Lucas Holzhueter, owner and instructor at the Detroit Lakes School of Tae Kwon Do, does does a turning-jump-kick with assistance from Patrick Volesky.. (Desiree Bauer / Health Beat)
The family that kicks together, sticks together The Volesky family of Detroit Lakes grows stronger through Tae Kwon Do BY DESIREE BAUER | DBAUER@DLNEWSPAPERS.COM
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ome people take fitness classes, some do yoga, and others, such as the Volesky family of Detroit Lakes, like to kick it up a notch with Tae Kwon Do. The Voleskys — Patrick, Emily, and their two daughters, Lauren, 14, and Madeleine, 12 — have been developing their martial arts skills together at the Detroit Lakes School of Tae Kwon Do and Kumdo for the past six years. It’s a family activity they all enjoy, and it’s one that provides individual health benefits like better balance, lost weight and stress relief. “I was working an office job and gaining a lot of weight,” says Patrick of why he got into Tae Kwon Do. “Going into the winter months and looking at myself … thinking, ‘What am I going to do about this?’” Tae Kwon Do is a Korean form of martial PAGE 6 | HEALTH BEAT
“You don’t have to be young, you don’t have to be fit. You just need to have a good attitude.” -Patrick Volesky arts that combines feet and hand movements for self-defense. It’s a combative sport with an emphasis on head-height kicks, jumping and spinning kicks, and fast-kicking techniques. Patrick did Tae Kwon Do for awhile as a teenager, but dropped out — a decision he says he later regretted. He decided to take the leap and try it again, this time with his two daughters in tow, to get into better shape and teach the girls how to protect themselves.
Once they started, they all loved it. “There’s some accountability — you have other people there,” Patrick says. “People are behind you in line to do these exercises; it was a good motivator.” “The first few months of Tae Kwon Do, my goal was to just not be the last person to finish the workout,” he adds with a laugh. “It seemed like a lofty goal … but as I progressed, I got better.” Master Lucas Holzhueter, the owner and instructor of the Detroit Lakes School of Tae Kwon Do and Kumdo, adjusts workouts and moves to fit students who are at a variety of different fitness and ability levels, something Patrick says was helpful to him and his daughters. Holzhueter has taught students from age 5 to beyond retirement, he says. One of his
