This past Saturday, three Hillsdale College students earned double medals in the 2015 Tae Park World Class Tae Kwon Do Tournament held in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Sophomores Caleb Cotner and Alexandra Leonard and freshman Katie Wallis competed against other white belts and tested their martial arts abilities against competitors from all over the state.
“It was really interesting, because it was such a wide range of students of different age groups and belts. The black belts were really impressive, and everybody who came had fun,” Wallis explained.
Amidst the 445 competitors at the event all three Hillsdale students walked away with double medals. Wallis earned a gold and bronze medal, Leonard a gold and silver, and Cotner with two gold medals.
These three students said they never anticipated being award winners when they registered for the Beginning Tae Kwon Do classes last spring.
Tae Kwon Do is taught in the new dance studio in The Roche Sports Complex by Senior Master Brian Anderson, a former student and football player at Hillsdale College.
Anderson started teaching Taekwondo in 1975 at the college and hasn’t stopped since. He has instructed and led over 600 students to their black belts, including Hillsdale’s very own security director William Whorley.
“Any person who learns and masters martial arts is in a position to help other people,” Anderson explained. “I want my students to grow and become comfortable with themselves during this class.”
Anderson has each of his students embody all the cultural and disciplinary norms of the sport, from bowing in and out of the dance room dojo, looking their opponents in the eye, and holding poses until they are perfect.
“He teaches it like a liberal arts course in self-defense. It’s more than just learning the moves. It’s about developing yourself and becoming disciplined,” freshman Matthew Wylie said.
The class has attracted a variety of students for various reasons.
“It was something I could cross off my bucket list,” senior Betsy Bildner said. “Plus I can take it with my best friend Sydney Johnson.”
In addition to making dreams come true, several athletes have taken the course to get an edge over their competition on the field.
“I hoped it would give me balance and finesse on the football field, not just power,” football player redshirt sophomore Sam Heaslip said.
Whether you’re trying to get better on the field, win some medals, gain cultural insight, or just cross it off your bucket list, think about registering for Hillsdale’s Tae Kwon Do classes next semester.