She’s the very best round.
A Dartmouth-bound Lengthy Island excessive schooler is kicking the competitors by incomes a coveted black belt at an accelerated tempo — all whereas maintaining a 4.0 GPA with tons of extracurriculars within the combine.
“The black belt was at the top of my list and what I’ve wanted the most,” Westhampton Seaside senior Willow DuBrovin informed The Put up of her main milestone within the conventional Korean martial artwork of Soo Bahk Do, which was well-liked earlier than the rise of taekwondo within the Nineteen Sixties.
“I’m ecstatic to be attending my Ivy League school, but I didn’t think about college like I did with this. It’s the longest time I’ve ever wanted something and successfully got it.”
As a toddler, DuBrovin had a tough time in athletics due to migraines — and an absence of curiosity in group sports activities like soccer and basketball.
Nonetheless, after dabbling in Brazilian jiu-jitsu early in highschool, she met Grasp John Kim of Westhampton’s Studio Moodo and fell in love with Soo Bahk Do.
“I’m a very physical person, my sister and I used to fight a lot, so maybe it came from there,” joked the 18-year-old DuBrovin, who will examine physics on a pre-med observe.
DuBrovin shortly soared beneath Kim, and the grasp realized she may very well be fast-tracked to vie for a black belt earlier than the tip of highschool due to her dedication.
She even helps him with youth courses and can develop into a Jo Kyo (licensed assistant) after the paperwork for her black belt is processed.
“She was coming here six, seven times a week,” stated Kim, who ran DuBrovin by brutal drills akin to throwing 120 punches in half a minute — about 4 per second — or holding a plank for six-and-a-half minutes to strengthen her core for kicks.
“It was a partnership, but she’s the one who showed up … she was the perfect candidate to motivate and push.”
She will be able to kick it
DuBrovin’s two-and-a-half-year journey in combating bolstered the remainder of her extraordinarily well-rounded curriculum vitae, she stated.
“Since I started coming here regularly, balancing my academics and outside life has been a lot easier,” added DuBrovin, who took 14 AP courses, writes a column for Dan’s Papers, was president of her robotics membership and helped lead her enterprise membership to a global championship.
“When you come here, you work out your mind and your body, but when you leave, you relax, have a clear head, and I can kind of get everything done really quickly. … I was able to increase my workload a lot.”
Even her grasp can’t assist however marvel on the impeccable stability DuBrovin has achieved.
“My nickname for her is #TripleB: brains, brawn and then her mom added beauty,” Kim stated. “She’s like a perfect package.”
Since December, the inseparable pair went into specialised coaching to arrange for her first — and solely — try on the black belt in Baltimore earlier this month.
From pencils to punches
“The test is about three hours long non-stop … it’s brutal, absolutely brutal,” DuBrovin stated.
For starters, she needed to memorize all of the strikes by their Korean names after which rigorously reveal duties such because the 120 punches in 30 seconds and 120 consecutive kicks, half of which contain variations of leaping.
“The jump kicks were very hard for me,” she stated. “You have to really lift yourself up off the ground … it is a lot harder than it looks.”
Then comes the grueling Hyung, combative dances that evoke the character of sure animals. Naturally, DuBrovin selected the passai, or king cobra snake, to push herself as it’s the most difficult.
The trial additionally examined DuBrovin’s thoughts as she was required to write down an essay on a selected matter.
She penned a passage on her life earlier than Studio Moodo and the way her household moved to almost 30 locations over the tri-state earlier than settling in East Quogue.
“I never really got to like hold on to community growing up,” she stated. “My essay was about how I found a home in the studio and the people that I train with every day.”
Subsequent, DuBrovin is wanting right into a martial arts membership on campus to proceed her coaching and ensuring her grasp, who’s giving her an inaugural scholarship towards Dartmouth, stays proud.
“I find socializing a lot easier, I find working under pressure a lot easier, all thanks to my training,” she stated.
“I’ve definitely grown as a person here.”
