THORNTON — Students of a local martial arts school are making a splash at the highest level of competition.
A group of about 20 students at Universal TaeKwonDo in Thornton recently placed second at the USAT national championship in Chicago.
The group, dubbed Team Thunder, took home honors in the demonstration category, a choreographed routine in which students display the techniques of taekwondo.
It marks the second time Team Thunder has achieved success at the national level. Last year, the group placed fourth at nationals, said Michael Preisendorf, owner and head instructor at Universal TaeKwonDo.
“They’re an amazing group of kids,” Preisendorf said. “And they’ll end up being an amazing group of adults.”
The demonstration group has evolved organically, largely without direction from a lead instructor or choreographer, Preisendorf said.
“This team was made by the students,” he said. “It’s really interesting that a bunch of kids come up with these routines and not professionals,” he said. “It was never really designed to take to this level but it has obviously worked out very well.”
The entire demonstration sequence includes everything from board breaking and weapons displays to sparring techniques. All of the moves in the demonstration are voted on by members of the team, Preisendorf said.
“It’s all voted on by the team, all of the concepts,” he said. “I try to help them with the process of voting, but it’s ultimately their choice. That’s what’s so incredible. It’s all generated by them.”
Members of Team Thunder range in age and experience, some as young as 8 years old. Others are longtime members of Universal TaeKwonDo, including Mark Auten, who has been a student at the Thornton school for 14 years.
Auten and his wife, Lauren, met at the school and eventually got married. They now serve as the unofficial leaders of Team Thunder.
“My wife and I create a puzzle and all of the kids work to put the pieces together,” Auten said. “All of the content is 100-percent created by them.”
Auten said he’s not necessarily surprised at the team’s success. He estimates that the members of Team Thunder spend 10 hours a week on fine-tuning their demonstrations, including finding new techniques on YouTube.
“They’re an excellent group of kids,” he said. “I’ve always felt we were very talented. They put in so much effort, always coming up with great content.”
Members of Team Thunder are still debating whether they will return next year for the national competition, Auten said. The trip takes a certain level of commitment, including fundraising and travel expenses.
But, as always, the decision will be made as a team, Auten said.
“This is a huge time and financial commitment, so it’s whatever the team wants to do,” he said. “But I think we’d at least place in the top three and have a solid shot at placing first. It was very, very close this year.”
Joey Kirchmer: 303-954-2650, jkirchmer@denverpost.com
