My Journey by Lanny Kuhse

My journey in TaeKwon Do began in the fall of 1984. I faithfully attended classes and at times, practiced five nights a week, being promoted to temporary black belt in October 1986. At that time I began “giving back” to TaeKwon Do by assisting with leading and instructing classes at the main dojang in Garnavillo, Iowa. From Garnavillo, other branch schools of Northeast Iowa were established in the surrounding towns of Guttenberg, Monona and Elkader. In October 1989, I opened a branch school in the small, rural town of Edgewood. Over the course of the next four years, my wife (also a black belt) and I made the 50 mile round trip three evenings a week. At times, additional trips were made to participate in demonstrations and other TaeKwon Do related events. Having a job as a rural carrier/”mail man”, I carried the philosophy of “through rain, sleet and snow”, into my TaeKwon Do commitment and rarely cancelled classes. Originally, classes were held at a local church parish hall which accommodated a large number of students. However, being a church related facility, there were occasions where classes needed to be relocated. The students adapted to training in the church basement, at times sharing space with the church ladies quilting frames, and weather permitting we trained in the open lot across the street. As in all schools, the number of students varies from time to time and students start or discontinue training for a variety of reasons. During the time of the Edgewood school, seven students achieved the rank of black belt under my guidance and leadership. In 1993, I made the difficult decision to close the Edgewood branch of Northeast Iowa TaeKwon Do. I continued my personal training and assisted in instructing at the main dojang in Garnavillo. The students at the Edgewood branch were encouraged to continue their personal journeys and training at the Garnavillo branch. Many started, but for various reasons most eventually stopped attending....all but one. That one student was Bob McDowell.

Robert (Bob) McDowell was an adult TaeKwon Do student at the Edgewood branch and had only attended a few months of classes when the school closed. Being an eager student, Bob made the same 50 mile round trip that I had made and continued his training at the Garnavillo dojang. Bob demonstrated the TaeKwon Do tenet of perseverance in reaching his goal of black belt. That same enthusiasm and perseverance carried him through to establishing his own dojang in Edgewood in 1998. Over the years Bob has continued his TaeKwon Do training and through several degrees of black belt. He has also faced and survived physical and mental challenges which he attributes, at least in part, to his TaeKwon Do training and spirit.

by Master Lanny Kuhse