The Korean word "taekwondo" loosely translates to "the way of the hand and foot." It is safe to say, then, that the Taekwondo Club "kicked off" its season well, dominating two recent tournaments.
Brown competitors finished in first place at the Nov. 11 Richard An Invitational Tournament in Lowell, Mass. The men swept the medals in the poomse, or forms, category, and the women dominated in the sparring event.
Club President Kevin Swong '08 said that about 20 members, including many underclassmen, contributed to the strong showing.
"This is one of the best-prepared freshman classes in general," he said. "It's a good sign of how martial arts is going in the Brown community."
Jackie Dwulet '08 won a gold medal in sparring in the red belt division, and classmates Paul Jeng '10 and Andrew Nelson, each brought home silvers in poomse. Nelson also won a gold in sparring for the green belt division.
In addition to training from the group's veterans, team members receive professional coaching from Master Sung Park '95, who runs a local taekwondo center. Park works with the team a few times a week, including Friday nights, at the center's dojang, a taekwondo gymnasium.
Park sees the team's recent performance as a sign that it could compete for medals in the national championships.
"That was kind of one of the tournaments ... to get their feet wet a little bit," he said.
Brown has placed in the top three in its division for the past seven years at the National Collegiate Taekwondo Association Championships. This year's event will take place at Stanford University in April.
In October, Brown finished second in its six-team division at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Taekwondo Tournament. Brown trailed only Harvard in Division II of the Ivy Northeast Collegiate Taekwondo League. For the men, Michael Hoe '08 placed first in Black Belt Forms, and Swong captured third place in Blue Belt Forms.
On the women's side at the MIT tournament, medal-winners were Eunice Chyung '10, who placed third in Green Belt Forms, and the Women's B-Team Sparring (Intermediate), which tied for third. That group consisted of Chyung, Dwulet and Lydia Sharlow '09.
Since taekwondo is not an NCAA sport, Brown's club team receives funding from the Undergraduate Finance Board. It has about 60 active members - three students, including Hoe, help to instruct the team.
Only about half a dozen of the 40 freshmen who come out for the team each year have prior experience with the sport, according to Swong, but newcomers have learned quickly in the past. One reason for the team's consistent success is that the group trains members of all skill levels.
"A lot of schools will focus on the black belts, whereas we are more balanced on who we instruct and who we give our attention to," Swong said.
The team will not compete in any more tournaments this semester, but it will continue to practice for the spring competitions. Hoe said the team's next tournament likely will be at New York University in February.
