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  • Chuck Sherwood gave tae kwon do a try and liked it so much he has deemed it his lifetime sport. John Cross

    Tae kwon do

  • Progress 2010

    Progress 2010

March 7, 2010

Get kickin’ on fitness

Tae kwon do teaches respect, discipline and self-improvement

By Brian Ojanpa The Free Press

A key to good health and fitness is regular physical activity.

Knowing that is the easy part; the trick is finding something you like to do.

Chuck Sherwood tried jogging, biking and weight training, and found them wanting. Then one of his employees told him about the Korean martial art tae kwon do.

“He said he really enjoyed it so much,” said the 40-year-old Sherwood, part owner of a software consulting company. 

Sherwood tried it and quickly became hooked.

“When I started, it was just to try it out. I wish I would have started this when I was younger. I see myself doing this the rest of my life because I’m having so much fun with it.”

As for the physical benefits, Sherwood counts the ways:

“The physical fitness part of it was definitely the big draw for me. Since I started seven months ago I’ve dropped 20 pounds — I weighed 240 when I started — and I sleep much better and my attitude is better,” he said.

“I have more energy now and I flat out just feel

better.”

Sherwood attends tae kwon do classes three or four times a week at Lee’s Champion Tae Kwon Do Academy in Mankato, augmenting those sessions with home workouts to hone his kicks and other movements.

He also lauds the martial art’s emphasis on creating and maintaining the requisite tae kwon do ethos of respect and self-discipline.

“The attitude of the class has been something that’s really amazed me — at all age levels. You see kids being respectful of adults having a conversation. They don’t barge right up and start talking.”

As tae kwon do practitioners improve, they earn colored belts of various rank. Sherwood, who has acquired the fourth of potentially 12 belts, still classifies himself as a beginner.

But belt attainment is secondary to pursuit of self-improvement, he said. Not to mention how much joy he’s getting from a sport he’d barely given thought to before he started.

“This takes me back to playing softball with my buddies years ago. It’s fun.”

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