S.B. academy home to a champion and a master Students, instructor earn accolades at tae kwon do tournament in Little Rock BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer SOUTH BRUNSWICK - South Brunswick is now home to the only female tae kwon do master in the entire northeast region, as well as an 11-year-old world champion. Students and instructors from the American Taekwondo Association Black Belt Academy in South Brunswick went to the ATA world championship held June 20-25 in Little Rock, Ark. There, 11-year-old Jessica Goldman attained the title of world champion in weapons and forms, and instructor Karla Capobianco gained the title of tae kwon do master. Many other students from South Brunswick also placed during the competition. Tae kwon do is a martial arts form that originated in Korea, and loosely translated means "the art of the hand and foot." It primarily emphasizes kicking techniques along with a series of hand strikes and blocks. Capobianco's ascension to master of tae kwon do took one year. Through the year, three times a week, she needed to perform 200 kicks, 100 push-ups, run two miles and meditate for 20 minutes. "I was already doing this anyway; I was teaching it in classes, so that was easy," said Capobianco. Above, Jessica Goldman, world tae kwon do champion in forms and weaponry for her age group, demonstrates her elite skills. Below: Jessica, 11, poses with tae kwon do master and her instructor, Karla Copabianco. The difficult part, she said, was the mental component, which involved reading a large number of books, including "The Art of War," "Living the Martial Arts Way," "The Analects of Confucius" and many others. In addition, she needed to write 40 papers in which she discussed her thoughts on the books as well as her vision for martial arts instruction. "Probably finding time to read the books and write the paper was the most difficult because, well, I'm working every evening, and when I'm not working I'm putting together class planners and doing the business side of it. So, you're continually trying to forecast the business and trying to bring more people in, follow up with the paperwork and finances, which leaves my Sunday my family day. And every Sunday night I was pretty much doing this, so there's a few barbecues and family events I missed because I didn't see how I was going to get this done any other way," said Capobianco. The final step, of which only 15 of the 35 who applied for mastership qualified for, was the trip to Little Rock, where she fasted for nine days while performing a variety of workouts, including a four-mile run, a rock climb and a police fitness test. For the first three days, the fast involved reducing food intake by one-third each day and living off nothing but water the rest of the time. The first meal they received after the fast was finished was two jars of baby food to get the body used to digesting again. In the end, Copabianco managed to pass the requirements to gain her sixth-degree black belt, which meant she was a master of tae kwon do. Meanwhile, on the tournament floor, students from the school were competing in a variety of tests of skill in the martial arts, with judges gauging the young students' knowledge of forms, weaponry and sparring skill. Christian Thorne, now 11, was the third-place winner in forms and first place in sparring and weapons for boys 8-10 years for students with second- and third-degree black belts. According to Thorne, "learning and correcting bad habits" was the most difficult part. Brian DiBartolo, 7, earned fifth place for forms, eighth place for sparring, and ninth place for weapons for boys 7-and-under with first-degree black belts. Analis Capobianco, 9, qualified for eighth place for sparring in girls 8-10 for first-degree black belts; and Cody Capobianco, 13, qualified for 10th place in sparring in boys 11-13 with second- and third-degree black belts. However, it was Jessica Goldman, 11, of Princeton Junction, who placed first in forms and weapons, where she demonstrated the use of nunchaku and received the title of world champion for girls age 11-13. Goldman has been practicing martial arts for six years, two to three days a week for about an hour. She has been practicing competitively for some years now, having been to places such as Orlando, Las Vegas, California, Texas, Arkansas and Massachusetts. According to Goldman, she was not interested in sports until her dad signed her up for tae kwon do. "[I like] being able to learn and have fun at the same time and being able to learn new things correctly," said Goldman. To her, winning the title was no easy feat, with the various forms and maneuvers being easy to pick up but difficult to perfect. "It was hard. It was very hard. Hard to get in and then there was the actual competition," said Goldman.