This is my student William Stiehl. He was referred to me by my good friend Mike Grella. In 2010 after I opened my school, Mike was in Dr. Mary Ellen Stiehl's psychology class and it was very apparent how much this woman loved her son. So Mike was a big advocate for my new business and told her that her son William should do martial arts. After a few times of telling her about my school, Mike (who can be a master of pushing buttons) said to Mary Ellen "If you really love your son, you would take him." WELL! Knowing Mary Ellen today, that is ALL he needed to say. Challenging her love for her son! That did it!
So little five year old William began his martial arts training. Mary Ellen, the proud mother, took pictures throughout the entire first class, and she also observed me very closely as well. William at the time came once a week. Then he gradually came twice a week. He was an excellent listener and he also caught on very quick for his age. He was also very cute LOL.
After a year I put together a team for competition. William was on our team for forms. He constantly won gold at the local levels, and as a yellow belt won his first AAU medal to qualify for the Nationals. He also won Gold at the New Jersey tournament that year, and won bronze at the 2012 AAU Taekwondo nationals. He was in the finals with Master Balon's student Kyle Cooke (another fantastic young competitor from the Force One Team). William has pretty much mastered the state level of competition, and has experience with Olympic style sparring as well, but forms is indeed his forte.
William is very naturally talented in forms. That comes with it's pros and cons. My challenge with him to always keep him hungry to do better, and to be consistent with the level of performance he needs for a national level competition. This was his first year competing as an advance belt. William has it in him to win the gold, but at his age still needs some experience in his understanding of competition. This year he had a fantastic experience at the Nationals.
William and Mary Ellen are very dedicated. I include Mary Ellen because the parents have to do just as much and she is a single parent who is a damn good trooper. She travels farther than any of my other members to come to my school, she believes in what I do, and is willing to do anything and everything required. In short: the Stiehls are team players. William was the only student of mine competing this year at nationals and deservedly so. He has worked hard and wanted to compete, and he got it.
I had the pleasure of spending a few days with the Stiehls, and I had such a great time with them. As if I wasn't already having such a blast with my new friends from officiating, I had equally a great time with William in the pool and I can talk to Mary Ellen all day. She is a brilliant woman, very intelligent, one of the best psychoanalysts you'll ever meet, and a great teacher. But above all, she is also a fantastic mother who loves her son to no end, and in turn William adores his mother.
William has practiced and trained very hard. At the nationals William had to do his form six times before winning his bronze medal at the nationals. That is no easy task. William was not only a stern competitor but he also was a great team player, knowing other New Jersey competitors, was also making the time to see his fellow New Jersey competitors compete and cheering them on, even in his own division! William saw first hand what is looked upon in advance level competition. Some students were very by the book in their technique, and some had great interpretive style. Learning and seeing these things not only give William a great experience but it is something to bring back to tell his training buddies in class as well. That's how we grow. And that to me is a success for William in itself.
The AAU New Jersey competitors are a small family within itself. I am always happy to see my students cheering on their friends from other schools. A shout out to Kyle Cooke who has competed in all three events and has been moving through his competition career alongside William. The two sometimes compete against each other, but are also buddies. But on top of that, it was only Mary Ellen, William, and I from my own school this year. But the three of us as were a team in itself, regardless. I want to Thank Mary Ellen for her superb support, for looking out for me in Florida (my mother was having a heart attack with me in Florida by myself), and for her team spirit! And I want to congratulate William on his bronze medal, I am so proud of you young man, and the future will be very bright! Keep at it! Train hard, train smart! (BOWS)
Yours in service,
MASTER A TRENTO
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