Local taekwondo teacher’s work catches Hall of Fame’s eye

Molie Blaz, whose taekwondo title is Sabumnim Blaz 

demonstrated a position in the mirror while her students 

worked to replicate it. Photo by Tony Russo

 Molie Blaz settled down her class nearly instantaneously. The students fell in line and she took them through the opening parts of their class at SunDragon Martial Arts in Laurel. Before the class started, the students had been more than a little wound up, playing a taekwondo version of redlight/greenlight. School recently had let out and they had that extra energy to burn kids sometimes have, especially right after school is in session.

They likely snapped to it for Blaz for several reasons. She is their teacher and an elder. They were there for class and were expecting to be called to order. Discipline is, in some ways, the purpose taking taekwondo.

This last reason is the most satisfying, that the student take cues not from Blaz’s words, but rather from the way she carries herself. She’s clearly an expert in taekwondo, though she doesn’t look like one. She’s small and blonde and in athletic shape but there isn’t anything distinguishing her from, say a yoga teacher in baggy clothes, only her credentials say otherwise. 

Recently, though, she received a different kind of accreditation of sorts when she was inducted into the Korean Martial Arts Icons Hall of Fame. The story of how she was selected gives a particular insight to her skill as a teacher, which is even more valuable than her skill as a combatant.

Taekwondo has pretty much always been a part of Blaz’s life, but it wasn’t until her son got ill that she realized its transformative power. 

Her oldest son, Damian had a rare condition brought on by chronic ear infections as a child. He had trouble with balance and hand eye coordination. His doctor suggested that she enroll him in martial arts as a kind of physical therapy. 

Today, Damian is a second degree black belt and enrolled in the Delaware State University music program. It was upon his initial success though, the improvements he made nearly right away that showed Blaz the real effect teachers could have on students. She threw herself into her studies. Although by many standards she was qualified to teach, the World Taekwondo Federation, based in South Korea requires that a teacher possess a fourth degree black belt to truly be an effective teacher.

By 2010, she had gone to South East Asia, visiting Vietnam and Seoul, as a kind of study abroad trip, staying with monks, participating in demonstrations at the World Taekwondo Federation and generally readying herself to become a teacher.

“I decided if I’m ever going to do this, I’m going to do this now,” she said. 

After a couple successful years working in the Dover area, she moved to Laurel, setting up shop here in 2012.

Molie Blaz begins a recent class at SunDragon Martial 

Arts in Laurel. Blaz recently was inducted into the Korean 

Martial Arts Icons Hall of Fame. Photo by Tony Russo

Throughout the process, her dedication to her art and her students didn’t go unnoticed, which was a factor in her being honored.

She often had been solicited to buy her way onto prestigious lists, as is common in nearly every industry, so she was surprised that the nomination was legitimate and even more surprised by the way the news was delivered.

Hwang Sung Kwang, the ninth-degree grand master who trained her,  was to receive an award at the national meeting and phoned her to say he would see her there. It was a little awkward for her because she hadn’t planned on going and was trying to find a way to tell him politely that the event wasn’t really on her radar. That’s when he said that she was to be inducted as well.

“I was in a kind of shock,” she said. “I still don’t know who nominated me.”

Blaz is a multi-time world champion silver medalist and a team gold medalist on the Unified Taekwon-Do Ferderation Unified International’s U.S.A. team, which is impressive enough. But the fact that she can’t fathom who nominated her speaks to how many people must hold her in esteem that goes beyond her personal accomplishments and speaks to the federation’s mission and attitude.

Once class had started, Blaz turned over some of the exercises to Javon Harmon to lead. One of her earliest students, Harmon’s mother enrolled him in hopes of restoring his confidence and pulling him out of his shell after a particularly difficult time. 

“He barely spoke when he started,” Blaz said. “Now he’s training for the Grand Championship.”

This story originally appeared in the Sept. 3 edition of the Laurel Star. These and more photos can be found at the Tony Russo Flickr page.