LAKE STEVENS — Before he started taekwondo, Cole Becker loved pulling a chair to the edge of the mat and watching with rapt attention as his older brother and the other kids kicked and chopped.
Cole Becker was 2 years old.
“Instead of running around and playing with the other (small) kids, he’d watch,” his mother, Jodi Becker, said. “I never had to look to see where Cole was because he’d be watching the whole class.
“And then all of a sudden he started doing the moves, too. Right there, by himself.”
Before long, young Cole was enrolled in a beginner class. By the time he was 2½, he was training with kids ages 4 to 6. By the time he was 3½ he was working out with the grade school kids.
And in May, just two months after he turned 6, Lake Stevens kindergarten student Cole Becker received his black belt in taekwondo.
According to Master Sung Soo Kim, head instructor at Taigon Taekwondo in Lake Stevens, Cole Becker is believed to be the youngest American child ever to receive a Kukkiwon black belt, although specific records are not available. Kukkiwon is the official taekwondo governing organization established by the South Korean government.
To Master Kim, to Cole’s parents Jodi and Steve, and maybe to everyone except Cole himself, it is a remarkable achievement.
“He’s been doing it for four years, so I’d forgotten how young he was when he started and how much younger he was than the other kids,” Steve Becker said. “I wasn’t surprised that he got his black belt because he’s been working hard and it’s a natural progression, but I almost had to step back and be reminded of the achievement and then the framing of it in terms of his age.
“And then,” he added, “I had to pinch myself because it’s my kid.”
Earning a taekwondo black belt is a significant achievement for people of any age. For Taigon Taekwondo students, it is a three-day process. The first day is a written examination, the second day a test of strength and physical stamina with a 3-mile run, push-ups and sit-ups; and on the third day the display of taekwondo forms and techniques, including sparring.
Cole Becker had to exhibit the same proficiency as adult students, with two exceptions. Children under 14 break half-inch boards with kicks and chops, while older students break bricks. Also, Cole’s written test was actually an oral exam because he is still learning to read and write.
Cole scored very well on all his tests, including his written (oral) exam. One requirement was that he had to know Korean numbers 1 to 100 as well as many other Korean words.
“His memory,” said Master Kim, who is a sixth-degree black belt, “is really awesome.”
The best thing about taekwondo, Cole Becker said, “is that I get to be in the same class as my brother.” That would be 8-year-old Seth, also a black belt.
Parents Jodi and Steve, meanwhile, are brown belts, which means they have some catching up to do.
“(The boys) get to teach me,” Steve Becker said with a smile. “I’ll ask Cole, ‘What’s the next move in this form?’ And he’ll know. So it’s kind of a neat role reversal.”
For the Beckers — youngest son Owen is 2½ and may also get started someday — taekwondo offers a good workout, “and it’s something we can all do together,” Steve Becker said.
And for both boys, Jodi and Steve agree, it has the added benefit of teaching commitment, discipline, poise and confidence.
“Cole can stand up in front of people, like his class at school, and just talk,” Jodi Becker said. “And he can sit and take a test, and he’s focused the whole time.”
“I don’t know if he got confidence because of taekwondo or if it’s because he never learned that he shouldn’t have it,” Steve Becker said. “Because he was doing taekwondo at such a young age, he never had to get over (shyness) because he’s been doing things in front of people since he was 2.”
And in terms of his black belt, “he might have some pride or sense of accomplishment,” his father said. “He’s good at it and he enjoys it, but I think he’s mostly just having fun.”
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