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By Orrin Konheim
On the Mat Sports International got its start through a student who was determined to keep the Taekwondo tradition alive in Bethesda.
“At the time, I was going through a divorce,” said Lisa Owen, who had been taking lessons at the DC Martial Arts Academy on Bethesda Avenue. “Taekwondo is a very positive outlet for me and I wanted to get healthier and stronger. I wanted it to continue it and I had the means to do so.”
As DC Martial Arts closed, Owen invested in new retail space and partnered with instructors Ethan Woodson, Jeremy Smith, and Alex Soumbadze to open On the Mat in 2011 at 6936 Wisconsin Avenue.
“We were able to hold onto a majority of the students. They stuck with us. They show their loyalty to us so obviously we wanted to pay them back for their perseverance with us,” Soumbadze said.
Soumbadze has lived in Bethesda since age 5, when his parents came here as diplomats from the Asian nation of Georgia. The 2006 graduate of Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School described his introduction to the sport as a chance encounter.
“[My parents] wanted me to do soccer and they wanted me to do karate, but you know a lot of parents don’t know the difference between Taekwondo and karate,” Soumbadze said. “I went there and saw the advanced belts and saw the black belts and this was something I wanted to do.
“For me, my biggest passion is teaching and the award of taking on a student when they start out as blank canvas. You turn them into a masterpiece knowing that you made a difference in their life beyond just sport,” Soumbadze added.
Smith grew up as an only child in Southeast D.C. watching kung fu, which influenced his decision to do martial arts.
Woodson grew up in Cincinnati, where mastering Taekwondo gave him confidence.
“There was something that I found unique in punching and doing different things. It gave me not just the confidence to defend yourself but to be around a variety of different people,” Woodson said. “It gave you an international feeling inside of the inner city.”
Taekwondo in Korea is marked by a riff along the same geopolitical lines that divide the peninsula. The sport’s founder, a Korean general named Choi Hong Hi, ran afoul of the South Korean government when he introduced the sport to North Korea in the 1970s.
Choi’s original conception of the sport has been taken on by the International Taekwondo Federation, while South Korea developed its own style called Kukkiwon — promoted through the rival World Taekwondo Federation (WTF).
On the Mat claims it’s the only studio in the region to train under the WTF banner. The staff said the WTF style is more modern and accessible. It’s also the governing body of Taekwondo in the Olympics, allowing the studio to attract junior national team hopefuls and seminars led by U.S. Olympians from the 2012 London games.
“A lot of the broadcasting in London was very positive and it certainly bought it to the forefront,” Owen said. “We work a lot with the U.S. Taewwando team, so our kids get exposure from real-life competitors.”
The studio also hosted the Iraqi junior national team as part of a U.S. State Department sports diplomacy program.
In terms of measuring the success of its students, Woodson says the staff isn’t as concerned about tournaments.
“It’s about building character. We offer tournaments but I wouldn’t say that’s a push. We’re highlighting different fields, like someone can stand in front of their class and give a speech to twenty different people,” said Woodson.
“The belt is the curriculum. The tournaments are a privilege.”
“Everyone’s not going to be a board-breaking champion,” Smith said. “Everyone can be a good brother, a good sister, a good friend, but it basically comes down to the structure of building character”
Owen added that students can’t matriculate through the program without showing that they’re getting good grades and doing well at home.
Owen, who is now a black belt, also hopes to expand the studio’s offerings to self-defense classes for women.
“I’d like to empower girls, especially, before they go to college,” Owen said. “It’s more than just a physical thing. It’s having the moral courage to stand up for a fellow woman whether a girlfriend’s being battered or being cyber-bullied. When women are equipped with self-defense techniques, they no longer look like a victim because they walk with confidence.”
Photo via On The Mat Sports
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