Martial arts studio welcomes families, students as young as three
(Rockwall) June 4, 2012- Forty-nine students from the Rockwall Black Belt Academy recently competed in a regional tournament in Plano. Students ranged in age from four to forty and competed against 200 other students from surrounding Texas communities.
“The younger students competed in basic kicks and punches and one steps,” said Robert Powell, owner. “The junior level and above competed in patterns, sparring, weapons and board breaking.”
The academy opened four years ago and currently has over 160 students. Powell began the academy after running a school in McKinney for two years and after years of training in martial arts.
“I began taking Tae Kwon Do lessons at the age of 8 and I earned a black belt in 1995,” Powell said. “In 1999, I had the opportunity to compete on the national Junior Team.”
Powell continued to compete in tournaments worldwide eventually winning gold in individual fighting as part of the U.S. Men’s team. He continues to compete internationally as a member of the U.S. men’s team for the last 10 years.
“I’ve been doing [martial arts] for 20 years, something I thoroughly enjoy,” Powell said. “Not many people get to make a living doing a hobby. I get enjoyment from teaching adults real martial arts but the kids get more excited.”
The Academy welcomes new students to begin at any time. They offer 30 minute classes for beginners increasing up to 1 hour at higher levels. Every 10 weeks, students have opportunity to test and move up in ranks.
“The youngest, ages 3, 4 and 5, are the Little Dragons,” Powell said. “Ages six through 12 are juniors and we offer a combined teen and adult class.”
The teen and adult class is mixed with all ranks in a class to add to a family atmosphere. The black belts help with lower ranks. The classes offer a mixture of fighting techniques such as Boxing, Hagana (Israeli hand to hand combat) and the Kali system from the Philippines (stick-fighting).
“We have a lot of families who learn together,” Powell said. “Kids are doing it at the same time with their parents. It gives the family something in common, something to learn together on the same level. Not just the parent teaching the child how to throw a ball. They both can learn together.”
Students are ranked by belt colors which determines the detail and intricacies of the techniques learned. The white and yellow belts learn beginning patterns, kicks and punches. The color system advances through the green, blue, red, brown and culminates with a black belt where full-focus is required.
“[We teach] kids to believe in themselves,” Powell said. “We don’t teach kids to beat people up. If the kids can’t handle a certain partner, we change and put them with someone a little easier. Most of the time the kids get hit, fall down and are still smiling when they stand up.”
Submitted by Kristi Gordon.
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