Black belts earned by 3 siblings

EDWARD C. FENNELL
The Post and Courier

Teaching is part of being a black belt, and here, Meghan Myers, 16 (right), gives instruction to 6-year-old Chandler Ticer. Meghan and her brothers, Walker and Tanner, became black belts together July 25.

Meghan, Walker and Tanner Myers of Summerville have become perhaps the first trio of siblings in the nation to earn their tae kwon do black belts on the same day.

"I know of two siblings but not of three" to accomplish that feat on the same day, said Marc Deschenes, the trio's martial arts instructor.

Local inquiries and a Web search turned up cases where three siblings have earned black belts, but not simultaneously.

Meghan, 16, Walker, 14, and Tanner, 10, earned their belts together in tae kwon do on July 25 at the National Karate Institute on Travelers Boulevard in Summerville. A sixth-degree black belt himself, Deschenes has awarded 41 black belts in 23 years.

"They have worked very hard and done well in the tournaments they have been to," he said of the Myers siblings, adding that they are good kids and excellent students.

All three are in their schools' gifted and talented programs, mom Amy Myers said. She said getting her three children into one sports class — the martial arts school — ended what for her had been a struggle to coach two soccer teams that her children took part in.

"I was glad to see everybody on the same team," she said.

The children's father, commercial aviation pilot and retired Marine Sam Myers, praised their achievement. "I am really impressed. I don't think I ever accomplished anything like that at their age," he said.

Meghan, Walker and Tanner started tae kwon do together four years ago. "It was for fun, and I just like self-defense," Meghan said. The trio has been practicing together four days a week at the institute.

Meghan is a junior at Summerville High School, where she's a member of the Key Club and Student Council. "I like to read," she said, adding that tae kwon do is her only sport.

Sparring is her favorite part. "You don't hit hard, it's who is the fastest. It's really fun," she said.

Meghan said she plans to go to college and would like one day "to work with kids," perhaps as a teacher.

Walker is a freshman at Ashley Ridge High School, where he hopes to run track and cross country. "Now that I've got this black belt, I can take up other sports," he said.

After high school, Walker plans to enter college or the Marine Corps "to follow in my dad's footsteps.

Tanner, who loves soccer and reading, is a fifth-grader at Beech Hill Elementary School. His long-range plans include becoming a doctor "and playing (soccer) for the Charleston Battery."

Sam Myers said tae kwon do has instilled self-confidence and discipline in his children. The institute demands good manners and respect for everyone. "It's 'yes, sir, ' 'no, sir' here, and I like that," he said.

The new black-belt holders said the test for it demanded an exhibition of skills and was an endurance event — five fights in a row.

Those being tested had to memorize sequences involved in skill demonstrations that combined stances, kicks and punches, Walker said.

"Remembering the combinations and not being nervous were hard," Tanner added.

"Passing the black-belt test involved exhibiting what you've learned while strangers watch," their mom said. "You have to get up in front of everybody and perform in front of a crowd."

Deschenes said the black belt means that you have not only attained a high plateau in martial-arts training, knowledge and skills, but you are capable of defending yourself. Sixty to 80 students attend his school, he said, and youths as young as 5 participate.

Some martial arts schools, he said, teach knowledge and moves but don't require sparring. At Deschenes' school, sparring is required once students reach the green-belt level.

"Self-defense, self-confidence and self-esteem are what we are trying to build," he said.

He said some students, or their parents, prefer schools where sparring is not permitted. But they haven't learned tae kwon do if they haven't experienced getting hit and hitting back, Deschenes said.

"To go to a karate school and never fight is nothing but hocus-pocus and smoke and mirrors," he said.

Reach Edward C. Fennell at efennell@postandcourier.com or 745-5865.