Sports push us to our limits — physically, mentally and emotionally. At Menlo, we see it on the fields and courts, in the sweat and drive of our dedicated student-athletes. But for some Menlo students, athletic dedication takes a different shape: one not found on campus teams. Instead, they channel their energy into martial arts, training in disciplines ranging from jiu-jitsu to mirae kuk sool won.
Senior Sienna Swanson was in kindergarten when she first discovered taekwondo after attending a classmate’s birthday party at a Mountain View studio. “I immediately said to my mom, ‘Sign me up,” Swanson said.
Though it started as a fun activity, it quickly became a passion, leading her to achieve her first-degree black belt in fifth grade and her third-degree black belt in eighth. Swanson also competed in poomsae, a non-contact discipline involving accentuated synchronized movements — almost like a dance.
Swanson immersed herself in the traditional belt progression from white to black, and her commitment and time spent training continually increased as she grew older. She appreciates that you can begin training in taekwondo at any age; she trained at the same level as people of all ages, even including a Menlo classmate’s father. “I had my friends there who were from all kinds of different schools,” Swanson said. “Most people were, like, around my age, high school [or] middle school [aged], but you did have adults doing it.”
Though she has taken a hiatus from the sport during high school, Swanson toys with the idea of returning to her studio. For now, however, her black belt sits framed on her bedroom wall, and she looks back on her time spent training fondly. “I think the most fun part was just learning a new skill and doing it with friends, and the exercise part is fun,” Swanson said. But most of all, she enjoyed the way that taekwondo challenged her not only physically but also mentally. “One of the things it does is teach you that you have to have confidence in yourself.”
Junior Ananya Goel, too, dedicated herself to the sport of taekwondo for nearly 10 years. “My dad had done taekwondo when he was a kid, so he kind of wanted me and my sister to try it,” Goel said. While her sister quit after a few years, Goel’s love for the practice drove her to continue training and eventually earn her black belt in 2022.
The process of achieving a black belt was a bit more complex at her studio, however. Because she started so young, at age five, she began in “kinder dojo,” where she had to earn her junior black belt before progressing to the advanced level and starting all over again at a white belt level.
Once there, she and her studio’s other black belt trainees underwent training that included conditioning on the weekends. “For the first three months of training, we would do two hours on Saturdays at a track, and it would just be pure conditioning,” Goel recalled. For the second three months, her team would do beach runs in Half Moon Bay. She was also suffering from a hip flexor injury at that time, which was an added challenge during her training. “[While] running three miles on sand, like, I’d be crying because it just hurt so bad,” Goel said.
Though it was a strenuous journey to her black belt, Goel remains grateful for the skills she learned from taekwondo. “As a girl it makes me just feel safer […] knowing that if something bad happens, I can defend myself,” she said. “It just makes me feel powerful.”
Jiu-jitsu is the form of martial arts that caught the attention of senior Lucas Capasso when he was a child — although he didn’t necessarily enjoy it until he got older.
“I didn’t like it [at first],” Capasso said. “When I got to high school, I thought, ‘Damn, this is super cool. Why did I stop doing it?’” His Brazilian heritage played a significant role in his return to the sport as a sophomore, as jiu- jitsu is deeply embedded in Brazilian culture.
Throughout his sophomore and junior years, Capasso trained at a Redwood City gym, both individually sparring and using the help of trainers. He began to invite his friends, finding joy in jiu-jitsu’s ability to foster camaraderie between them. He also believes that many techniques provide helpful cross-training for water polo, his main sport. “A lot of the movements are the same […] and those similarities encouraged me to go back [to jiu-jitsu],” Capasso said. “Now, I just try to learn all the movements I can.”
Capasso had to take a break from sparring due to getting braces, which are dangerous to spar with, but he still trains his movements almost every day. He aims to eventually continue working towards his black belt and continue the sport through college. “Yeah, once these [braces] are gone, I’m just gonna go right back,” Capasso said.
Another Menlo student, freshman Becca Clack, found her passion in the lesser-known martial art of mirae kuk sool won. Starting at the age of seven, Clack was drawn to this discipline due to its uniqueness and the tight-knit community it offered. “I liked how it was kind of uncommon,” she said. “I built a community over [at my studio] that I don’t have anywhere else, and I now know people from all over, which is cool.”
Like Swanson and Goel, Clack started training simply for enjoyment and yet quickly worked her way toward her black belt in her discipline. She also has participated in local and even international tournaments, competing in forums and techniques — which involves a partner but is non-contact — and staff — which involves spinning and controlling a long stick. “It’s kind of like if you consider a gymnastics competition,” she said. “You perform in different events; they judge you.”
This past summer, Clack earned her black belt — a feat that is at minimum a two-year process, with three-hour-long, physically demanding tests every three months. “It’s something I’ve been working on for a while — I started when I was 12,” Clack said. “So yes, I’m super happy.”
Clack took a break from training upon joining Menlo’s Upper School to prioritize trying new sports at Menlo, but she still treasures the friendships she built at her studio. “I’ve made some of my best friends from there,” she said. “I’ve built this unique connection with people I might never have met otherwise.”
