Eric Swenson (9) participates in junior varsity volleyball, as well as a popular sport that is not offered at most schools in the bay area – Tae Kwon Do. While many students partake in activities such as soccer or football, he is involved with martial arts.

He has been practicing at Ernie Rayes Martial Arts Sunnyvale School for five years.

“My mom…wanted to get me started, but after about the first month or so I really started liking it a lot,” Eric said.

Although for many athletes it takes years of practice to be proficient at their sport, Eric started mastering his skills in Tae Kwon Do rapidly.
Eric’s practice schedule is not one that most would consider typical. When he is not working for a black belt, he practices around three days a week. However, when he is working for a black belt he practices 12-14 hours a week.

“During black belt training season, [practice] takes [up] a lot of time. I come home around 8:30 p.m. and shower and start my homework at nine, and am really worn out,” Eric said.

Although for most individuals it takes over four years to achieve a black belt, for Eric it took only three.

In martial arts, once a student becomes a black belt, they have the opportunity to teach other students with lower belts. Eric attests to having many positive experiences because of teaching.

“The fact that I have been able to teach people for a while now has really gotten me to think about what its like for people when they teach me. It also makes me point out my teaching flaws; I can get really critical [with myself] sometimes,” Eric said.

Not only has practicing Tae Kwon Do helped Eric get in shape and improve his skills, but it has also helped him meet new people.

“Most of the time when you are doing black belt training you really start making friends because that is when you start seeing people a lot. For my Tae Kwon Do school we had 55 people training for a black belt at the same time, so we are all a huge family,” he said.

Tae Kwon Do is not all fun and games, though. There are challenges that Eric must overcome when participating in this rigorous sport. Since martial arts is a contact sport and one involving competition with other individuals, it is easy to get injured.

“One time I injured myself and I was out for three months. [When] I came back everything had changed,” Eric said.

As for competing, there are two types of competitions which students are involved in before they are black belts. One is sparring, which is one on one fighting with another student. The other is Forms, where the athletes must demonstrate special postures that are unique to their belt level. Tournaments occur every three months.

“After [you become a black belt, competition] gets a lot more complicated because you can start doing things with other associations as well. [Also,] instead of just basic forms [and] basic sparring, you also have your own forms,” Eric said.

A black belt is every martial artist’s ultimate goal. However, there are more advanced black belts that students can receive as time goes on. Athletes must wait two years between their first and second degree black belt and plus another four between their second and third degree. After that the intervals between testing become much longer.

One of Eric’s fondest moments is when he received the Best Tester Award for his technique when testing for his black belt.
“It was one of those ‘no-way kind of moments… It is something I am most proud of out of the things I have done in my life,” Eric said.
Although awards are given out, Tae Kwon Do does not have a big focus on rewarding students for their work.

“They are not crazy about recognition because everyone is a family and [they do not try to] keep people above each other. [They do not] want to make it [competitive] like that because then it falls apart,” Eric said.

He also participates in volleyball at school, and believes his experience with it is dissimilar to martial arts.
“[Volleyball is] a team sport so that is a big difference. It’s [also] different because you have set coaches. With martial arts you can have multiple different instructors; sometimes you are being taught by multiple instructors [during the] same class even,” Eric said.

Although Eric has already received his black belt, he hopes to continue to practice and excel at Tae Kwon Do. Even though he has other extra curricula’s going on, he still values Tae Kwon Do and hopes to keep on improving.

“I hope to get to my second degree black belt test, but because of my timing with other activities this is going to be [difficult],” Eric said.

Martial arts is a demanding sport for Eric. However, he believes that it has had a positive effect on his life and wants to continue doing it in the future.
He said, “It has really taught [me] how important it is to step up to the plate and try hard.”