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Up Front
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ti
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Class
4
Master Jay Penfil
teaches an ancient art
of self-defense
at the Jewish
Community Center.
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LONNY GOLDSMITH
Staff Writer
A
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t 14 years old, Jay Penfil
was training police officers
in Highland Park to use
nunchucks, a defense
weapon comprised of two sticks held
together by a chain.
Just a year after the Clinton Junior
High School student began his martial
arts training, he landed his first teach-
ing assignment.
Now 39, Penfil is a sixth-degree
black belt in Tang (pronounced
"Tung") Soo Do, bears the title of
Master, and runs the 79-student pro-
gram at the Maple/Drake Jewish
Community Center.
"I began taking classes for self-
defense reasons," he said. "There were
a lot of bullies at school, and I needed
to know how to defend myself. After a
month, my instructor began teaching
me to teach."
Penfil, an Oak Park native, began
training in 1975 under Master Harvey
Schwartz at the JCC on Meyers and
Curtis in Detroit. When the center
opened in West Bloomfield, he earned
his second-degree black belt and, in
1980, began teaching Tang Soo Do
there. In 1988, Penfil earned his
fourth-degree black belt and became a
Master.
A foray into the private sector was
short-lived. In 1984, he and William
Bigio opened the Berkley Tang Soo Do
studio. It closed because the building
owners wanted to expand their own
business there. And, it wasn't the best
of milieus in which to teach the art.
"Most schools try and turn a profit,
so there is another class every 55 min-
utes," Penfil said. "Our philosophy is,
and was, that multi-hour training is
best. We couldn't turn over the floor
enough to /hake money. It's the
right way to teach, the wrong way
to make a living."
Bigio, a third-degree black belt,
continues to teach with Penfil.
Keeping kids on the floor longer
is among the reasons Penfil enjoys
teaching at the JCC.
He runs classes on Sunday after-
noons and from 4:30-9:30 p.m.
Monday through Thursday.
Students learn for as many days
and hours as they want, but Penfil
encourages them to take the maxi-
Tang Soo Do as more practical for
that reason. "[Penfil] teaches that Tang
Soo Do is not something to hurt oth-
ers with, but to defend yourself if nec-
essary," said Sue Hoffman, the mother
of Alex and Eric, both red belts.
Eric, 11, is the most senior student
in the class below a black belt. Alex,
an 8-year-old third guep (a rank below
black belt), plans on having his black
MUM:-
Top: Brothers Eric and Alex Hoffman
practice kicking and blocking during
class.
Tang Soo Do is a Korean martial
art that is more traditional than the
familiar Tae Kwan Do, which is more
sports-oriented. There is a slight varia-
tion in the kicks and punches, but the
basics are the same.
"I'm more into the art than the
sport," Penfil said. "Many students go
to tournaments and do well, but my
main concern is that they come home
safe at night."
A parent of two Penfil students sees
Above: jay Penfil talks with Eric
Hoffman after class.
belt by the time he's 11.
"During the summer, my sons want-
ed to be here all the time," Hoffman
said. "It's an approach you won't see at
many other schools. You can't appreci-
ate Jay unless you've seen others teach."
David Singer, 19, trains four days a
week, three to four hours a day. "Jay's
enormously dedicated to the stu-
dents," he said. "He's always on the
floor with the students. It isn't like
that at all places."
Tang Soo Do is a family gathering
for Penfil and his students. Penfil's ex-
wife Helene, daughter Mara, fiancee
Cheryl, and her daughter Shawna all
learn with him. Many of his older
students' children take classes, as
well.
Hoffman also appreciates the
Judaic spin Penfil puts on his class,
in addition to teaching his stu-
dents heart, mind, and skill.
"At the end of each class, the
students tell me a mitzvah they did
to help their parents or grandpar-
ents," Penfil said. "It teaches the
students to always be at their best
when helping others."
Penfil, with safety in mind, will
begin teaching a women's self-
defense class, a self-defense class for
individuals who are wheelchair bound,
and a class on the use of pepper spray.
His approach remains the same for
all his classes: to work with the stu-
dents on a level they can understand.
"I need to earn a student's respect," he
said, "not demand it." CI
The cost of the JCC's Tang Soo Do
program starts at $50 for member's
and $65 for non-members.
12/5
1997
25