Kil’s USA Martial Arts school's 2008 championship qualifiers

By Christian Davis
C & G Sports Writer

TROY — Kids ages 7-13 scrambled on the floor at the Kil’s USA Martial Arts school in Troy June 24, whipping foam soccer balls at each other.

“This is how we train for the Junior Olympics,” chief instructor Tammy Walker said.
The third-degree black belt and co-owner of the school was partly joking; the dodgeball was actually part of what she calls “de-stressing.”

The need to take the edge off practice is because the school is sending 47 students — ages 6 to 55 — to the U.S. National Taekwondo Championships July 1-2 and the USA Taekwondo Junior Olympic Championships July 3-6 at Ford Field.

Prior to 2008, the most the school had taken to the annual tournaments was two.

“I’m so excited for these students,” Walker said. “They’ve worked so hard for so long.
“For them to have the ability to get focused and determined to work on something for so long and not falter and give up is phenomenal to me.”

Walker said that in past years, her students were talented enough to compete in the tournaments, but the meets were usually held out of the region, making travel an issue.

“The fact that it’s in the state of Michigan makes all the difference in the world,” she said.
“We usually create problems at competitions where they run out of first-place medals. Usually, they’re in the hands of our students, and it’s a problem we love to create.”

Walker’s students will compete in the “Elite Class” the first day.

If they win their Elite division, they move on to the corresponding “Championship Class” event the following day.

A win in that division, and the athlete is eligible to compete around the world as a representative of “Team U.S.A.”

Walker said she has a handful of students she believes will be advancing out of the competition’s first day.

“I’m warning the parents, ‘You just might be spending another day down there,’” she said.
Anthony Schreiber, 6, of Macomb Township is one of the students looking to make it past the first day.

“I think 1,000 people from all over the world are coming,” Schreiber said. “Even people from Mexico; I saw it on the Internet.”

Conner Ervin, 9, of Oxford agreed.

“We get to fight and meet new people,” Ervin said.

According to Walker, there will be roughly 3,500 competitors in attendance.

“Tons of them are there because they are determined to work their way up the ladder and make it to the Olympics,” she said.

Walker said her students have been working toward this tournament for the last six months and have turned up the intensity the last three months.

She said a lot of the students put in up to nine hours of training a week, but the hard work is only part of the reason the school has seen so much success.

The other reason is the atmosphere teachers and students bring to class.

“We teach with a lot of patience, a lot of love and a lot of determination,” Walker said. “The family type of bond here, plus that consistently reminding them about persevering and that indomitable spirit.”

For more information about the taekwondo championships at Ford Field, please visit www.usa-taekwondo.us.

For more information on Kil’s USA Martial Arts, please visit www.kilsusamartialarts.com.

You can reach Sports Writer Christian Davis at cdavis@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1062.