The three members of the West Point Taekwondo Club were part of a 20-person contingent, including 13 cadets, led by the academy’s head coach, Master Ji Ho Choi, president of the Pan American Taekwondo Union. The delegation, who visited Korea on July 28 for a nine-day run, were undertaking their first-ever tour of Korea this August.
On a battlefield swept by the fearsome killing force of automatic weapons, high explosives and laser-guided airpower, empty handed martial arts have minimal combative utility. This obvious reality, however, does not make taekwondo a redundant skill for a 21st century soldier. How so? Ask cadets at the United States’ premier military academy, West Point.
“Because we are soldiers, taekwondo translates pretty well – it is like one-on-one combat, or one country versus another country,” said West Point Cadet Anthony Chargualaf. “And it teaches determination; how to persevere through the pain.” “We have a warrior ethos in the U.S. Army – ‘Leave no man behind,’” Cadet Jacqueline Parker said. “If you are a in a fight, you have to be the last one standing: that translates into the warrior ethos.” Full Story»