David Yoshida '99 Takes Gold at International Tae Kwon Do Competition

July 29, 2008

July 29, 2008, Greencastle, Ind. - David Yoshida, a 1999 graduate of DePauw University, "won the gold medal in his division" at the World Tae Kwon Do Hanmadang, which took place July 16-20 in Anaheim, California, reports Indiana's Martinsville Reporter-Times. Yoshida competed in the individual poomsae, "a prearranged set of movements that simulate combat. It is one of the core fundamentals in Tae Kwon Do, Yoshida said," notes the newspaper.

"It was really a very good, very positive experience," says Yoshida.

Brandon Sieg, part-time assistant professor of kinesiology at DePauw, is Yoshida's teacher. Both are now instructors at Gentry Martial Arts. "I certainly wanted the best for him," Sieg says. "He's a natural ability. He's always done well."

The report adds, "Sieg, who met Yoshida at DePauw University, said he looks at the gold medal as 'validation of how hard our students work' ... Competing on an international stage was an opportunity to not only showcase his skills, but to take a vacation -- something he hadn't done in quite some time, said Yoshida, who began his martial arts career in 1998 at DePauw, and advanced to the third degree black belt level in Tae Kwon Do in October 2006."

Read more at the Reporter-Times' Web site.

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