Texas Taekwondo - In the Coach's Corner

Originally recorded April 28, 2024. We're back! Welcome to Season 3! In episode one, Coach Mike chats with graduating seniors Jordan Engstrom, and Coach Jason Dahlberg who are both about to embark on the next big chapter of their lives after leading Texas Taekwondo to its 5th consecutive national title at the 47th NCTA Championships at UC Berkeley. What will these two be doing after graduation? Who was in FFA in high school (what does that even mean?)? Who wore the wrong dobak to their first tournament?! Find out! From Nacogdoches, Texas, Jordan Engstrom started her martial arts journey at the Nacogdoches Blackbelt Academy. She joined Texas Taekwondo as a freshman in 2020 and later served as the Director of Finance, Vice President, and eventually President for the 2023-2024 school year. Following graduation, she will be moving to Washington state where she will be working as a Fish Health Technician for Pacific Seafood. From Deerfield, Illinois, Jason Dahlberg started his martial arts journey at the Keumgang Martial Arts Academy. He joined Texas Taekwondo as a freshman in 2020 where he was Texas Taekwondo's first HP Poomsae athlete and was selected to represent the US at the 2023 Summer World University Games in Chengdu, China. Jason served as a Student Coach and eventually the Head Poomsae Coach from 2022-2024. Following graduation, he will be pursuing a PhD in Geology at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Originally recorded September 3, 2021. We're still here! In episode eight, Coach Mike chats with recent graduates Eliza Fisher, and Yash Sarda who are both starting off their careers and post college lives. Eliza and Yash have been friends since high school, joined Texas Taekwondo together, and were both part of Texas Taekwondo's championship team in 2019. What rec sport club did they almost join before finding a home at Texas Taekwondo? What type of uber-nerdy-cool careers are these two doing these days? Find out!  From Austin, Texas, Eliza Fisher started her martial arts journey as an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin with Texas Taekwondo, from 2018-2020. During her time she held various leadership roles such as the Social Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator, and the Kicks for Kids program lead. Some of her notable achievements as a competitor include winning gold at the 2019 NCTA Championships and the 2019 USA Taekwondo Nationals. She currently resides in Austin working in computational linguistics/natural language understanding development. From Austin, Texas, Yash Sarda started his martial arts journey as an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin with Texas Taekwondo, from 2018-2020. Some of his notable achievements include placing at the 2019 NCTA Championships and becoming the first student to earn a Kukkiwon under Texas Taekwondo. He currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia working as a machine learning engineer while pursuing a master's degree with the University of Texas at Austin.

Originally recorded June 2, 2020. Episode five features Old Horns Sean Salashour and Dr. Jesus Ramos! What were some of the strange taekwondo experiences both Hector and Jesus experienced in Mexico? What influenced Jesus to join taekwondo? What was Sean's most memorable tournament? What was the Iron Tran competition? From Cypress, Texas, Sean Salashour earned is 3rd Dan in taekwondo with the American Taekwondo Association (ATA). He joined Texas Taekwondo as a sophomore in 2003 and and was an assistant instructor with the club his senior year in 2005. He now lives in Houston with his wife where he is currently working as a CPA accountant. From Monterrey, Mexico, Jesus Ramos began learning taekwondo in 1984 and eventually earned his kukkiwon before moving to the United States. He first joined Texas Taekwondo as a club member from 2001-2004 when he was a graduate student and later joined the competition team from 2009 - 2011 when he was a visiting university scholar. He now lives in Connecticut with his wife and two daughters where he is currently a professor of Music History and Ethnomusicology at the University of Connecticut. From Eagle Pass, Texas, Coach Hector moved to Pennsylvania after this episode was recorded to work for Boeing as a Manufacturing Engineer. He's been staying active by snowboarding in the winter, going to the gym, mountain biking, and trying to find cool camping spots.

Originally recorded June 5, 2020. We're back! In episode seven, Coach Mike chats with alumni Jenny Kim, Rachel Agnite, and Khiem Hoang who were all instrumental team mates leading up to Texas Taekwondo's championship year in 2018.  Who crashed into the judges table in their first tournament? Who had their own podcast named "Drumroll Please"? Who hyped themselves up before their matches by shouting "be aggressive!!" over and over in their head? Find out!  From San Antonio, Texas, Jenny Kim started training in taekwondo at the Korea-America Taekwondo Academy in San Antonio, Texas. She joined Texas Taekwondo as a freshman in 2014 and placed at the NCTA Championships in 2015, 2018 as well as the 2018 USA Taekwondo Nationals. She us currently studying at UT Southwestern Medical School and on her inpatient internal medicine rotation at Clements Hospital. From Hayward, California, Rachel Agnite started training in taekwondo as a freshman with Texas Taekwondo in 2014. During her time at Texas Taekwondo, Rachel was a coach in the Kicks for Kids program, a student coach in her last year, and placed at the NCTA Championships in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 as well as the 2018 USA Taekwondo Nationals. She is currently a pharmacy technician and artist. From Hue, Vietnam, Khiem Hoang started training in taekwondo as a freshman with Texas Taekwondo in 2014. During their time at Texas Taekwondo, Khiem served a the social events coordinator, team's spiritual leader (Texas - FIGHT!), and placed in the NCTA Championships in 2018. They are currently studying at UT Southwestern Medical School.

