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Taekwondo Tae kwon do

Tae Kwon Do club kicks into gear

by Elizabeth Porter
posted October 05 2001, 5:00pm EST

image by Elizabeth Porter Senior Arnulfo Mendoza, a brown belt in DePauw's Tae Kwon Do club, practices a spin kick during a practice session this week. Yoshida is one of the many students and recent graduates competing in the Horangi Tiger Cup this Saturday.

For the first time ever, DePauw will host a martial arts tournament.

On Saturday, the Tae Kwon Do Club is hosting the Horangi Cup. Tae Kwon Do is a Korean form of martial arts invented in the 1950s, and Horangi is the Korean word for tiger.

Teams invited to compete in the tournament are DePauw, Indiana University, Purdue University, Indiana University/Purdue University-Indianapolis and the University of Minnesota.

This is not the first time the DePauw team has competed. The club usually participates in two to three tournaments a semester, but the sport does not receive coverage like the intercollegiate sports.

"They don't have any of the external rewards, such as varsity letters or a cheering crowd to motivate them," said Brandon Sieg, a health and physical performance instructor and martial art teacher. "They do this to challenge themselves and because they love the art."

In the Tae Kwon Do Club's four years of existence, it has not hosted a tournament. Until this weekend.

Beginning at 10 a.m. at the auxiliary gym in the Lilly Center, athletes will compete in three separate events - individual sparring, individual form and team competition.

For individual sparring competition, divisions are set up by gender and belt rank. In the beginner division, white and yellow belts are allowed to compete. Intermediate division includes green and purple belts. The advanced division includes purple to brown belts. And, there is a division for black belts.

All competitors have the same equipment - a helmet, pads to protect the arms and shins, a mouth guard and a hoguek. The hoguek is a pad that protects the chest area.

A point is scored when a competitor can place a blow on the chest protector. In the DePauw competition, light touches to the side of the head also count as a point.

Beginners will compete in two one-minute rounds. The intermediate, advanced and black belt divisions compete for two one-and-one-half-minute rounds.

Individuals can also compete in the forms competition. Forms are a series of defending and attacking movements in a set pattern. Students in the competition complete one form, which is scored on power and effort.

In the team competition, groups of five people compete. Each team must have two men, two women and one competitor from each belt division. Five sparring sessions will take place. The team that wins the best of five will advance to the next round of the tournament.

DePauw has two teams entering the competition. One team consists of David Yoshida '99, Zach Boardman '01, junior Kathy Husmann, senior Renae Rogers and senior Jennifer Stanley. The second team consists of Mandy Yoshida (wife of David Yoshida), Tracy Charlton '01, senior Arnulfo Mendoza, junior Derek Thayer and freshman Jessica Brandt.

"This is a great way to learn more about martial arts," said Husmann, club president.

Part of competing in a Tae Kwon Do tournament is learning about the different schools of the martial art. While all of Tae Kwon Do is based in the same tradition, different schools, or types, teach slightly different variations.

"It's an opportunity to measure your own abilities, to see how far you have come," Thayer said.

Admission to all three events in the tournament is free with a current DePauw student ID.

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Last modified: January 10, 2006