During any afternoon of the week, when you enter Horizon Martial Arts, you never know exactly who you will see.
What you can be sure of, however, is that you will see kids and adults, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters all working toward common goals.
Those goals are many, including physical fitness, family togetherness and self-discipline.
“You’ll see parents and kids in here all doing the same things and all working together,” Horizon Martial Arts (HMA) owner Jason Stoeckel explained. “That’s one of the unique things about what we do here.”
Having been open since 2001, HMA – formerly known as Delaware Tang Soo Do & Fitness Academy – has been at its current location east of Georgetown on Route 9.
And Stoeckel wants anybody who drives by and thinks that they would like to learn martial arts but might not be up to the task should rethink their stance.
“We have something for everybody,” he said. “And, you work at your own pace, which is unique.
“When you are here, if you feel like you need a break during one of the exercises, you take it,” he continued. “Nobody is going to judge you, because the hardest thing is opening the door to try something new and once you do that, you already have our respect.”
Eight years ago, one of Stoeckel’s pupils did just that at the tender age of four.
Lewis Calio, who is now 12 and lives in Laurel, joined HMA with his father, Phil, under a unique circumstance.
Young Lewis was born with a rare form of Cerebral Palsy that left one of his arms almost without function and tucked close to his body.
“While talking to one of his doctors, we asked if they thought something like martial arts could help,” Phil said. “They thought it would be a great idea.”
Fortunately, the doctors were right, and Lewis has been at martial arts for eight years now.
Just recently, he did something most would think improbable as he passed his black belt test, and, more importantly, Lewis’s arm is nearly fully functional.
“It’s fun coming in here, because I am around people who help me,” Lewis said of attending HMA. “I meet new friends here, and when I am at school I [am confident] around my friends there too.”
For Phil, the eight-year journey has been a remarkable one, and while it is still moving forward, watching his son pass the difficult black belt test was almost difficult to put into words.
“I felt unimaginable pride,” he said with a smile. “I was just swelling with pride.”
Others swell with pride too when they watch their sons or daughters do well both with martial arts and outside of the academy.
That, Stoeckel said, is one of the studio’s main goals.
Not only does a student who wishes to test for the next level have to show he or she is capable inside the studio, but also deserving at home and in school.
So, Stoeckel sends a report card of sorts to both the parents and schoolteachers of his martial arts students and if they receive good remarks, they are allowed to try the next leap. Bad remarks, however, result in the pupil having to wait.
“Not only are we about self defense and fitness, but also self discipline,” he said. “The way to show you are learning is to do well both here and in the outside world.”
Horizon Martial Arts is open Monday-Thursday from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Friday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
