Students earn black belts
A dozen Stevens Taekwondo Academy students earned black belts in testing at the YMCA recently. Kevin Konopacky, his ten-year-old son Kolby and twelve-year-old daughter Krysti, along with Chun-yee Wong all earned second degree black belts. The four performed the keumgang form, advanced kick combinations and sparring. Kevin and Wong broke two-inch boards with spinning sidekicks, while Krysti and Kolby cracked standard boards.
Gretchen Solinger, Jackie Magee and nine-year-old Elizabeth Wolosek tested successfully for first degree black belts, performing four taebek and koryo forms, advanced kick combinations and sparring. Each young woman broke a board with a switching front kick and answered questions on techniques, tenets and terminology of taekwondo.
Entering the black belt ranks as deputy black belts, Mickey Held, Ben Nummelin, Andrew Wong, Cory Lesperance and Emily Karch al demonstrated five taebek forms, advanced kicks and sparring. Held broke a board with a switch back speed front kick, Nummelin used a retreating spinning side kick and Wong a spinning hook kick. Lesperance broke boards with a three-inch punch and a spinning hook kick and Karch smashed her board with a back spinning crescent kick.
Red belt Matt Straub won the first place trophy for excellence in color belt testing, with high green belt Rosabella Wolosek earned second place and high blue belt Cavan Jones took home the third place trophy.
Judges for the testing were master instructor Dwight Stevens and masters Dr. Matt Ford, Cincinnati, Bill Dragolovich and Mark Henkel. Ten taekwondo masters participated in the testing from a total of more than thirty black belts.
More information from Hilde Henkel, 435-3547. The testing date was Sunday, June 11, 2006