With a vision of making martial arts accessible for all students at SF State, a professor on campus has founded a Taekwondo club that will provide students with training, valuable life lessons, and even a black belt.

With more than 40 years of experience in martial arts, Professor Bill Dewart, 63, has established Club Tae Kwon Do to give all students at SF State the opportunity to train and compete in national championships. He hopes to motivate them to earn a black belt before graduating from SF State.

After an extensive process with the university administration, which includes a written constitution, a founders meeting, and a club membership fee of $100, the club held their first offical meeting on March 23.

“It takes a lot of focus, and a lot of dedication,” said Dewart about the training process. “When you study any form of martial arts, it’s sort of a microcosm of life.”

Dewart is a professional competitor and was a bodyguard for Bruce Lee in a 1969 national Tae Kwon Do tournament. He has an eighth-degree black belt and teaches four beginning Tae Kwon Do classes at SF State and also at the Academy of Tae Kwon Do in South San Francisco.

He has urged his students to join the club as a way to further their experience in the sport.

Tae Kwon Do, recognized as a fundamental Olympic sport, is a Korean martial art. It involves various spinning, jumping and kicking techniques, as well as sparring, a type of Tae Kwon Do where protective equipment is worn over designated body targets.

Dewart said the difference between Tae Kwon Do and Karate is that of culture and style. Karate is a Japanese martial art that tends to be very linear in approach--straight lines and straight attacks.

The beginning class teaches students punching and kicking drills, and basic Tae Kwon Do fundamentals including forms and vocabulary. Dewart, who plans on challenging the club members said the training in the club will be extensive, and an extension of what he teaches his beginning students.

Student Tracy Wilson, 21, a Japanese major said the beginning class is good exercise and helps with confidence and she hopes the Tae Kwon Do club will help build on that. Wilson won first place in a tournament last year in her level and age group.

Roy Salvador, 19, nursing major and a student in Dewart’s beginning Tae Kwon Do class said he joined the club to become a better player and possibly win some trophies. He said the fundamentals
Dewart teaches will help him improve his technique.

“He wants it to come from within you,” said Stephanie Cyr, 39, Dewart’s assistant at the Academy of Tae Kwon Do.

Dewart said Tae Kwon Do will help teach students focus and concentration, and he said those are the things you need to “get good grades.”

As a skin cancer survivor, Dewart said his martial arts training governs how he lives and that there was no way he was going to let his diagnosis stop him from continuing to train in Tae Kwan Do. He said he always tells his students, “what I lack in speed and stamina, I make up (for it) with trickery, cunning, and deceit.”

The attitude developed through martial arts helped him through radiation treatments, chemotherapy, and two major surgeries.

“What I really like about him is that he appreciates martial arts,” said student Josh Mehlman, 31, a mechanical engineering student in the beginning Tae Kwon Do class and a club member, who joined the club to get in shape for the state championships. “He is so incredibly knowledgeable on the body of martial arts.”

For those students interested in competing, the club will be hosting the Amateur Athletic Union State Championships on campus in May, where Tae Kwon Do club members will compete for positions in the nationals. The AAU is the oldest amateur sports organization in the country.

All students who qualify for nationals, will go on to compete in the championships in Knoxville, TN in July. Dewart said he plans on training students to complete against other prestigious college Tae Kwon Do programs like the one at University of California at Berkeley.

“We are willing to go as far as the road takes us,” said Vice President of the club, Justin Oliver, 26, Kinesiology major, and a third-degree black belt in Kuksoolwon, a martial art similar to Tae Kwon Do.
Oliver said that the club has high hopes of taking their talent as far as the Olympics.

“I love the students and I love teaching,” said Dewart. “My friends say if I didn’t do this, I’d have to get an (ordinary) job.”