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mokenamessenger.com sports
the Mokena Messenger | June 7, 2018 | 47
fastbreak
Secret to successful self-defense: recycle
22nd Century Media File
Photo
1st-and-3
Championship season
1. Lincoln-Way East
boys volleyball
(above)
The Griffins captured
its second
state title in seven
trips to the state
finals, including four
of the last five seasons.
They avenged
last year’s defeat in
the finals to Glenbard
West.
2. Ian Piet
The senior outside
hitter has led the
team in kills for the
past three seasons,
even though he was
limited to just two
kills, three digs and
a block in the title
game.
3. Wil McPhilips
The junior middle/
outside hitter sealed
the match with the
final kill to deliver
the trophy to East.
McPhilips ended the
match with 10 kills
and two blocks.
Tom O’Connor
Freelance Reporter
Brittany Johnson poses at Mokena’s Family Martial Arts,
where she trains in Tae Kwon Do. Johnson recently
took home the silver medal at the 2018 Illinois State
Championship. Tom O’Connor/22nd Century Media
Through 14 years of experience,
Brittany Johnson,
a martial artist with numerous
accolades to her name,
has maintained a need to
recycle, converting what
she has learned into reusable
material.
Johnson has perfected the
art of self-defense, staving
off those in pursuit of her
finest exploits, namely a
silver medal at the 2018 Illinois
State Tae Kwon Do
championship.
Her moves come in many
a variety.
With an open hand, rather
than a closed fist, she will, at
times, strike opponents with
her knuckles, a maneuver
better known as knife hands.
Then comes the sequel, a
roundhouse kick.
“She can do twenty spinning
kicks in the same spot
within like 10 seconds, like
boom, boom, boom, boom,”
said Master Sung Ho Kim,
the founder and owner of
Family Martial Arts in Mokena.
As this bona fide martial
artist ascended the ranks of
her craft, she was justifiably
compensated, receiving
a bonus of recognition
with each promotion. What
Johnson gained in years, she
matched in trophies.
Given the sheer number
of trophies and medals she
has amassed, neither student
nor instructor can calculate
the running total. Even still,
there is little doubt concerning
her performance.
“A lot of gold,” Kim said.
Each triumph along the
way has led way to even
grander accomplishments.
Her medals, not to mention
the 2- to 3-foot trophies
Johnson has attained
throughout her career, have
flooded her household furniture,
submerging what once
appeared to be a dresser.
Johnson has decided
to store these tokens of
achievement in a display
case, but at her success rate,
she may need more than just
one.
“I have a little shelf I have
them on, but I have to like,
make it bigger,” Johnson
said.
A perennial finalist at both
the state and local levels,
Johnson remembers walking
into Family Martial Arts for
her first session as a 4-yearold,
the age at which she
dedicated her efforts to Tae
Kwon Do.
“When I first went there
I started crying and I didn’t
want to go on to the mat, but
everyone was very welcoming,”
Johnson said.
“She drooled for the first
testing and we had to clean
it up,” Kim added with a
laugh.
With regards to age, Kim
has taught a wide demographic,
ranging from toddlers
to those in their 70s,
which means that Johnson,
now 18, is seemingly on the
younger side of the continuum.
This youthful disciple of
Tae Kwon Do has encountered
dynamic opponents
in the field of competition
and, yet, her consistency,
an attribute Kim equates to
persistence, has never wavered.
Kim, who has competed in
the martial arts circuit for the
past three decades, recognizes
the singular, unparalleled
abilities unique to each individual;
although determination,
he says, tends to make
the most pronounced impact.
“Natural skill will help a
lot,” Kim said.
“She is very flexible and
very athletic too, but that
helps a lot. But training is
most important.”
In carrying such a mantle,
the primed veteran has
been adhering to a practice
regimen of five to six days
a week, nevertheless important
for an athlete with five
to six times more experience
than that of most.
Johnson has carried over
this seasoned knowledge in
becoming a teacher at Family
Martial Arts.
Her moves on and off the
mat have established an enduring
influence on those
with untapped potential.
“She is such a great role
model for hundreds of girls,”
Kim said.
“We have so many girls
in our school, so they just
look up to her. She is not
just good at like competition,
also she’s really good
at teaching.”
She has designed a lesson
plan rooted in her mastery
of martial arts principles.
Beyond instructing students
on the techniques, she allays
their concerns, all with a bit
of reflection on her past.
“When new students start
to come in, they usually feel
kind of nervous and I always
just tell them my experience,
and how I was nervous at
first,” Johnson said.
“But then once they get
onto the mat and I start
teaching them, they become
more comfortable with the
environment.”
Therein lies the definition
of what it means to recycle:
the means of repurposing
wisdom for the sake of educating
the latest generation
of martial arts.
Listen Up
“This just feels so good, this is what we wanted
all season. The fact that it was close makes it feel
even better.”
Ian Piet – Lincoln-Way East boys volleyball outside hitter, on winning
the state championship
TUNE IN
Golf Camp
Begins 1-3 p.m. June 11
• For those entering 9th-12th grade. $85
registration. Camp dates of June 11, 18, 25,
and July 9, 16. Junior tournament on July 18.
Email rpohlmann@lw210.org for more info.
Index
43 – Athlete of the Month
43 – Athlete of the Week
FASTBREAK is compiled by Editor T.J. Kremer III, tj@
mokenamessenger.com.