by Mike Krapfl, City Editor

Name: Yong Chin Pak
Occupation: ISU martial arts instructor, Iowa State University
Age: 53
Family: Wife, Sugie; children, Sue and Glen
Address: 3118 Eisenhower Avenue, Ames

    Yong Chin Pak's students advanced across the mats, swinging, kicking, yelling and otherwise backing a stranger with a notebook and a red pen deeper into a corner of the martial arts room.
    But that wasn't the unnerving part.
    That came later, when one by one several of Pak's students introduced themselves with bows from the waist. Then they said sir. And after saying some nice things about their instructor, they took another bow and said another sir.
    That's the kind of thing Pak teaches in his classes.
    Sure, students learn and practice their back spin roundhouses, but roundhouse isn't one of the words painted on the mats lining the walls of Pak's upstairs training room in Iowa State University's Beyer Hall.
    Courtesy
    Integrity
    Perseverance
    Self control
    Indomitable spirit.
    Those are the words on the wall. Those are the five tenets Pak tries to teach in his martial arts classes and in ISU's martial arts clubs. Those are the kind of things his students talk about when they're asked about the man they call Master Pak and his lessons.
    "The most important thing here is the family atmosphere," said Irvin Hentzel, a 57-year-old ISU math professor who recently eased an injured knee through a club workout.
    The martial arts room is the kind of place where everybody knows everybody's name. (If someone doesn't, and Pak finds out, somebody will be doing pushups.)
    The result, Hentzel said, "is before long, since you know a person's name, you're willing to ask for help."

A dedicated person

    The door to Pak's office was open.
    Every half hour or so a student would stop by, bow at the door and politely ask about a new uniform or request some classroom paperwork or report on an absence caused by illness.
    Pak always took time for them.
    That's his teaching philosophy. When he's on the mats teaching tae kwon do or hapkido or judo, he leaves his piles of paper, his phone calls and his computer problems all back at the office. Students get all of his attention.
    "A teacher should love students," Pak said this week. "You have to have a warm feeling. And look for positive things so students can learn from it."
    Pak's students all seem to be learning. During an evening workout this week, they responded instantly to his cryptic commands. First they worked on hand movements. Then they worked on kicks. Then there were group drills. Then there were forms, a series of moves that are as much art as they are martial.
    "I love it," said Irene Faass, who's working on her doctorate in English and teaching some classes of her own. "It's a great workout. And the relationships we build are wonderful."
    And her teacher?
    "He's a great teacher," she said. "He teaches by example. He doesn't ask you to do anything he can't do."
    Faass has been learning tae kwon do since 1995. She wears a second-degree belt. She mentions self confidence as one of the most valuable lessons she's learned from Pak and the martial arts.
    As the evening's workout progressed, other students found their way to the corner to talk about their teacher. Chris Thompson, a graduate student in business administration and president of the Iowa State University Karate Club, talked about Pak creating an environment that encourages people to look after each other. Kathy Gundlach, who teaches physical education in Ames elementary schools, said Pak teaches his students to do their best, no matter their ability.
    And then there was Pak, in the middle of the room, his students gathered around, talking about what it takes to be a dedicated person.

Life lessons

    Pak and America go way back.
    He grew up in Inchon, South Korea, and watched the city flattened by war. As a 5-year-old, he saw American troops start to rebuild the town.
    He asked his mother, Kumyun Jun, why these people from far away were helping -- not even the Korean government was helping.
    "They are Yankee," she said. But what did that mean?
    She didn't know.
    That question stayed with Pak as he began school. And by the fourth and fifth grades, he had decided he'd go to America some day to learn why the Americans wanted to help his country.
    Years later -- after college, after military service, after rising to the elite ranks of South Korea's judo team -- Pak had his chance. He had met an American in college and that soldier helped him get to Hawaii in November 1971. He stayed a few months and then a Korean friend brought him to Omaha to teach martial arts at the College of St. Mary. A year later, he accepted a teaching job at ISU. He earned U.S. citizenship in 1976.
    This spring, he'll mark his 25th anniversary on campus. He has an Outstanding Teacher Award to his credit and a Faculty Citation from the university's alumni association. He's a three-time Coach of the Year for the National Collegiate Tae kwon do Association.
    But the awards aren't what people have to say about Pak.
    "He's one of my favorite people in the world," said Jerry Thomas, the chairman of ISU's health and human performance department. "The thing that Yong Chin does is teach about life. He believes that using the martial arts to develop ethical and moral values is important. He does that well."
    Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco, who's been speaking at Pak's annual awards banquet for a few years now, is glad Pak is here, too.
    We could have a better town, the mayor said, if Ames, like Pak's training room, was full of loyalty, respect and self discipline.

City Editor Mike Krapfl can be reached at 232-2161, Ext. 345, or by email at mkrapfl@amestrib.com