MONROE — After nearly two decades using space at St. Victor School as its home, Elite Tae Kwon Do has moved to the city’s historic downtown Square.

“This has always been a dream of mine to have a building that I can come to and don’t have to be restricted by hours,” said Aric Barnard, owner and instructor for Elite Tae Kwon Do. “It was awesome being at St. Vic’s and everything — it was a big facility — but I’m really excited to see what the next steps will be for me and my progression with my students here.”

The corner space, located on the northwest corner of the square at 1601 10th St., used to house medical equipment among other ventures. Over the past two months, Barnard has renovated the inside, lightened the walls and opened the space up for his gym.

“I’ve lived here for probably the last couple of weeks,” Barnard said. “I’ve noticed the foot traffic, and people popping their heads in here — it’s been a good thing so far and we haven’t really gotten going yet. I’m excited to see what that will hold.”

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Elite Tae Kwon Do had a roster of about 60-65 people, ranging in age from early elementary school age to senior citizens.

“Right now, it’s about keeping class sizes small and everybody safe — space out and things like that. That’s a challenge, but hopefully we can navigate through this,” Barnard said. 

On July 11, Barnard was able to begin holding smaller classes again, which included his son, Beckett. Students worked on form, fundamentals and before class practiced with training weapons like a bo staff and katana.

“I encourage our students to get a solid foundation before they learn the weapons arts. Usually about our third rank I start introducing some, but the weapons program is separate from our Tae Kwon Do program,” Barnard said. “Kids just want to do karate — kicking and punching — it’s a way to get out energy in a good way.” Translated to “The art of hand and foot fighting,” Tae Kwon Do is an ancient Korean form of self-defense.

Alexa Thayer, 17 of Monroe, has been a member of Elite Tae Kwon Do for a decade and said that getting a chance to train in the new gym is like a dream come true.

“During COVID, I was practicing in my basement every day, just doing a bunch of Tae Kwon Do things,” Thayer said. “Now we have this (facility) and we’re going to get mats and mirrors and that’s what I’ve always wanted. Even though I will be a senior this year and won’t be here in a year, it’s still super exciting to get this place going — especially coming from a catholic school gym where we can’t even get into now, whereas having our own gym where we can go into on Saturdays, it’s super exciting and amazing.”

Getting started

Barnard was just 5 years old when he was with his father at the bowling alley in Darlington in the 1980s and heard a ruckus in the basement. Larry Leuzinger of Monroe had been holding classes twice a week in Darlington, and Barnard’s father was able to get his son into the program. For the next 35 years, Aric Barnard has trained, competed and instructed Tae Kwon Do.

“I was really young for him (Leuzinger), but somehow my dad was able to finagle to get me in and I’ve been going since,” said Barnard, who is also a second-grade teacher at Northside Elementary in Monroe. 

He opened Elite Tae Kwon Do in 2002 out of a garage teaching private lessons to two boys, and the following year his classes began to call the gymnasium at St. Victor’s home.

“Through the whole process of teaching, I’ve continued my education,” said Barnard, who now holds the rank of sixth-degree black belt, which is Master status. “The evolution of teaching and learning — and now finding a building — I’m super stoked about everything.”

Barnard said he has basically lived at the new gym in recent weeks, using more than 15 buckets of paint, laying flooring and transferring equipment. He still has to get mats on the floor for sparring, and eyes adding large mirrors on the walls.

“I’m stoked to be here. It kind of took me out of my comfort zone,” Barnard said of preparing the gym. “It’s gradually coming together. A few more touches and it will be good. The room is so big, these walls are so huge, I don’t know how to cover them.”

Barnard is a second grade teacher at Northside Elementary in Monroe, and has been instructing Tae Kwon Do longer than public education. 

“To me it’s all about differentiation of your instruction. When you’re in school, you’re teaching a plethora of different learners in class. In the karate class, there’s that same thing, but I also have an age difference, ability difference, attention difference,” Barnard said. “Being a martial arts instructor has definitely helped me manage my school classroom a lot better, just by giving me the confidence that I can reach every different learner.”

