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MELISSA HOVANES
When I was taking violin lessons as a kid, my twin brother
did Tae Kwon Do. Every few weeks, I would go with my mom
or dad to watch him test for his next belt Watching a bunch
of 8-year-olds do the same set of moves over and over was not
really my idea of fun. I'd like to say I was being a supportive
sister, but really J kept going with the hopes of witnessing the
magic of someone breaking a board. Steve Carter can break six
bricks.
Flagpole. How long have you been teaching Tae Kwon Do
here?
Steve Carter: The school has been in operation since 1992.
We used to be located over on the Eastside... This location
used to be the upstairs balcony for the [Alps] movie theater...
We've been here for seven years, I guess. My wife, Kathy, and I
bought the school from my instructor six years ago.
I've studied martial arts for 16 years. In fact, that's where I
met my wife. We've been married for 11 years at the end of this
month. We met at the school... and ended up getting married.
FP: So, what drew you to martial arts initially?
SC: I had fooled around with it in high school and cotlege,
and then the real world intruded, and I just didn't have time.
Then, when I reached my 40s, I looked in the mirror one day
and said, "Holy cow, I'm putting weight ohl" So, the school •_
was actually near where I used to live, and I'd pass by it quite
a bit So, I decided to go in... I've been with it ever since.
FP: So, it was mostly health benefits that drew you to it ini
tially, but what made you stick with it?
SC: The people. Yeah. We run what's kind of a family
operation. We get to know all the parents, all the students.
Everybody knows everybody. From our point of view, there's •
two kind of schools out there. There's the family-type arrange
ment... and there are what are called "fighting schools"...
While our kids compete in tournaments, it's not the be-all and
end-all We want to teach confidence and self-control.. A lot
of the parents bring their kids in for that more than anything
else...
We have four instructors all together, including my wife and
myself. We trade off. I work a full-time job, my wife's in the
process of getting her doctorate at UGA, so life is busy.
\ ... ■.
FP: So, you work a full-time job. What do you do?
SC: Tm ^team-lead at Academy Sports and Outdoors... My
schedule bounces all over the place... My wife right now is ’
running back and forth between here and Louisville, Kentucky.
She has a teaching position at the University of Louisville
while she works on finishing her doctorate.
FP: Sounds like you guys have such busy schedules. How do
you keep it all in order? y y * •
SC: Thank god for cell phones. We use calendars... and
schedule as much as two weeks out. I can adjust my sched
ule to an extent with my other job,., but Kathy, right now,
she's gone more than she's here, with her commitment up in
Louisville.
FP: How long have you been working with Academy?
SC: Five-and-a-half years. I've been with them since they
opened the store. - ; f
FP: What did you do before that?
SC: I grew up outside of Philadelphia. I worked... in the
plumbing and heating industry. A company that makes plas
tic pipe down here in Greensboro hired me away and paid for
me to move down here.
I worked for them for 13
years. They were bought
out by another company
and, as sometimes hap
pens, they cleaned house:
they brought all their own
people. I went from there
to a company by the name
of Eagle Global Logistics
down in Atlanta... I worked
for them for a couple of
years, but the commute
was killing me. So, I turned
around, took a job at
Academy.'
FP: You were linng in
Athens when you worked in
Atlanta?
SC: Yeah. I would leave
at four in the morning to
start a shift at seven, and
the shifts were 12 hours.
So, you worked four days a
week, which made it a little
easier, but you had to work
every other weekend. I
mean, great money, but the
stress was just too much.
FP: So, you came here because of the job... Was that less of
a transition than I'm perceiving it to be?
- SC: Yeah. I lived outside of Philadelphia for, let's see, 28
years. I moved down here in 1989, so I've been.here just about
22 years. But yeah, sold my house, packed up everything and
came down here. All my family is still up there.
FP: I was always fascinated by the people who could break
boards...
SC: Oh, I break bricks... I've done as many as six. Here, I'll
show you. [He shows a photo of himself breaking several bricks
in half with his hand.]
FP: Whoa! How? How do you learn that?
SC: Part of it is believing you can do it, but obviously part
of it is technique, because you could break your hand other
wise. That's part of the reason I've stayed with martial arts.
I've seen people do things that I just couldn't believe. This is
little stuff... Grand Master Chung [the founder of the American
Taekwondo Foundation]... he's studied martial arts since he
was 12. He's in his 60s now. I've seen him do things that...
I've stood five or six feet away and watched him... I mean, I
don't know how he did it, but he did it.
FP; Like, what kind of things?
SC: They brought out a mat... and they dumped broken
glass on the mat. He lay down on the broken glass, and they
put three concrete blocks on his chest, and broke them with a
sledgehammer. And he got up. They dusted him off, and there
wasn't a mark on him... And I'm here to tell you.
Melissa Havana*
GEORGIA THeat
www.georgiathe3tre.com
215 North Lumpkin St. * Athens, GA
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16
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MAY 16,2012 • FlAGP0LE.C0M 27