Originally recorded June 4, 2020.  In episode four, Coach Mike and alumni Andrea Wilson sit down with Tania Sebrero Hernandez and Ecequiel Chavez, both of whom earned the distinction of "Most Improved Athlete" in 2017 and 2018.  How do athletes like Tania and Ecequiel find the drive in a sport they are new to? What kinds of personal adversities did they encounter?  From Houston, Texas, Tania Sebrero Hernadez joined Texas Taekwondo as a sophomore in 2015. From 2016 to 2017, Tania was part of the Texas Taekwondo competition team and was named the most improved athlete of the year for 2017. She now lives in San Antonio, Texas serving in the United States Air Force. From Ennis, Texas, Ecequiel Chavez joined Texas Taekwondo as a freshman in 2015. From 2015-2018, Ecequiel was part of the Texas Taekwondo competition team and was named the most improved athlete of the year for 2018. He now lives in Austin, Texas where he works for Restore Cryotherapy. 

In 2015, the 40th National Collegiate Taekwondo Association Championships were hosted at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware.  Head Coach Joe Van, and Team Co-Captains Sherry Tucci and Daniel Yun took a team of 19 student-athletes to compete in what would be the biggest team Texas Taekwondo fielded up to that point. Coach Mike sits down with Sherry Tucci, Jonathan Ceron, and Hector Cruz as they recap the challenges (and fun moments) that were had in and out of the ring. From Houston, Texas, Jonathan Ceron started training in taekwondo during high school at his nearby local gym. Jonathan joined Texas Taekwondo as a freshman in 2012  and competed at collegiates all four years of his undergraduate years.  From 2012-2014 he was part of Texas Taekwondo Team Select.  He now lives in Austin, Texas where he works for the Transportation Security Agency at Austin Bergstrom International Airport.  For more podcasts with Sherry Tucci, check out S1E2 - Greetings from Sherry Tucci in NYC https://anchor.fm/texastaekwondo/episodes/S1E2---Greetings-from-Sherry-Tucci-in-NYC-ec2i7v For more podcasts with Hector Cruz, check out S1E6 - Coach Daniel, Abhi, Mike and Hector origin stories https://anchor.fm/texastaekwondo/episodes/S1E6---Coach-Daniel--Abhi--Mike-and-Hector-origin-stories-eciiht

Originally recorded May 20, 2020. Episode two features recent graduates and former roommates of the 2020 taekwondo house Danica Deaton, Patricia Lim, and Jana Hermoso! How did they maintain order in the taekwondo house? Why doesn't Patricia wash her dishes? Who originally came to UT to dance and accidentally found Texas Taekwondo?! Find out!  From Cypress, Texas, Danica Deaton started training in taekwondo with the American Taekwondo Association (ATA) at age 12. After a brief hiatus, she returned to taekwondo when she joined Texas Taekwondo in 2016. During her time at Texas Taekwondo, Danica was a member of the High Performance (HP) team. After graduating in Spring 2020, Danica's plans are to continue training in Austin, Texas. From East Rockaway, New York, Patricia Lim started training in taekwondo as a child in the Philipines but continued her taekwondo with Ryu's Martial Arts of New York. She joined Texas Taekwondo in 2017 and during her time she was Content Manager/Travel Manager and a member of the HP Team. After graduating in Spring 2020, Patricia's plans are to continue training in Austin, Texas. From Houston, Texas, Jana Hermoso started training in taekwondo with Kim's Taekwondo. She joined Texas Taekwondo in 2016 and during her time she served in the social, volunteer, and events officer positions. After graduating in 2020, Jana will attend medical school at the University of Louisiana Monroe as well as continue training for marathons.

Originally recorded May 17, 2020. Episode One kicks off with recent graduates and all former Club Presidents Amanda Martin, Danielle Drews, and Molly Schlamp! Who was a wrestler before they started in taekwondo? Who went from meek and mild to beast mode? What is the universal emoji response to anything?! Find out!  Growing up as an "Army Brat", Amanda Martin started training in taekwondo when she joined Texas Taekwondo as a freshman in 2016. Amanda was the coordinator for Kicks for Kids from 2017-2019 and was the club president from 2018-2019. After graduating in Spring 2020, Amanda's plans are to teach high school English in Central Texas.  From Denton, Texas, Danielle Drews started training in taekwondo when she joined Texas Taekwondo as a sophomore in 2017. Danielle was the events/outreach coordinator from 2018-2019 and club president from 2019-2020. After graduating in Spring 2020, Danielle's plans are to take a sabbatical before she moves onto her next big plans. From Southlake, Texas, Molly Schlamp started training in taekwondo at ProTaekwondo in Roanoke, North Carolina. She continued her training at NTA Taekwondo in the Dallas/Fort Worth region before coming to Texas Taekwondo as a freshman in 2016.  Molly was club president and coordinator for Kicks for Kids from 2017-2018 and was club vice president from 2018-2019. After graduating in Spring 2020, Molly will attend UT Southwestern Medical School & UT Health School of Public Health in Dallas, Texas. 

Recorded live on June 23, 2020 Coach Joe, Mike, Daniel, Hector, Abhi, and Grandmaster Park host a live podcast with Texas Taekwondo and talk about the full spectrum of things, ranging from Animal Crossing, old Asian family traditions, unemployment, and what we miss the most from Texas Taekwondo. Thanks to everyone who was part of this episode!

A collection of outtakes from Season One. Enjoy.