By KEVIN Cuneo
It seems that legs are the thing these days and Tae Kwon Do has taken advantage of the situation stressing the importance of the limbs in sea€ defense.
"Tae Kwon Do is different than Japanese karate because we emphasize the legs since they are longer, stronger and one blow can do the whole job," said I rv Rubenstein, holder of a green belt and assistant instructor on the staff.
"At present we have about 50 men and six or seven women taking lessons,„ Rubenstein added. "Personally I feel this is because people can see how crime is rising and women especially see the need. for defending themselves."
Rubenstein admits that the Kung Fu craze sweeping the country has helped the attendance at the Tae Kwon Do classes but he also thinks that the people are here to stay, "In past years people would always come out at the beginning of the year and then when school got tough they would drop out, It seems as though they're sticking it out and we can see a hot of people improving."
Tae Kwon Do is the Korean art of self defense but the sport is so complete that it can allow a person who is attacked to turn the tables and take the aggressors role if a situation should ever arise. At Vanderbilt classes run three times a week with sessions slated from 5 to 6:30 p.m. an Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the South Lobby in Memmal Gym. The classes are open to all students end the public.
The art is broken down into five divisions with two levels in the white belt class, two in the yellow belt, three in the green belt, three
in the red belt and two in the highest black belt group.
"Our best performers competed in two tournaments in February . end we are hoping to take part in another month," Rubenstein concluded. Tae Kwon Do, be careful how to use it.
The Vanderbilt Too Kwon Do competition continues to ride high thanks to the efforts of (back row left to right) Tae Whae, Haw, Anthony Chang, and Irv Rubenstein. Scott Mendes and Robert Wright (front row) have scored high in every tournanent.