Boyer Academy Girls Martial Arts Team Wins Gold

The Boyer Academy martial arts team recently competed in the Kansas state Poomsae competition. A team of five local girls brought home four gold and one silver medal.  

The girls are from Wright City High School and Warrenton High School, and Boyer Academy is located in Foristell.

(The Korean terms hyeong, pumsae and teul (meaning "form" or "pattern") are all used to refer to martial arts forms that are typically used in Korean martial arts such as Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do. In non-martial terms, hyung (형) can mean "big brother," but this is fundamentally distinct from hyeong (形). Hyeong is often romanized as hyung; pumsae is often romanized as poomsae or poomse; and teul is often romanized as tul. A hyeong is a systematic, prearranged sequence of martial techniques that is performed either with or without the use of a weapon. In traditional dojangs (training halls), hyeong are used primarily as a form of interval training that is useful in developing mushin, proper kinetics and mental and physical fortitude. Hyeong may resemble combat, but are artistically non-combative and woven together so as to be an effective conditioning tool.

One's aptitude for a particular hyeong may be evaluated in competition. In such competitions, hyeong are evaluated by a panel of judges who base the score on many factors including energy, precision, speed, and control. In western competitions, there are two general classes of hyeong: creative and standard. Creative hyeong are created by the performer and are generally more acrobatic in nature and do not necessarily reflect the kinetic principles intrinsic in any martial system.)

After this competition the team has been invited to the United States Taekwondo Association (USAT) National competition.