Kickin’ it with the Family
All Ages Compete at Milwaukee Invitational Taekwon-Do Tournament By Candy
Cnernicki, Staff writer
October 6, 2005
You’ve probably seen the anti-smoking commercial with the teenage kid and a voiceover telling him “Clean your room, eat your vegetables, feed the dog.” Pete Sorce has similar requirements for his martial arts students. Sorce, owner of Sorce Martial Arts, on September 24 held the first ever and first annual Milwaukee Invitational Taekwon-Do tournament at the South Milwaukee High School field house.
More
than 70 of his students, 4-year olds through adults, competed at all levels
against 100 competitors from martial art schools from Oconomowoc, Ripon and
Oneida, among others. Presumably adults know how to conduct themselves. Kids
tend to need a little guidance.
According to parent volunteer, Rachel Pribyl, Sorce’s “Children’s Home Rules” must be memorized prior to each advancement in belt color and rank. They involve such things as “I will keep my own room neat and clean at all times” and “I will greet my parents when I enter the house and tell them good-bye when I leave.”
“The parents really like that, and the kids too”, Pribyl said. Sorce checks in with teachers, too, before advancing a child to the next level, to make sure he or she is behaving at school, too.
“He just really wants to be part of the community,” Pribyl said. “This is something he’s done since he was 6 years old, and it’s had a huge impact on his life.”
And The Winners Are...The following awards were handed out for the Milwaukee Invitational Taekwon-Do Tournament Men's Overall Grand Champion Women's Overall Grand Champion Girl's Overall Grand Champion Boy's Overall Grand Champion School Spirit Award |
Home Rules Key
Sorce said the home rules make his program unique. “The most important thing martial arts training does is with character development and life skills”, Sorce said. He tells parents to put a copy of the home rules on the refrigerator, and if children are acting out, often they straighten up when a parent says “I am going to tell Mr. Sorce.” Sorce said that when he hears of a violation, he has a talk with the children and sometimes will have a conference with the children and the parents.
Sorce said he takes pride in his work when parents tell them about their child’s increased confidence. He gets involved with teachers and parents when kids are misbehaving at school, and attitudes must change before children are allowed to advance to the next belt rank.
Integrating it with the family
The home rules are doubly enforced in the Foerman family where 10 year-old Brittany, 17 year-old Zack, and father Bill, a mortgage broker at Aadus bank, enjoy the sport together. The September 24th tournament was Brittany’s third and Zach’s second. Both children placed in the top 3 in most of their events. Bill did not compete.
Rawson Elementary School, Where Brittany is a fifth-grader, and "he taught us some stuff" She said. After seeing the way that Sorce interacted with even the younger students, Bill was hooked. The two signed up for lessons. Soon Zach was in on it too.
Sport instills respect
Bill said he has noticed a difference in his children since they took up the sport.
"A lot of it has to do with their interaction with each other," He said. "It's 'yes' or 'no', not 'yeah'. The have better attention spans in other things."
For his part, Zach, a white belt, said he has gotten "respect and discipline" out of what he has learned so far. Brittany, a gold belt, said the discipline she has learned has helped her get her messy room in better shape.
Bill is a fan of the home rule. "(Sorce) sends a letter home when it's time for belt testing", Bill said. "Parents and teachers both have to sign off, to make sure they're doing their work at home and school. He wants to make sure that they're not only being good for him, but for the other people they should be food for, too."
The three take Taekwon-do lessons together on Wednesday nights. Brittany and Zach do their own think on Mondays, and Friday is family night.
"It's neat to be in there with the entire family", Bill said.
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