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News
News about TaekwonDo, HapKiDo and JiuJitsu.
Man unwisely tries to rob Tae Kwon Do studio
Fri Mar 13, 3:37 pm ET
FOX POINT, Wis. –
A robber gets more than he bargained for when he targeted a Tae Kwon Do studio in suburban Milwaukee. The robber thought he
could quietly slip in and out of David Kang's studio in Fox Point with some loot. What he didn't realize is that he
would encounter a Tae Kwon Do master who wasn't about to let him off the hook.Kang was giving a private lesson Tuesday and heard someone in
his office.
Kang found the man going through his closet, grabbed him by the neck and sat him down while he called
police.The
robber took off and Kang gave chase, finally catching up with the man and holding him by the neck until police arrived.
Taekwondo Helps Police Peacefully Restrain Criminals Sunday, 07 December 2008 00:00 Phoebe Chongchua
Every day that he goes to work, 39-year old Oceanside Police Detective, Brad Hunter, knows
that there is significant risk. As a new member of the Family Protection Unit for the Oceanside Police Department in California
he’s found that risk is worth it. In February of this year, Hunter started investigating adult sex crimes but he began
his career with the force in 1988. “When I am able to make an arrest I feel really good about it because those
[arrests] are usually people who really need to go to jail—rapists or child molesters,” says Hunter Hunter
is the kind of police detective that brings a savvy street-sense reputation and intense training to his police duties. Even
after 20-years of service, he’s able to keep a strict focus on fighting crime and solving cases. He credits Taekwondo
for his discipline and ability to endure the often brutal police work that he is faced with daily.
“Throughout
my career, it’s helped me do my day-to-day tasks as a police officer both in focus and handling stressful situations,”
says Hunter. Surprisingly, he never thought he’d go this far in martial arts. “Each step of the
way I always thought this is probably as far as I’ll go,” says Hunter. But his determination brought
him to greater levels in a sport that is challenging and rewarding. “As long as you stick with it and have that
perseverance you can continue to progress and advance,” says Hunter. It’s that attitude combined with
Hunter’s desire to serve the community (he helps his wife, Vanessa, with her Pop Warner Cheerleading squads) that has
intrigued his police force co-workers. “He has credibility, not only among his peers, but he has it within the
community and that’s something that only one-percent of guys have that ability to be able to do,” says fellow
police officer, Mike Bowman. Bowman recalls an incident when Hunter was a motorcycle cop and he and another officer
were trying to apprehend a man wielding a sword. “They came against this guy with the sword and, of course,
the guy was extremely agitated and they were doing everything they could to try to talk this guy out of using the sword and
becoming aggressive with it because that would be a horrible thing. Brad was able to talk to this guy and talk him into handcuffs,
literally, without having to do any type of other stuff,” says Bowman. Bowman says Hunter’s calm,
natural demeanor is a gem for the police force. “I can think of 20 other cops who were working that day
and there probably would have been a shooting involved or somebody having to use a baton or club or something to calm this
guy down,” says Bowman. Of course, not all street incidents are so peaceful and that’s when Hunter
is glad he’s equipped with the knowledge and skill of Taekwondo. He recalls apprehending a criminal near the train tracks
one night. “When I went to talk to him, he had his hand in his pocket, and I wasn’t expecting it,
but as I walked up to him, I saw that he had a gun in his hand and was pulling it out of his pocket,” says Hunter. Instinctively,
Hunter used his years of Taekwondo training, “I applied a technique that I had practiced many times in class and took
the guy down and controlled him. He didn’t get hurt. I didn’t get hurt. Nobody else got hurt and I was able to
arrest him and take him to jail. Of course, afterwards you think about it and say ‘Wow! That was kind of scary.’” Currently
Hunter is teaching at his friend’s studio. He aspires to own his own Taekwondo school one day.
Martial arts popular with Patna girls Power punches are in; fear factor is out. Welcome to the new world order where girls are no longer
willing to take things lying down. Instead, they troop down to the nearest patch of green to practise punches and kicks. Martial
arts - the art of self-defence - is fast gaining ground in the state capital and other district towns. Girls are learning
taekwondo and other martial art forms to lead life with confidence and dignity. They are learning a chin punch to stun an assaulter, a temple punch to knock
consciousness out of a molester and a back elbow punch to silence a guy acting funny in a bus. They are determined not to
let things pass but teach a lesson that eve-teasers and molesters will remember forever. The martial arts classes are typically
not competition-oriented. They focus on self-defence and traditional values of the art, training a person to deliver a kick
or punch at the target with force, precision and speed. One of the first myth that is broken in these martial art classes is that women do not have the strength
to protect themselves. "If you are mentally fit and believe in yourself, you can take care of most situations,"
said Ashok Kumar, a self-defence trainer.