He said that while the majority of his students are children, he does like holding adult classes as well.

“(Teaching) parents and adults, too, I get a big rush out of that. I spend all day with little kids, and when I get to work with an adult, it really fires me up, too,” Barnard said.

The part of martial arts instruction that Barnard cherishes the most is not just seeing the progress of his students, but hearing about their personal growth from family and friends.

“Whether it’s teaching second grade or martial arts, it’s not the kicking and punching — sometimes I’ll have kids come in that are very shy and are not very sure of themselves. I’ll watch their progression of training and watch them come out of their bubble and gain confidence,” Barnard said. “Having their parents mention that same thing gives me goosebumps.”

Testimonials

Bishop Yoder, 20, has trained under Barnard for more than 13 years. He is now a third-degree black belt.

“This is my life. It is just one of those hobbies you can always stick with,” Yoder said. “It’s not like football, which you have a shelf life. It is a lifelong skill and hobby that I can do forever. We have 80-year-old men doing this, and I will hopefully be doing this until I’m 80. It’s one of those hobbies you stumble into and love forever.”

Yoder is excited for the new space, and said his dream is to follow in his instructor’s footsteps and eventually open his own studio.

“I go to college in Whitewater and they don’t have this at all, so I am super jealous they have this. It is amazing,” Yoder said. “We’ve always wanted this. (We) compete everywhere against people who have dojos like this and train seven days a week, (while) we were in a catholic school gym twice a week. And now we have this? It’s beautiful.”

Thayer is a third-degree black belt as well, and also started learning under Barnard at age 7. She said in first grade she wanted to sign up, but her parents thought she was too young. The next year, with Barnard as her second-grade teacher, she was able to join. 

Thayer, entering her senior year at Monroe High School, also participates in cross country and track. 

“I’ve done other sports, but this has really stuck with me,” Thayer said. “It teaches you really about leadership. Through this, I’ve been able to start learning that I love teaching, because I love teaching the little kids who are where I was when I started out.

“You can take a lot of this stuff (to other sports), actually. I take my leadership stuff from here to cross country and track. The dedication to this really has me trying to be dedicated to my other sports as well. The motivation to do stuff, like the discipline, has really translated over to my other sports and has helped me.”

Tournament time

Now a seasoned veteran at tournaments, Thayer said a lot has changed in her decade of martial arts training.

“My first (competition) was Peosta (Iowa) when I was like, a yellow belt,” Thayer said. “I didn’t fight then; I just did my form — and I remembered I had to restart my form. But I got first place and the trophy was almost as big as me — and that’s when I got hooked.”

Thayer said she loves the Diamond National Tournament in Minnesota, where thousands of participants from around the country — and Europe — compete.

“I love competing against people from all over. At nationals, there are people from Poland and Europe,” Thayer said. “That (first) tournament was pretty small, about 200 competitors. It’s just really cool to see how I went from these little tournaments to now national ones where there are thousands of competitors.”

Elite Tae Kwon Do travels to a number of tournaments each year, including the Wisconsin Sport Karate League and the national event.

“The league started last year, and it’s a five-tournament circuit. We were really excited to bring a karate circuit back to Wisconsin — it has been a long time since that was able to happen,” Barnard said. “We host a tournament here in Monroe called the Elite Martial Arts Classic, which is the third tournament in the circuit and is held every August.”

Competitors accumulate points over the course of the year, similar to NASCAR, and at the end of the year a large banquet is held “to celebrate everybody’s success and growth,” Barnard said.

Along with the Aug. 16 tournament set for Monroe High School, Barnard also had planned on hosting a tournament at Kalahari in Wisconsin Dells, hoping to bring in competitors from across the nation. Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened and the event was scrapped.

“We’ll see what lies in store for next year,” Barnard said.