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| Tae Kwon Do reshapes life of Bucyrus’ Drew |
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| Sports - Louisburg | |||
| Written by Andy Brown | |||
| Wednesday, 08 July 2009 13:07 | |||
 Natalie Drew spends most of her week breaking boards, practicing with swords, nunchucks and sparring.It is not exactly the life of an ordinary 11-year-old girl, but Natalie is anything but ordinary. Natalie has spent the last four years of her life trying to master the art of Tae Kwon Do and it has led to some amazing feats. She rose through 11 levels of belts in two years to earn her first degree black belt. She can now add a state championship to her resume. Natalie earned the title of Kansas State Champion in sparring just a few weeks ago and also took second in forms and weapons. It appears to be the start of a fine career in martial arts. “I have a lot of things that I like about it,” Natalie said. “The thing I like is you can learn leadership and life skills. It really teaches you a lot about life and plus I get a chance to meet people from all over the globe at different tournaments and things. It is a lot of fun.” The Bucyrus resident was introduced to the world of Tae Kwon Do with the help of her father, Dirk, in late 2005. Exactly two years later, Natalie received a black belt at age nine and she continued to improve after that. Natalie’s parents, Kim and Dirk, don’t regret the decision of sending their daughter to the class one bit. “As the parent of an ATA Tae Kwon Do student, my wife and I have never met so many people who are courteous and respectful to everyone around them,” Dirk said. She has accumulated several first and second place trophies over the last few years in board breaking and sparring. Natalie started out in a gym without much instruction and was ready to give the sport up. “My first school just basically put a bag in front of you and you just worked on that the entire time, and at first I liked it, but it got boring after awhile and I just wanted to quit,” she said. “My dad wouldn’t let me and we found my current school and it has been great.” Natalie currently trains at ATA Tae Kwon Do near 127th and Pflumm in Overland Park and she hasn’t regretted the decision to keep going. She believes she is a better person because of it. “My grades have really improved since I started this,” she said. “I have more friends now and I am more open because before I was more shy. The main thing they want us to learn is leadership. They just want us to have respect for others and just have fun with it.” ATA Tae Kwon Do teaches several students education lessons for leadership, form, weapons, self-defense and extreme martial arts. It was there where Natalie started competing in national tournaments and the trophies would soon follow. Natalie recently attended a national tournament in Bellevue, Neb., and after taking first place in sparring there, she realized she had become the state leader in the event and became a state champion. On June 27, she attended the ATA World Championships in Little Rock, Ark. and was recognized for her state title in sparring. “My favorite event is definitely sparring,” Natalie said. “I like it because you get to put on all the gear so you can kick people and feel like you have won at something.” And for Natalie, winning is all good.
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