Get defensivePosted On: Sunday, Jan. 11 2009 05:22 AM By Victor O'Brien
Killeen
Daily Herald
If it's self-confidence, discipline and strength you seek in the new year, grandmaster
James McMurray, 58, believes he has the right regimen.
January is National Self-Defense Month and martial arts
is a popular way for people to learn self-defense while getting exercise.
McMurray, a former Green Beret in the
Fifth Special Forces Group, owns the House of Discipline Martial Arts Group in Harker Heights. McMurray, an internationally
recognized 44-year martial arts veteran, says that in one week he can teach people to defend themselves against an attacker
by training their body and mind.
He has taught thousands of children and adults, including many in the armed forces,
since he began in 1973. McMurray teaches tae kwon do to children to fend off bullies and hapkido to a variety of adult-age
groups including soldiers preparing for close combat in Iraq and business people wanting to be safer when meeting clients.
Hapkido emphasizes being able to manipulate joints and pressure points to gain leverage over an attacker in close
combat situations, McMurray said.
The lessons of hapkido establish a person's awareness of surroundings, how
to avoid dangerous situations and how to protect oneself when faced with danger, he said.
"A lot of people
have this gut feeling or intuition and they dismiss it. We teach people how to go back to that basic. It's a natural animal
instinct, survival. When you feel things are not right, use it. Pay attention to it," McMurray teaches.
Sylvia
Torres of Harker Heights used to avoid going out at night. If she needed something from the grocery store, it waited until
the next morning. Since learning hapkido with her teenager daughter, Torres has gained confidence to go out at night to pick
up eggs or milk from the store because she knows how to defend herself, Torres said.
A nightclub bouncer, Edward
Morales, is also a dedicated hapkido student who holds a black belt. But that's a calm environment compared to what he
encounters on weekends as a bouncer. Drunken fights are commonplace, and it's his job to handle them without violence.
During more than a year as a bouncer, Morales said he has never had to hurt anybody because the evasive techniques
and other skills learned in hapkido teach him to diffuse a fight without harming people involved.
"It trains
you so that if you are in a situation you know how to defend yourself and get out of it," said Adam Holbrook, 9, of Harker
Heights. Holbrook said it's given him the confidence that if a bully should mess with him at school, he can protect himself.
That feeling of self-confidence is what McMurray aims to give people hoping to defend themselves when someone decides
to attack.
"Everyone has this circle of security around them. Once people break this security, it freaks people
out and they freeze, and when people get close to you this martial arts teaches you how to deal with them," he said.
Eagle Scout credited for park landscaping project
By Jil Schult, Staff Writer Tuesday,
January 13, 2009 2:07 PM EST GAYLORD -- Lucas Olson, 13, of Gaylord joined the ranks of such greats as Gerald
Ford, Steven Spielberg and Walter Cronkite, as he earned his Eagle Scout award, Dec. 18.
Lucas, an eighth-grade
honor student at Gaylord Middle School, earned his award by planning, organizing, and completing a clean-up and mulching project
at Dumas and Freel parks, as well as building birdhouses.
The son of Robert and Theresa Olson of Gaylord, Lucas
organized a crew of 25 volunteers including other scouts, family members, friends and the Guardian Gals. Though he initially
intended to conduct fundraisers to fund the project, Lucas was able to secure the money for the bird houses through community
donations. The mulch was paid for by the city of Gaylord.
Lucas discussed the concept with Gene Branigan, Boy Scout
Troop 14 leader and then with Keith Roberts, Gaylord Department of “This will increase
safety for children playing on the equipment,” wrote Lucas in his project description.
To obtain Eagle Scout
status, a Boy Scout earns merit badges on the journey up the ranks.
Lucas has a vast array of interests including
scuba diving, in which he is an advanced open water diver; and martial arts, where he holds a blue belt in Hapkido and Tae-kwon-do.
He is also a seaman and petty officer in the United States Navy Sea Cadet Corps.
He joined Tiger Scouts at age
5 and earned his Arrow of Light badge as a Webelo. In May 2006, Lucas joined Troop 14, where he has held several leadership
positions.
Lucas is a member of the Order of the Arrow, an elite elected Boy Scout group and plans to someday go
to college or join the military. His dream is to someday build bridges, teach martial arts on the side, be a counselor at
scout camp and maybe be a scoutmaster someday.
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