Tae Kwon

For a Hampstead couple, the martial art of tae kwon do is not only a family affair, but also a way of life.Joyce and Wayne Leppo took their daughter to a tae kwon do class some 17 years ago and have been in love with the sport and the lifestyle since."

Warner Lai is a rangy eighth-grader who rips through cinder blocks with his bare hand in gym class. He's almost a black belt. Today, he and three other eighth-graders at Midtown Academy, where two mandatory tae kwon do classes each week fulfill the state's physical education requirement, will take tests needed to graduate from danbo, or black belt-in-training, to full-fledged black belt. "I'm calm, I'm ready for this," Warner, 14, said this week, after his last class before the trials.

Chung Koo Nam hopes to mine for Olympic gold at his martial arts center off Route 108 in east Columbia, and its companion center in Ellicott City.The tae kwon do master, who has been practicing the traditional Korean martial art since he was a child, is training American youngsters, some of whom he believes may be contenders when tae kwon do becomes an official Olympic sport four years from now.Nam has gained such a following that students from outside of...

Ponytailed Youngshin Jennifer Chang packs a back kick that would make Charlie's Angels slink away in shame. It's a kick that helped Chang snag the gold in the 2003 Junior Pan American Tae Kwon Do Games last month - a sweet ending to the Edgewood High School senior's junior competition career. It's her signature kick - a spin and backward kick to a challenger's face - that might land her a spot on the 2008 United States Olympic tae kwon do team. Chang, 17, is being scouted to train on the national team that feeds into the Olympics.

Like many other girls her age, Nichole Colley of Glen Burnie gracefully danced ballet, tap and jazz for almost eight years.But unlike other girls, she gave it all up two years ago, to "be like dad" and take up tae kwon do."I wanted to try it because my dad used to fight," said Nichole, 12, a student at Lion Choi's Tae Kwon Do School in Glen Burnie who recently placed second at the Junior National Olympics."Ballet and all that other stuff just started getting in the way so I dropped it," she added.

Kids, teens and adults were kicking, punching and breaking boards Saturday at Howard High School as spectators cheered them on. But it wasn't a schoolyard free-for-all. Instead, competitors had gathered in the gym to show off their martial arts skills and to vie for trophies in three events at the ninth U.S. Masters' Cup Tae Kwon Do Championships. The tournament attracted male and female competitors of all ages and skill levels from the Maryland and Washington areas. This was the first year in which tae kwon do was counted as an Olympic sport.

When Bradley Helm Jr., 11, bowed to accept the black cotton belt emblematic of the top rank of tae kwon do, the ancient Korean martial art, Bradley Helm Sr. stood tall and proud.Moments later, it was young Brad's turn as his father, 42, still sweating from the grueling 3 1/2 -hour written and physical test, received his black belt, too.The ceremony at a tae kwon do school in Carney this month offered a rare sight: a father and son earning the honor together."This is our time together, when my dad and I can talk together and work out," Brad said of the six years they had traveled to classes and matches several times a week, progressing one step at a time through the colored belts, from beginner's white to expert's black.

Lynnette Love once performed in a world of pirouettes and avant-garde music, rehearsing with the Alvin Ailey dance company in New York. Now, she competes in a sport filled with "trembling shocks," and belts to the solar plexus.The dancer is a tae kwon do heavyweight."I'm addicted to this sport," Love said. "When I'm not thinking about it, I'm competing. When I'm not competing, I'm teaching."At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, Love will be (( bidding for a second consecutive gold medal in tae kwon do. The martial art that was forged through centuries in Korea has again been elevated to a world level with its inclusion as a demonstration event in Barcelona.

ALEX GRIFFITH, 5, loses his balance standing in line with his fellow students. He chews on his white belt, the symbol of beginner in the martial art of tae kwon do. And in the midst of a highly disciplined class, he breaks into song.Alex, alarmingly frail and sometimes lost in his own world, possesses the heart of a lion and is my new inspiration.At a decided crossroads in my 30 years of studying and teaching tae kwon do, a Korean martial art, Alex has also emerged as my new challenge. And he is a reminder that courage defies definition, that we learn as we teach.

Eric Helms and Ki Ho Park may not appear threatening, but one look at this pair on a sparring mat is enough to dispel that notion.They are, for the most part, typical teen-agers. Helms, a tall, slender 16-year-old, is heading into his senior year at Mount Hebron High School, where he's a good student and a three-sport athlete. Park, a small, slightly built, 15-year-old, just finished his freshman year at Hebron. He will probably be a soccer teammate of Helms this fall.Where Helms and Park differ from the average teen-ager is their mastery of another pursuit -- tae kwon do, a Korean self-defense system much like karate.

