"Hannah, dul, set, net, dasot, yosot…", 13-year-old ilka woytinas shouts, moving her arms and legs in and out in the style of a jumping jack. "Now, kathrin", trainer rene woytinas calls on the neighbors. It takes a second of shock, then eleven-year-old kathrin strober also gets going. "…Ilgob, yodul, yol", she too can do the korean numbers to ten off the top of her head.
After kathrin strober, it's her grandfather wolfgang spakowski's turn (65). Mama angela strober sits on the sidelines and watches. She smiles contentedly and is happy in such moments when kathrin is a child like any other. In fact, the boys and girls who train every friday suffer from developmental delays, severe diabetes, stiffness, mental deficits, physical disabilities or muscle deformities. A child can hardly see, but he still wants to learn the korean martial art.
Now it's annalisa hanisch's (15) turn to do it. She always trains with her dad and has already got the yellow belt. In taekwondo, yellow is a symbol of the soil – the origin on which everything grows. In plain language, this means: annalisa is no longer a bloody beginner. She can hold her own against her daddy. While he's already breaking a sweat with the exercises, she's on top form. Fully concentrated and with youthful eagerness it is with the thing. Right next to them, antonia hacker (17), fabio arlt (9) and astrid ambrosius (16) warmed up with jumping exercises to loosen up.
Only when every muscle has been stretched does rene woytinas get to the real part, the technique. "I do not think about what everyone has in detail. I accept everyone as they are and we try to make the best of it together. The successes speak for themselves, says the coach. Neither the commands nor the techniques differ in any way from traditional training.
Long ago, rene woytinas and co-trainer eva christ-kunz, a black belt wearer, were at the "special olympics" with his special taekwondo fighters in munich. The kids from kulmbach were able to show off their skills there. Taekwondo has a very positive effect on people with disabilities, but in kulmbach it is only taught as a form of therapy at schools in kempten and bad tolz.
"For example, balance is difficult for my daughter ilka", explains the trainer. The girl suffers from a muscle disorder. "It's fun", says the 13-year-old and concentrates twice as hard. Because she wants to manage to do all the movements just like daddy did.
The "special" ones taekwondo students showed a form run in munich, called hyong in the technical jargon. "That worked really well", praises the trainer. He explains that a form run consists of many prescribed movements. The first hyong alone, the simplest exercise with the name "heaven and earth", is composed of 19 prescribed movements, blocking and attacking techniques, which must be followed exactly. Even the placement of the punch is exactly prescribed, the crotch positions anyway.
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