Editor’s note: The author has requested that the full, unedited version of this article be made available to the public. Scroll down to see the full text.
———————————————————
This year, five Olin students competed in the National Collegiate Taekwondo Championship held at MIT. Stephanie Northway, Chaz Gwennap, Sasha Sproch, Mark-Robin Giolando, and Hari Iyer trained under Professor Shan-Yuan Ho, a former Taekwondo champion, Master Instructor of Olympic-style TKD, and Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics from MIT.
The team formed in February when firstyear Stephanie Northway, a third degree black belt in TKD, had the idea of starting a general martial arts club: “I had wanted to revive Olin’s martial arts club since I got here, and when I found out that Nationals was in Boston this year, I started recruiting everyone I could to form an Olin Taekwondo team.”
From the first day, the practices were intense, and Prof. Ho’s coaching was designed to get everyone up to speed quickly, including nonstop kicking drills, careful practice of footwork, and several rounds of sparring, even for newcomers.
“I joined because I wanted to exercise more, and I figure everyone ought to know some self-defense,” says Sasha. “I really liked that I was learning useful (and sometimes complicated) blocks and attacks from day one, but I didn’t expect to be sparring so soon! Actually kicking another person, even though they had protective gear, was strange and frightening.”
As the tournament drew closer, Coach HoHo (as she’s affectionately known) took the Oliners to practice with her coach, Grandmaster Joseph Pina, Olympic coach in 2000 and 2004. “Practicing with his students was really valuable,” said Hari. “It was really at that time that I learned the importance of timing. We’d be sparring and those kids would calmly stand there and suddenly reach up and place their feet on your head. It was humbling.”
On Saturday, the team went out to support Mark, Sasha, and Hari in colored belt sparring. Mark was known for rattling his opponents with bursts of three fast kicks, and he put up a great fight. Hari’s first opponent started off scoring many points, but by the third round, Hari was landing several blows, including a direct kick to his opponent’s forehead, ultimately losing by a point.
Soon before Sasha began her match, she twisted her ankle, hardly able to walk. Despite that, she chose to fight, and after several spectacular kicks to her opponent’s head, her opponents could not touch her. This happened round after round, and Sasha kicked her way to a bronze medal.
Sunday was black belt forms and sparring, and Steph began with an awesome display of forms. Soon it was time for sparring, and Chaz went up first. The level of intensity was much higher in black belt sparring, and Chaz tripped up his opponent by messing with his distance and angle of attack. Despite a solid effort, he was unable to defeat his more experienced opponent.
Steph began later, and she completely dominated her first and second rounds with her impeccable calm, timing, and technique. As opponents would rush towards her, throwing crazy kicks, she would wait and almost casually stick her leg into their chest or face, completely stopping them and leaving them dazed. She advanced to the quarterfinals, only losing to an opponent who was an eventual finalist.
Coach HoHo commented, “Olin’s inaugural team put in a fantastic performance, given that we just started training at the beginning of February, and Sasha and Mark had never even kicked before. Every member scored, everyone put in 100% until the final bell, and no one lost mentally. I am very proud of our Olin team.”
What’s the future of the club, now that Professor Ho will be returning to MIT?
“We’ll definitely keep recruiting more members, training and practicing amongst ourselves,” says Steph, “We also hope to compete at more local tournaments, so there will be many opportunities to come!”
———————————————————
The original, unedited version of the article can be found below:
This year, five Olin students competed in the National Collegiate Taekwondo Championship held at MIT on April 7-8, where two students placed highly. Stephanie Northway, Chaz Gwennap, Sasha Sproch, Mark-Robin Giolando, and Hari Iyer trained under Professor Shan-Yuan Ho, a former Taekwondo champion, Master Instructor of Olympic-style TKD, and Visiting Assistant Professor of Mathematics from MIT. The team formed in February when freshman Stephanie Northway, a third degree black belt in Taekwondo, had the idea of starting a general martial arts club: “I had wanted to revive Olin’s martial arts club since I got here, and when I found out that Nationals was in Boston this year, I started recruiting everyone I could to form an Olin Taekwondo team.”