Ponytailed Youngshin Jennifer Chang packs a back kick that would make Charlie's Angels slink away in shame. It's a kick that helped Chang snag the gold in the 2003 Junior Pan American Tae Kwon Do Games last month -- a sweet ending to the Edgewood High School senior's junior competition career. It's her signature kick -- a spin and backward kick to a challenger's face -- that might land her a spot on the 2008 United States Olympic tae kwon do team. Chang, 17, is being scouted to train on the national team that feeds into the Olympics.

Century High School will hold Academy Day this morning. Students in 10th and 11th grades will hear from speakers who work in their focus of study. Arts, Humanities, and Communication: Rob Kachur, professor of English, McDaniel College; Christopher James, blues musician. Business and Information Management: Gene Suliga, Noblesteed Advertising; Lynn Rill, Westminster Union Bank; Stephen Short, Corvis; Robert King, Mercantile Bank. Health and Human Social Sciences: Scott Wilson, environmental health; Lt. Terry Katz, Maryland State Police; Daniel Ames, radiologist; Keith Thompson, martial arts school owner; Ellen McLaughlin, attorney; Martha Carr, registered nurse; Holly Knoepper, assistant district attorney; Laura Langhage, cosmetologist; Becki Shearer, athletic trainer; Heather Laudicina, child care.

They line up in rows of five as neatly as kindergartners are capable of lining up - 20 of them, dressed in whites and proudly displaying newly acquired white belts. They bow to the American flag and then to their "master" and begin a half-hour of tae kwon do, a Korean martial art that fulfills the state physical education requirement at Midtown Academy in Bolton Hill. Twice a week, every child in Midtown's kindergarten through seventh grade squares off in the basement multipurpose room for 30 minutes of punching, kicking, dancing, stretching, aerobics and meditation, sometimes to the recorded accompaniment of monks' chants or New Age music.

About once a year, a Glen Burnie martial arts school offers discounts on classes to those charged with protecting the public's safety -- firefighters, police officers and members of the armed forces. When KD US Martial Arts reopens this week after the holidays, flight attendants will be added to the list. The school, about 6 miles from Baltimore-Washington International Airport, is offering flight attendants its classes at half off the regular price of about $70 a month, said Soo Bai, the manager and a black-belt instructor at the school.

THEY LEARNED AT A Millersville martial arts studio, and they put their knowledge to use in Ireland. And when they were done, 18-year-old James Miller and 12-year-old Sheryl Leavell were world champions in their age groups at the 2001 European World Martial Arts Games. Miller of Glen Burnie and Sheryl of Severna Park won three gold medals each at the competition last month in Killarney, Ireland, where they amazed the competition from 15 countries with their knowledge of the ancient art of self-protection and personal discipline.

ON THEIR way toward a dream of representing the United States in the Olympics, 10 dedicated students from South Carroll's Tae Kwon Do Academy recently competed in a national competition. The students, ages 7 to 15, attended the U.S. Tae Kwon Do Junior Olympic Championships in Tampa, Fla., their first such competition. They qualified for the event in the Maryland State Tae Kwon Do Competition in April. Master Bun Huor, coach and owner of the academy at Carrolltown Center in Eldersburg, took 21 students to the Maryland competition.

Discipline is an important part of the spiritual life. It's equally important for any fitness regimen.Leo Rhee, a youth pastor at Bethel Korean Presbyterian Church in Ellicott City, approaches both with the necessary discipline, a trait honed during his years of involvement with tae kwon do.Tae kwon do is to Korea what baseball is to America; it's even part of the school curriculum there. Although raised in America, Rhee, 28, was fascinated with tae kwon do early on. But it was in high school, when he failed to make the baseball team, that he really focused on the national sport of Korea.

Century High School will hold Academy Day this morning. Students in 10th and 11th grades will hear from speakers who work in their focus of study. Arts, Humanities, and Communication: Rob Kachur, professor of English, McDaniel College; Christopher James, blues musician. Business and Information Management: Gene Suliga, Noblesteed Advertising; Lynn Rill, Westminster Union Bank; Stephen Short, Corvis; Robert King, Mercantile Bank. Health and Human Social Sciences: Scott Wilson, environmental health; Lt. Terry Katz, Maryland State Police; Daniel Ames, radiologist; Keith Thompson, martial arts school owner; Ellen McLaughlin, attorney; Martha Carr, registered nurse; Holly Knoepper, assistant district attorney; Laura Langhage, cosmetologist; Becki Shearer, athletic trainer; Heather Laudicina, child care.

Kids, teens and adults were kicking, punching and breaking boards Saturday at Howard High School as spectators cheered them on. But it wasn't a schoolyard free-for-all. Instead, competitors had gathered in the gym to show off their martial arts skills and to vie for trophies in three events at the ninth U.S. Masters' Cup Tae Kwon Do Championships. The tournament attracted male and female competitors of all ages and skill levels from the Maryland and Washington areas. This was the first year in which tae kwon do was counted as an Olympic sport.