CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Willie Joe Landestoy, 10, delivered a kick to his opponent, Kordael Dixon, 9, Saturday during the Tropic Lightning Tae Kwon Do Open, held at the Honolulu Airport Hotel. Landestoy and his brother, William, both study the martial art at Tropic Lightning Tae Kwon Do School at Schofield. Landestoy received a gold medal for his fighting Saturday.

Tae kwon do bonds
children of soldiers
gone to war

Almost everywhere Rory Holcombe looks, he sees dads. His best buddies have them. The kids next door do, too.

And that's a real downer for a 15-year-old whose father has seven more months of active duty in Iraq.

But at least there's tae kwon do school, Holcombe says, where he can get a workout, compete and have fun among plenty of kids who are also missing a parent.

More than half of the 70 kids who attend Tropic Lightning Tae Kwon Do school's Schofield Barracks classes, which Holcombe entered a year ago at his father's urging, have at least one parent serving overseas.

The other half are preparing to say goodbye to a mother or father soon, or face the possibility of a new deployment announcement in the coming months.

The result, says school co-owner and instructor Darcel Takushi, is that students have drawn closer and become more supportive of one another.

Takushi also dishes out a lot of love to her students, giving them encouragement and letting them know that there are thousands of soldiers on duty in Iraq or Afghanistan who have had to leave kids behind.

"I think we feel like it's a family," Takushi said. "Tae kwon do fills in the void."

Local and national military officials have said it is important that parents prepare their children for a deployment and ensure youth have emotional support.

Takushi said she hopes to provide just that with a sport that teaches "inner peace," and at a school where there a lot of kids going through the same kind of pain.

"It's martial arts," she said, "but it's a lot more."

Takushi said she usually sees a difference in kids whose parents have recently deployed. Sometimes, she'll bring up the issue in class and invite those who have parents on active duty overseas to talk about how they are dealing with the change.

"We help each other," said 15-year-old William Landestoy, whose father left for Iraq in March. "Tae kwon do's more of a family. We take care of each other."

Ten-year-old Xavier Malave, whose father has been in Iraq for about eight months, said practicing tae kwon do helps him forget that his father is gone.

"I'm concentrating on something else instead of worrying about my dad," Malave said Saturday after winning a gold medal at a tae kwon do tournament in Honolulu.

It's not that easy for Jazmyne Armendariz, who also competed in the tournament, to forget her father is serving overseas.

But the 5-year-old did say that her fellow tae kwon do students help her cheer up when she's down.

"I just feel a little sad," she said. "They make me better."

Armendariz's mother, Priscilla, was at Saturday's tournament, rooting for her daughter and 8-year-old son, who is also at the tae kwon do school. Her husband left for Afghanistan in May.

She said both children have been able to adjust to their father's absence better because they know other kids -- their tae kwon do peers -- who are also missing a parent.

"It keeps them occupied," she said. "You have to get them thinking about something else."

The kids practice three times a week at the school for about an hour. Students range from 5 to 18 years old, Takushi said.

At Saturday's tournament, Holcombe had won two second-place medals and was looking forward to signing up for a championship in Las Vegas.

"My dad's gone and that's bad," Holcombe said. "But during the week, when I stop and think about my dad being gone, it's time to go to tae kwon do. ... (There), we're not alone."

Plus, he said, Takushi's school sends his father DVDs of Holcombe's practices and tae kwon do examinations -- as they do for other deployed mothers and fathers -- so that parents don't miss a thing.