Beyond the Bus

A family that does Tae Kwon Do together stays together. That’s how the saying goes, right?

For CATA IT Director Dan Goodemoot, this has been exactly right. When his two daughters were young, he and his wife began looking for an activity they could all do together.

With his daughters in dance at the time, Goodemoot knew he would need to find an activity that appealed to the grace and strength found in dance, but with the comradery and family atmosphere that he was seeking. This is when he and his family discovered Tae Kwon Do.  “We found this small group that was training a few miles away from us and went, it was a small class at the time [...] so our whole family joined!” Goodemoot said.

Little did they know at the time of the their first class, this would be a sport they would enjoy and excel at for years to come. Goodemoot and his wife have recently been awarded their third-degree black belts, with his daughters following their parent's lead closely, both obtaining second degree black belts. In his advanced training, Goodemoot has studied the history of Tae Kwon Do, spent countless hours learning forms and even learning to break through both pine and concrete boards! 

“Concrete is usually saved for just before black belt, we have someone break one, as you get further on in training, you break more and more. My last testing, I had 10 lined up and I broke 9 of them,” Goodemoot said.

Since the onset of COVID-19, many gyms have had to close their doors. The Goodemoot’s Tae Kwan Do gym made the innovative decision to take things outside, utilizing a small lawn next to their building to allow athletes to practice.

“We worked out outside and made sure we socially distanced away from each other, it was nice that we could still work together as families because we had been in contact with each other already” Goodemoot explained.

The Goodemoot family has come a long way since day one of class, and they have no plans on ending their training any time soon. Goodemoot currently instructs younger classes teaching basic forms and self-defense skills while also continuing his work toward a third-degree black belt. 

“I have been responsible for a lot of the final stage training for the colored belts — non-black belt students — so watching them, and specifically my daughters go through and get their black belts, has been a very proud moment for me,” he concluded.