Eight students responded to the call. In addition to the five above, Jong Nam, Slater Victoroff, Kaitlin Gallagher, and Chloe Eghtebas joined for weekly practices. From the first day, the practices were intense, and Prof. Ho’s coaching was designed to get everyone up to speed really fast. Although Steph and Jong were black belts in Taekwondo, the others came with various backgrounds. Some, like Slater and Hari, had background in other styles, but never competed. Others, like Sasha and Kaitlin, had never tried martial arts before. Prof. Ho’s coaching included nonstop kicking drills, careful practice of footwork, and several rounds of sparring, even for newcomers.
“I joined because I wanted to exercise more, and I figure everyone ought to know some self-defense,” says Sasha. “I really liked that I was learning useful (and sometimes complicated) blocks and attacks from day one, but I didn’t expect to be sparring so soon! Actually kicking another person, even though they had protective gear, was strange and frightening.”
As the tournament drew closer, Coach HoHo (as she’s affectionately known) took the Oliners to practice with her coach, Grandmaster Joseph Pina, Olympic coach in 2000 and 2004. “Practicing with his students was really valuable,” said Hari. “It was really at that time that I learned the importance of timing. We’d be sparring and those kids would calmly stand there and suddenly reach up and place their feet on your head. It was humbling.”
On Saturday, April 7, the team went out to MIT Johnson Athletic Center to support Mark, Sasha, and Hari in colored belt sparring. The fights were held on the upper level of MIT’s gymnasium, and students and coaches from all over the country filled the bleachers and prepared to fight. There were more than 600 competitors at the national competition, which is held once a year. In the center of the arena, six matches would be happening at once, with supporters crowding around the rinks as judges would carefully monitor the fight from all corners.
Finally, it was time for Mark, Sasha, and Hari to fight, each in their own division. Mark was known for rattling his opponents with bursts of three fast kicks, and he put up a great fight until the end. Hari’s first opponent was nearly a foot taller, two belts higher, and started off scoring many points. But by the third round, Hari was landing several blows, including a direct kick to his opponent’s forehead, ultimately losing by a point.
Soon before Sasha began her match, she twisted her ankle and had to sit with an icepack, hardly able to walk. Despite that, she chose to fight, and after several spectacular kicks to her opponent’s head (yes, with an injured foot), her opponents could not touch her. This happened round after round, and Sasha kicked her way to a bronze medal.
Sunday was black belt forms and sparring, and Steph began with an awesome display of forms. Soon it was time for sparring, and after receiving a bye, Chaz went up first. The level of intensity was much higher in black belt sparring, and Chaz tripped up his opponent by messing with his distance and angle of attack. Despite a solid effort, he was unable to defeat his more experienced opponent. Steph began later, and she completely dominated her first and second rounds with her impeccable calm, timing, and technique. As opponents would rush towards her throwing crazy kicks, she would wait and almost casually stick her leg into their chest or face, completely stopping them and leaving them dazed. She advanced to the quarterfinals, only losing to an opponent who was nationally ranked in the US and was an eventual finalist.
Throughout the entire tournament, Coach HoHo was energetically studying potential opponents, encouraging the team, and providing precise feedback, diving between rounds to personally coach every fight. “Her coaching was brilliant,” said Hari. “Some coaches were screaming at their students when they were losing, but [Coach HoHo] was just really supportive and provided concise and game changing advice in the 30 seconds between rounds.”
Coach HoHo commented, “Olin’s inaugural team put in a fantastic performance, given that we just started training at the beginning of February, and Sasha and Mark had never even kicked before. Every member scored, everyone put in 100% until the final bell, and no one lost mentally. I am every proud of our Olin team.”
Now that this is over and Professor Ho will be returning to MIT, what’s the future of the club?
“We’ll definitely keep recruiting more members, training and practicing amongst ourselves,” says Steph. “We also hope to compete at more local tournaments, so there will be many opportunities to come!”
