Master Gerardo DeJesus

If you’re looking to get your child or yourself into Olympic Taekwondo then you might want to check out DeJesus Taekwondo, home of Team Olympic. In DeJesus Taekwondo school you will learn from five time national champion, four time TKD team member, and three time US Cup Gold Medalist, Master Gerardo DeJesus.

Master DeJesus started taking martial arts at the age of eight. His inspiration for taking up the martial arts like most of all the older generation masters was Bruce Lee. DeJesus’s grandmother would him kicking away in the back yard with friends so she decided to have him put that energy to good use so she enrolled him into Karate. After reaching green belt he switch to TKD. DeJesus was fascinated with point sparring so he started learning TKD from Grand Master Kwong J. Lee.

DeJesus describes Kwong J. Lee as a traditional TKD instructor. Everything he taught was straight out of Korea. It wasn’t americanized like some schools are today. Dejesus remembers Kwong Lee as a very strict old fashion Grand Master. It was hard to understand Kwan Lee’s English so whatever he said they had to learn it through the Korean language.
At age thirteen DeJesus competed in point sparring. At seventeen he switched to a quicker Olympic style sparring.

From the age of twenty five DeJesus has reaped the rewards of hard training by being a five time national champion and three time U.S. Cup Gold Medalist. At the age of forty three DeJesus continues to compete. In 2006 and 2007 DeJesus won the forms championships. He now has a total of seventeen form championships.

At age thirty DeJesus dedicated himself full time to teaching TKD. Grand Master Kwong Lee had a handful of schools for DeJesus to teach. DeJesus now teaches at his own school in Pembroke Pines, FL.

Five times a year Master DeJesus holds the Florida Gold Coast AAU Taekwondo tournament. For anyone who is not familiar with the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union), it is an organization that offers thirty plus sports including the Taekwondo program to all ages and abilities. AAU members participate in local, state, regional, and national tournaments. The tournaments consist of Forms, Point Sparring, and Olympic-style
scoring. AAU Taekwondo competition includes the Youth and Adult National Taekwondo Championship during the July 4th weekend and the AAU Junior Olympic Games, which is the largest national multi-sport event conducted for the youth in the United States. The inaugural games were hosted in 1968 at Washington DC with 523 athletes. Since then, the popularity of the game has grown to 12,000 athletes representing all 50 states.

The next event will be the 2009 Florida Gold Coast AAU Taekwondo Championship Nationals & Junior Olympic Qualifier Saturday, January 10, 2009 at the Charles W. Flanagan High School. 12800 Taft St Pembroke Pines, FL 33028.

If you’re considering to get into Olympic Taekwondo this would be the place to start. Master DeJesus hopes that the tournaments will become one of the major significance in the uprising of future athletes. The tournaments give the students the opportunity to acquire experience and a chance to compete at the next level.

Master DeJesus also has a team called the Pembroke Pines Tigers who compete at Combaton “The martial arts team sport”. Those who are not familiar with combaton it is a sport that has a mixture of football, basketball, and martial arts. The game is played on a rectangular field 100 feet by 200 feet with six players on each team for out door, or three players on each team for indoors. It’s similar to American football, but instead of blocking and tackling, the player uses martial arts kicks to contact their opponent. The objective of the game is for the offense in possession of the baton to kick out the defense’s goal pole from the mount in order to score points for their team.

If you would like to learn more about Master Dejesus, The 2009 Florida Gold Coast AAU Taekwondo Championship Tournament, or Combaton, you can visit DeJesus at his school at 7938 Pines Blvd Pembroke Pines FL, 33024 or call (954) 964-7676. You can also log on to www.DeJesusTeamOlympic.com .

The AAU Taekwondo association held its National & Junior Olympic Qualifying tournament at the Police Athletic League Saturday February 16,2008.

For anyone who is not familiar with the Amateur Athletic Union it is an organization that offers thirty plus sports including the Taekwondo program to all ages and abilities. AAU members participate in local, state, regional, and national tournaments. The tournaments consist of Forms, Point Sparring, and Olympic- style scoring. AAU Taekwondo competition includes the Youth and Adult National Taekwondo Championship during the July 4th weekend and the AAU Junior Olympic Games which is the largest national multi-sport event conducted for the youth in the United States. The inaugural games were hosted in 1968 at Washington D.C with 523 athletes. Since then, the popularity of the game has grown to 12,000 athletes representing all 50 states.

Fighters Measure Each Other Up

Saturday’s event had a lot of good matches. Jermaine James came out on top in the 18-34 Black Belts Bantan Sparring. Brian Feller of Fellers Taekwondo came in second and Dana Willoughby of Peak performance Miami came in third. Five year old Alessandra Matarazzo from Team Florida took the Gold in sparring and Silver in forms. Se’ke’ Godo of Chung’s Mudo won the Mens Heavy Weight Black Belt division. Finally who could forget Alexis Martinez from Peak Performance team Miami. Alexis showed incredible speed and athleticism to take home the gold.

Red Just Misses the Head Kick

This was the first time I attended an Olympic-style scoring tournament. The scoring system adds to the excitement of the matches. For those who are not familiar with the scoring there are three scoring officials who are placed in the corner of mat. The officials hold two joysticks in there hand one being red and one blue. The competitors wear blue and red padding. Whenever a competitor makes a potential point the officials press on the joy stick that the scoring competitor’s color is. In order for an official point to be scored two out of the three officials must press the joystick within a matter of seconds. A monitor displays the score and how much time is left in the match.

Move Around and Keep Those Hands Up

My compliments to AAU organizer Master Gerardo Dejesus. It was one of the most organized tournaments that I have been to. What I liked most about the tournament was that the black belts competed first. Usually in most tournaments if not all the black belts are the last to compete. By the time the black belts are up most of the crowd have left the venue. In this tournament the crowd was pumped up watching the masters show there stuff. I believe this is better. Not only does this give the black belts the respect that they deserve but, it also gives a chance for the students to see their teachers in action. You could see that the lower belts were psyched to compete after the black belts. I know I was.

For more information on AAU Taekwondo contact
Master Gerardo DeJesus from DeJesus TaeKwondo Home of Team Olympic at 7938 Pines Blvd Pembroke Pines, Fl 33024. (954) 964-7676 or www.aautaekwondo.org .