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Students of taekwondo at Bowie Memorial School in Chicopee, Mass., break wooden boards during a practice session. More merican schools are adopting the Korean martial art as part of their curriculum. |
By Jane Han
NEW YORK _ Think taekwondo is just another extracurricular option for American kids? It’s quickly becoming more than that.
This fall, thousands of students nationwide will be gearing up in white uniforms and colored belts to punch and kick at school as part of gym class.
This has been made possible as an increasing number of schools are adopting the Korean martial art as part of their curriculum.
Several public schools in New York are the latest to join the move.
The Bronx Charter School for Better Learning and the Promise Christian Academy are among four schools that added taekwondo to their official curriculum for the fall semester. The latest additions now make a total of six schools in New York teaching taekwondo.
In Massachusetts, more than 20 schools across the state now offer the traditional martial art during physical education class.
``At first, students didn’t seem to want to accept taekwondo as an official class,’’ said an official of Bowie Memorial School in Chicopee, ``however, students’ acceptance of the sport changed completely after a year.’’
Schools on the West Coast are also jumping on the taekwondo bandwagon.
According to the Korea Cultural Center in Los Angeles (KCCLA), eight public schools in Los Angeles will begin offering the Korean martial art class during, before and after school.
``Teaching taekwondo means we’re bringing a sense of Korean spirit to the schools in the U.S.,’’ says Kim Jong-moon, vice director of KCCLA. ``We should continue to work hard to successfully introduce the sport to American youth.’’
Washington, Missouri, North Carolina and Florida are among other states that have included taekwondo on their public school curriculum, according to the U.S. Taekwondo Education Foundation (USTEF).
``The positive benefits of taekwondo are quickly spreading through the word of mouth among American parents,’’ said Kim Kyoung-won, head of USTEF.
Parents tout the sport for helping their kids gain self-confidence, self-discipline, mental strength and physical fitness, he explained.
``The growing attention is fanning schools’ interest in taekwondo so it is now up to Koreans to help make the introduction as graceful as possible,’’ he added.
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무디스, 스페인·伊·포르투갈 신용등급 강등
