sportsleader

commercial on TV. I go in the kitchen, ‘Mom, mom,
mom, I want to do karate. My mom says, ‘No. Too
far away, too expensive and you won’t stay with it.’”
When he was 21, Serck recalls spotting a martial
arts school while driving through Sioux Falls. Still
wishing to train after all those years, he entered the
school and signed up for a year of lessons.
“My first lesson was in blue jeans. Tight blue jeans
back then. They didn’t have a uniform big enough
for me,” he chuckled.
After about a year of training he earned his red
belt. Then his black belt. Eventually he was asked
if he would be interested in joining the trainer/
instructor program. That is when he fell under the
tutelage of Jager.
“Mom, I stayed with it,” he said.
“When I first signed up, my mom was not happy
with me,” he continued. “She thought I’d joined a
cult. My dad served in the Korean War. He saw the
Korean flag. That didn’t bode well with him. Between
the two of them there was a lot of animosity
toward me being in taekwondo. That was a big negative,
but I stayed with it and they started to warm
up to it after years and saw the benefit of it.”
‘KICK THE PAD!’
Students at East Elementary and Sheldon Middle
School recently had a taste of taekwondo. Serck
brought a session to every class from kindergarten
to sixth grade on Jan. 3-7.
He led 25 classes and reached more than 400 students.
Serck was assisted by Kyle Peterson, 21, of Sheldon,
who is training to become a taekwondo instructor.
Kyle Zankowski, K-6 P.E. teacher, approached Serck
about bringing taekwondo to his classes several
weeks ago.
“I am always looking for ways to get students
active outside of school and I thought bringing in
Master Serck would be a great way to get students
excited about it,” Zankowski said.
During the classes, Serck walked students through
form, performing kicks and punches, blocking and
— most importantly — belting out a strong shout.
“I told them, ‘If the principal comes down and
tells us to be quiet, I’ll take the heat for that,’” Serck
said. “In one class the principal did come in and
hold the target pad. That class was off-the-chart
loud.”
“How many times can students get the chance to
kick a teacher?” Zankowski said. “The students had
a blast.”
FOR MORE INFO:
For questions about the Sheldon Taekwondo
Club call Master Dave Serck, 605-929-7349,
or Jodi Vermeer, 712-348-6670.
Classes are held on Monday nights at the Courtyard,
located at 315 N. 18th Ave, Sheldon.
Zankowski’s goal of generating interest in taekwondo
and other activities seemed to have an
effect as Serck and Vermeer’s phones have been
ringing ever since.
“Taekwondo is a great way to build muscular
strength, cardiovascular fitness, bone strength and
hand-eye coordination,” Zankowski said. “One of
the examples I gave the students was, ‘Would you
rather do a bunch of squats to get stronger, or kick
the pad that I am holding.’ Every student responded
with, ‘Kick the pad!’”
Zankowski said he is open to bringing taekwondo
to class again, and would like to find more opportunities
for students to learn about other activities
they can participate in.
8 THE SPORTS LEADER | JANUARY 2019