MONROE - Twenty-five years ago, Greg Bowles, Monticello, decided to show up at Turner Hall in Monroe to take a Tae Kwon Do class from Keith Pelz.
He only did so because his friend Jerome Voegel, one of Pelz's student, had been asking him to come.
"I was wearing jogging clothes, uncoordinated - I couldn't chew bubble gum and walk at the same time," he said with a smile.
When he came home to show his wife, Wanda, the front snap kick he had learned that evening, he slipped and landed on his back in the middle of the kitchen floor.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Wanda asked standing over him.
Bowles is now working on his fourth-degree black belt. He has been seen breaking a stack of nine cement patio pavers with one downward knife-hand strike and has trained under the world Grandmaster Won Sun Jung in Rockville, Md. Jung holds ninth-degree black belts in two different martial arts.
Bowles' passion is not just for the martial art, but also for kids.
Bowles had taught weekly Tae Kwon Do classes for eight years in Mt. Horeb. He has trained students in adult criminal justice classes at Edgewood College and at women's self-defense classes at the University of Wisconsin. He also has trained Department of Revenue agents.
Only after his son begged him to come to Monroe did he begin teaching Tae Kwon Do classes at Turner Hall in May of this year.
"My son and about four to five other kids had an old duffle bag hanging up in an old wooden shed on the west side, trying to do martial arts," Bowles said. "I could see they had skill and ability; they just needed structure and organization. I couldn't say no. I had to find a way."
Bowles went first to Keith and Vicki Pelz. Since they were not reopening their school, which they closed in 2001, the couple gave Bowles their blessing to open his own school in Turner Hall.
He then approached the Turner Hall board, which gave him a unanimous yes, and told him to bring Tae Kwon Do back to its home.
"They said, 'The moral values and moral issues of Tae Kwon Do are so important in what we do here. We're going to do this,'" Bowles said.
Classes are held Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and currently have 18 steady students. New students, from age 5 and up, are welcome to "jump in" at any time, Bowles said.
Tae Know Do can help kids develop respect, discipline and other moral characteristics, Bowles said.
He has seen at least two students go from getting Ds and Fs in school to a 4.0 grade-point average. One even has gone on to earn two women's titles in free-style.
Last week, he presented yellow belts to his Monroe Tae Kwon Do students, and a green belt to his son, Travis, in the same upstairs gym at Turner Hall where he first trained.
Parents react in amazement at the changes in their children through Bowles' teaching.
"But I tell them, 'take a look at what your kids have done.'" Bowles said. "We're a coach; they did the work and deserve credit for it. Kids want discipline and want to learn."
More information on Tae Kwon Do is available by calling 938-4553, by e-mail at 4bowles@tds.net, or at the Web site at www.newglarustaekwando.com.
He only did so because his friend Jerome Voegel, one of Pelz's student, had been asking him to come.
"I was wearing jogging clothes, uncoordinated - I couldn't chew bubble gum and walk at the same time," he said with a smile.
When he came home to show his wife, Wanda, the front snap kick he had learned that evening, he slipped and landed on his back in the middle of the kitchen floor.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Wanda asked standing over him.
Bowles is now working on his fourth-degree black belt. He has been seen breaking a stack of nine cement patio pavers with one downward knife-hand strike and has trained under the world Grandmaster Won Sun Jung in Rockville, Md. Jung holds ninth-degree black belts in two different martial arts.
Bowles' passion is not just for the martial art, but also for kids.
Bowles had taught weekly Tae Kwon Do classes for eight years in Mt. Horeb. He has trained students in adult criminal justice classes at Edgewood College and at women's self-defense classes at the University of Wisconsin. He also has trained Department of Revenue agents.
Only after his son begged him to come to Monroe did he begin teaching Tae Kwon Do classes at Turner Hall in May of this year.
"My son and about four to five other kids had an old duffle bag hanging up in an old wooden shed on the west side, trying to do martial arts," Bowles said. "I could see they had skill and ability; they just needed structure and organization. I couldn't say no. I had to find a way."
Bowles went first to Keith and Vicki Pelz. Since they were not reopening their school, which they closed in 2001, the couple gave Bowles their blessing to open his own school in Turner Hall.
He then approached the Turner Hall board, which gave him a unanimous yes, and told him to bring Tae Kwon Do back to its home.
"They said, 'The moral values and moral issues of Tae Kwon Do are so important in what we do here. We're going to do this,'" Bowles said.
Classes are held Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and currently have 18 steady students. New students, from age 5 and up, are welcome to "jump in" at any time, Bowles said.
Tae Know Do can help kids develop respect, discipline and other moral characteristics, Bowles said.
He has seen at least two students go from getting Ds and Fs in school to a 4.0 grade-point average. One even has gone on to earn two women's titles in free-style.
Last week, he presented yellow belts to his Monroe Tae Kwon Do students, and a green belt to his son, Travis, in the same upstairs gym at Turner Hall where he first trained.
Parents react in amazement at the changes in their children through Bowles' teaching.
"But I tell them, 'take a look at what your kids have done.'" Bowles said. "We're a coach; they did the work and deserve credit for it. Kids want discipline and want to learn."
More information on Tae Kwon Do is available by calling 938-4553, by e-mail at 4bowles@tds.net, or at the Web site at www.newglarustaekwando.com.