Taekwondo in it for Kicks

What better way to end the week than with breaking a few boards and throwing some punches? That’s how students in Luther College Taekwondo Club spend their Friday evenings.

“It’s the best way to finish a week of busy classes,” Rachel Pruckler (‘13) said, who has been a member of the Taekwondo Club since her first year at Luther.

The club, which is in its 25th year, is affiliated with the American Taekwondo Association (ATA), which means students can advance through the ranks and continue at other ATA clubs without having to start over.

Instructor Anna Linnell, who has been teaching taekwondo at Luther for about fifteen years, has witnessed students grow and continue on with taekwondo after they graduate.

“I have a student who has opened up his own taekwondo club in Mason City,” Linnell said. “I’ve had students who get married to each other, and I’ve had students who have become doctors and lawyers and taekwondo instructors.”

The school year is broken into four different sessions and any interested students can join at the beginning of a session. From there, they learn different forms and combinations of kicks, punches and blocks to advance through the ranks.

However, taekwondo is about more than strength and agility, Linnell says.

“We train students physically and mentally, so we see the whole person grow,” Linnell said.

Doug Winkey (‘12) started taekwondo his junior year.

“I stumbled upon the group photo in Pioneer [yearbook] sophomore year and I decided that I wanted to try some new stuff, so I started showing up,” Winkey said.

Winkey plans to continue with taekwondo after he graduates, as does Gavin Markee (‘14).

“A lot of people stop at black belt, but it’s actually just the beginning,” Markee said. “I want to keep going and get to the point where I could have weapon mastery.”

Taekwondo students don’t learn to use weapons until they reach a certain rank.

“You must first master the weapon of your own body before you can master another weapon,” Pruckler said.

A typical practice session often starts with free sparring, then continues with learning forms, sparring sessions and closes with breaking boards. The boards are varying strengths of plastic, a change from the traditional wooden boards but no less difficult to break. Despite the pad-free sparring and board breaking, taekwondo is not intimidating, Winkey says.

“It’s not like what you see in the movies, and a lot of stuff that seems impressive really isn’t, because you move up incrementally as your skill increases,” Winkie said.

Pruckler agrees.

“You get a lot of bruises doing this, but it’s nothing serious, no more dangerous than any other contact sport,” Pruckler said.

While the club does have a fee, Linnell says it’s worth the investment.

“It’s the cheapest place you can get taekwondo and still advance through the ranks,” Linnell said.

Everyone interviewed remarked on the closeness of the group.

“We become a family, we really do,” Linnell said.

Markee also feels the close ties.

“We all have common interests and we all like what we’re doing, which is a really nice environment to be in,” Markee said.

Linnell and those involved encourage interested students to check out a session on Friday nights at 5:30 p.m. in the Regents Center dance studio.

“Even if you’re not sure you’d like it, give it a few tries,” Markee said. “Just keep at it and you can do some cool things with it.”