Published Tuesday, April 29, 2008 4:27 PM
Updated Tuesday, April 29, 2008 4:28 PM

 

Smith’s does it again

Ray Smith’s Tae Kwon Do earned 111 medals en route to earning its 18th state Tae Kwon Do championship.

Earlier this month, 51 students from the dojo competed in the 40th annual South Carolina State Tae Kwon Do Championships at E.L. Wright Middle School in Columbia on Saturday.  The tournament was a National qualifier for the Junior and Senior National championships in Detroit, Michigan in July and featured Tae Kwon Do teams from across the country in individual competition in Form, Sparring and Board Breaking.

The tournament also features a team championship based on points awarded for medals –Gold (5pts), Silver (3pts) and Bronze (1pt).  Ray Smith’s Tae Kwon Do, which has operated out of Summerville for the past 28 years, won the first place team championship with a total team score of 365 points.

“It sure helps when you win 111 medals including, 49 Gold, 29 Silver and 33 Bronze medals!” Master Ray Smith said.  

Travis Faith, a 16-year-old who holds a third-degree Black Belt who earned gold at the 2008 U.S. Open in February, won his 13th state title. He won the Feather Weight Division for the Black Belt 14-17 year old group and the 18-32 year old group. The U.S. Olympic Committee has recognized him as a future Olympic hopeful.

John Villeneuve won the Heavy Weight division for the Black Belt 18-32 year old group. Villeneuve beat Alexander White, a former U.S. National team member from North Carolina, in sudden death. White is on the All Armed Forces National team and has a long resume of excellence in National, Collegiate and the International competition events. This win for Villeneuve should serve notice to all the U.S. heavyweights that he is going to be a force to be reckoned with at Nationals in July. He won the Silver medal at the 2008 U.S. Open.

Omar Aguilar, age 5, brought down the house during board breaking competition. Aguilar, who only weighs 38 pounds, competed in the Blue Belt under 52 pound category. He won the competition with a hammer fist strike. He also won the sparring and forms competition, giving him three total state titles.

“He is our little Bruce Lee,” Smith said.

Smith, who was inducted into the U.S.A. Martial Arts Hall of Fame last year,  was recognized at the opening ceremony by USA Tae Kwon Do for his outstanding support at the State and National level. He has been picked to coach the U.S. National team in International competition in Mexico City in October and has been appointed to USA Tae Kwon Do’s Martial Arts Commission.

Smith’s students have won 633 individual South Carolina titles and 69 national titles. The team continues to improve every year.

“Our coaching staff and I have are working on the right things and we continue to get better” Smith said. “This was a huge day for us as individual’s and as state’s top Tae Kwon Do school.

Others who medaled for the dojo were Chandler Ackermann, Alexander Brown,  Sam Campbell, Gunner Carlson, Christopher Doll, Sarah Doll, Jared Driggers, Marlon Duke, Christian Ellis, David Ellis, Trevor Faith, Chloe Garren, Bryce Howe, Amber Howell, Tradd Howell, Seth Julian, Daniel Koontz, Alex Lazik, Lucas Lazik, Tyler Lyden, Davis Meyer, Griffin Meyer, Robert Meyer, Angela Mills, William Mills, Trey Mills, Vincent Musti, Dru Nimmich, Brian Nyvall, Joseph Nyvall, Patrick O’Brien, Cary Page, Chelsie Page, Jennifer Page, Justin Page, Kalin Pavlov, Emmanuel Perrine, Pam Perrine, Wil Price, Sam Shakibanasab, Shane Shaughnessy, Zakiya Stafford, George Unsigner, Ryan Unsinger, Lewis Vaughan and Nathan Wolf.