much as belt testing is an individual demonstration of improvement, the club fosters a sense of togetherness through its “taekwon-dinners.”
“We’ve become sort of a community, and taekwon-dinner has helped to facilitate that,” Baker said.
“As much as it is a physical thing, it’s also very much a great social thing,” freshman John Skalski said.
Although some members of the club joined with a background in martial arts, experience is not required to join. For those with no experience, the club offers a unique opportunity.
“Out of the class of 2024, I’m one of the students that has worked up from no experience up to black belt,” Putnam said. “It’s really rewarding to be able to work alongside Park and our other students that do have more experience than I do.”
In addition to belt testing at Park’s studio, or dojang, students demonstrate what they’ve learned at the club’s skills show-off day.
“We prepared a demonstration,” Skalski said. “There was board breaking … [and] skills testing, so like how high and how far you can jump.”
While having fun, members enjoy all the personal benefits involved with the sport.
“Taekwondo, in general, has improved my overall stamina and flexibility,” Baker said. “It also helps me to delve into something new because it’s scary trying something you have no experience in, but just going and being able to do that is very good for personal growth.”
Open to anyone interested, the club looks to expand its community by offering students the chance to learn something new.
“For physical fitness, for self-defense [or] just because it’s fun, everyone comes for different reasons,” Putnam said.
