An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

News Search

Kicking, punching, making friends

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jonathan Steffen
  • 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  Not too many people can say they are tougher than Chuck Norris, but a select few from the Wolf Pack can say that they are tough enough to survive a number of head kicks in a short amount of time. Members from the 8th Fighter Wing and the 38th Fighter Group competed in the 7th Republic of Korea Air Force and U.S. Air Force Taekwondo Tournament March 23.

The tournament consisted of 65 participants in three different events; poomsae, sparring and breaking.

ROKAF Master Sgt. Pae, Sang Kil, 38th Fighter Group and the tournament organizer, wanted to bring ROKAF and USAF together to exchange culture.

"I wanted people from different cultures to come together and share a common goal" said Sergeant Pae Sang Kil. "This tournament allowed that."

Taekwondo is a martial art typically made up of high standing and jump kicks as well as punches and is usually used for sporting, self-defense, and spiritual development.

USAF Tech. Sgt. John Harris, 8th Maintenance Squadron, participated in poomsae, a competition to show how well a person masters the craft of taekwondo.

"I just wanted to learn something new and to take part of Korean culture," he said.

This was Sergeant Harris's first tournament and has been practicing taekwondo for less than two months.

Another event featured was sparring which consisted of three rounds of head to head competition where points are earned from kicks to the body and head. Kicks to the head are worth the most points.

During the tournament USAF Tech Sgt. Cody Morris, 8th Maintenance Squadron, competed in both poomsae and sparring.

"Sparring is a little different here," he said "It is a little more full contact."

The last competition feature was breaking and starts with 15 boards and moves up in five board increments until a participant is unable to break all the boards. The winner is decided by whoever breaks the most boards. Breaking demonstrates how well a competitor masters the fist techniques.

ROKAF Airman Park Sang Yeon, 38th Fighter Group, was a first time competitor in breaking.

"I use breaking as a way to releases stress from work," he said.

These tournaments happen every year at Kunsan and though there were only two 8 FW personnel in this tournament, Sergeant Pae would like to have more personnel participate in the next tournament.

"We are all air force in the end," he said.