RAF LAKENHEATH — More than 40 students from the Lakenheath Kuk Sool Won School racked up medals to help capture the team title in a recent Europe-wide tournament of the Korean martial art.
The school beat 65 other schools, including the runner-up — a hometown favorite — by 48 points in the tourney held in Lowestoft.
Master Darren Hart, a Briton who is the school’s chief instructor, said he was particularly delighted by the performance since the school had half as many students as the Lowestoft school, but still won by a large margin.
The victory also made the school the only one to hold championship banners in Europe and United Kingdom Kuk Sool Won tourneys at the same time. The school won the U.K. tourney last November, Hart said.
Stacy Shackelford, a general surgeon with the 48th Medical Operations Squadron, became the overall Under Black Belt Grand Champion in the Europe tournament on June 2.
“There were a lot of really good competitors. I was actually surprised when I won overall, because I didn’t think I had done that well,” said Shackelford, who received three gold medals out of the competition’s six categories.
Following the tournament, Shackelford was awarded the coveted black belt.
She began the training three years ago because of her daughters, Rebecca Walker, 12, and Haley Walker, 10, who are also black belts.
“My kids were getting bored with it and they wanted to quit, [so we] started to do it together,” Shackelford said.
The training became addictive to Shackelford for its exercise regimen and opportunity to accumulate belts.
“Once you start getting one belt and the next belt, it’s kind of hard to stop until you get your black belt,” she said.
Jarett Bennett, 12, also captured a few medals in the tourney, including a silver in the forms category.
The black-belt student said he got involved in the Kuk Sool Won program because of his behavior in the past.
“The reason that I started was because I had attitude problems. My parents were interested in the discipline,” said Jarett, the son of a Lakenheath technical sergeant.
Jarett also liked the idea of doing martial arts.
“It’s the respect you get, and it looks cool kicking butt,” he said smiling.
Anyone interested in joining the school can contact Darren Hart at DSN 226-1118 or 226-3607. Training sessions are Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays in Lakenheath’s Fitness Center.
