Texas Taekwondo - In the Coach's Corner

Originally recorded April 28, 2024. We're back! Welcome to Season 3! In episode one, Coach Mike chats with graduating seniors Jordan Engstrom, and Coach Jason Dahlberg who are both about to embark on the next big chapter of their lives after leading Texas Taekwondo to its 5th consecutive national title at the 47th NCTA Championships at UC Berkeley. What will these two be doing after graduation? Who was in FFA in high school (what does that even mean?)? Who wore the wrong dobak to their first tournament?! Find out! From Nacogdoches, Texas, Jordan Engstrom started her martial arts journey at the Nacogdoches Blackbelt Academy. She joined Texas Taekwondo as a freshman in 2020 and later served as the Director of Finance, Vice President, and eventually President for the 2023-2024 school year. Following graduation, she will be moving to Washington state where she will be working as a Fish Health Technician for Pacific Seafood. From Deerfield, Illinois, Jason Dahlberg started his martial arts journey at the Keumgang Martial Arts Academy. He joined Texas Taekwondo as a freshman in 2020 where he was Texas Taekwondo's first HP Poomsae athlete and was selected to represent the US at the 2023 Summer World University Games in Chengdu, China. Jason served as a Student Coach and eventually the Head Poomsae Coach from 2022-2024. Following graduation, he will be pursuing a PhD in Geology at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Originally recorded September 3, 2021.

We're still here!

In episode eight, Coach Mike chats with recent graduates Eliza Fisher, and Yash Sarda who are both starting off their careers and post college lives. Eliza and Yash have been friends since high school, joined Texas Taekwondo together, and were both part of Texas Taekwondo's championship team in 2019. What rec sport club did they almost join before finding a home at Texas Taekwondo? What type of uber-nerdy-cool careers are these two doing these days? Find out! 

From Austin, Texas, Eliza Fisher started her martial arts journey as an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin with Texas Taekwondo, from 2018-2020. During her time she held various leadership roles such as the Social Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator, and the Kicks for Kids program lead. Some of her notable achievements as a competitor include winning gold at the 2019 NCTA Championships and the 2019 USA Taekwondo Nationals. She currently resides in Austin working in computational linguistics/natural language understanding development.

From Austin, Texas, Yash Sarda started his martial arts journey as an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin with Texas Taekwondo, from 2018-2020. Some of his notable achievements include placing at the 2019 NCTA Championships and becoming the first student to earn a Kukkiwon under Texas Taekwondo. He currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia working as a machine learning engineer while pursuing a master's degree with the University of Texas at Austin.

Originally recorded June 2, 2020.

Episode five features Old Horns Sean Salashour and Dr. Jesus Ramos! What were some of the strange taekwondo experiences both Hector and Jesus experienced in Mexico? What influenced Jesus to join taekwondo? What was Sean's most memorable tournament? What was the Iron Tran competition?

From Cypress, Texas, Sean Salashour earned is 3rd Dan in taekwondo with the American Taekwondo Association (ATA). He joined Texas Taekwondo as a sophomore in 2003 and and was an assistant instructor with the club his senior year in 2005. He now lives in Houston with his wife where he is currently working as a CPA accountant.

From Monterrey, Mexico, Jesus Ramos began learning taekwondo in 1984 and eventually earned his kukkiwon before moving to the United States. He first joined Texas Taekwondo as a club member from 2001-2004 when he was a graduate student and later joined the competition team from 2009 - 2011 when he was a visiting university scholar. He now lives in Connecticut with his wife and two daughters where he is currently a professor of Music History and Ethnomusicology at the University of Connecticut.

From Eagle Pass, Texas, Coach Hector moved to Pennsylvania after this episode was recorded to work for Boeing as a Manufacturing Engineer. He's been staying active by snowboarding in the winter, going to the gym, mountain biking, and trying to find cool camping spots.

Originally recorded June 5, 2020. We're back! In episode seven, Coach Mike chats with alumni Jenny Kim, Rachel Agnite, and Khiem Hoang who were all instrumental team mates leading up to Texas Taekwondo's championship year in 2018.  Who crashed into the judges table in their first tournament? Who had their own podcast named "Drumroll Please"? Who hyped themselves up before their matches by shouting "be aggressive!!" over and over in their head? Find out!  From San Antonio, Texas, Jenny Kim started training in taekwondo at the Korea-America Taekwondo Academy in San Antonio, Texas. She joined Texas Taekwondo as a freshman in 2014 and placed at the NCTA Championships in 2015, 2018 as well as the 2018 USA Taekwondo Nationals. She us currently studying at UT Southwestern Medical School and on her inpatient internal medicine rotation at Clements Hospital. From Hayward, California, Rachel Agnite started training in taekwondo as a freshman with Texas Taekwondo in 2014. During her time at Texas Taekwondo, Rachel was a coach in the Kicks for Kids program, a student coach in her last year, and placed at the NCTA Championships in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 as well as the 2018 USA Taekwondo Nationals. She is currently a pharmacy technician and artist. From Hue, Vietnam, Khiem Hoang started training in taekwondo as a freshman with Texas Taekwondo in 2014. During their time at Texas Taekwondo, Khiem served a the social events coordinator, team's spiritual leader (Texas - FIGHT!), and placed in the NCTA Championships in 2018. They are currently studying at UT Southwestern Medical School.

Originally recorded June 4, 2020.  In episode four, Coach Mike and alumni Andrea Wilson sit down with Tania Sebrero Hernandez and Ecequiel Chavez, both of whom earned the distinction of "Most Improved Athlete" in 2017 and 2018.  How do athletes like Tania and Ecequiel find the drive in a sport they are new to? What kinds of personal adversities did they encounter?  From Houston, Texas, Tania Sebrero Hernadez joined Texas Taekwondo as a sophomore in 2015. From 2016 to 2017, Tania was part of the Texas Taekwondo competition team and was named the most improved athlete of the year for 2017. She now lives in San Antonio, Texas serving in the United States Air Force. From Ennis, Texas, Ecequiel Chavez joined Texas Taekwondo as a freshman in 2015. From 2015-2018, Ecequiel was part of the Texas Taekwondo competition team and was named the most improved athlete of the year for 2018. He now lives in Austin, Texas where he works for Restore Cryotherapy.