The Dorpfeld Family
As printed from the Pleasant Valley Sports Report of Monroe County – Dated Novemeber 10, 2011
How many of us have a million things to do and no time to get them done, pick up the kids from school, get to soccer practice, rush home for a quick meal while attempting to help your 7th grader with algebra. How many times have we all heard the statement, “she started it!” coming from the back seat of the car. It’s an all too familiar scene that is played out each day in homes around the world. We are all so busy and stressed out these days fulfilling our obligations and responsibilities to others that we rarely take a moment for ourselves. We all want the same things for ourselves and our children, health, happiness, fulfillment and a sense of security and well- being but where do we begin? For Ray and Sally Dorpfeld and their four children of Jonas, PA., things were no different; their schedules were already jammed with track practice, homework, and games, and to make matters worse 8 year old Elise Dorpfeld wanted to “try karate.” Her mom Sally, located a Tae Kwon Do class and hesitantly signed her up, she hoped she would be able to complete some of her college studies while Elise participated in class. Class started and all appeared fine except Sally never got any of her studies done, she was interrupted constantly by the distraction of her daughter’s efforts. Elise was having a great time, her attitude was changing, she seemed happier than usual and Sally and Ray Dorpfeld were getting notes home from Elise’s teacher that indicated Elise’s maturity and concentration in class were greatly increased. The only change in Elise’s life that was different was her new Tae Kwon Do class. It wasn’t long before Elise was begging her mom to join her in class. Sally agreed and soon realized that she too was having a great time. She had more focus and energy, she began to look forward to the biggest benefit of Tae Kwon Do, spending time with her daughter and sharing the positive change in their lives. It wasn’t long after that 13 year old daughter Kayla also decided to join, followed by 6 year old son Curtis and 16 year old Dawn Lee and most recently Sally’s husband Ray. The family of six does not miss a class, the time spent together as a family is a priority and with it the benefit of increased endurance, flexibility, strength, focus and spirit. The Dorpfeld family now stands together strongly on the path of Tae Kwon Do that teaches Spirit, Focus and Power together as individuals and as a family. The family often travels to Brooklyn and the Catskills to participate in tournaments, practices, camps and hikes.
Tae Kwon Do, literally translated to “hand foot way (art)”, is sometimes referred to as ‘Korean Karate’ because it is based on ancient Korean methods of self-defense. The techniques practiced in Tae Kwon Do are hundreds of years old but were first introduced to the Korean population in the mid 1940’s. Introduced to the United States in 1963 by Grandmaster Duk Sung Son, Chung Do Kwon puts an emphasis on solid ground based kicking and highly effective self-defense techniques. During the early 1960’s, Michael T. Dealy began practicing Tae Kwon Do, more than 50 years later, he is now the headmaster of WMAA the World Martial Arts Association and a 9th degree black belt. Directly following in Dr. Dealy’s footsteps came a young man of 14 named Rocco Lombardo whose passion it was to pattern himself after his head master. After more than 30 years of practice, training and instruction, Mr. Lombardo, a 6th degree black belt himself has trained hundreds of individuals to reach their goal of attaining their own black belts. When asked how joining Tae Kwon Do has affected her, Sally stated, “My time for class is very important to me, I have that time to leave everything else in my life aside, this is a very healthy practice, I tend to get lost in doing things for everyone else, in taking time for myself, I get a sense of accomplishment when I achieve a new belt level or win in a tournament.” She goes on to say, “Rocco is a very kind, caring, patient and understanding instructor, he is subtly firm with the children in the class. Through his instruction you can see his love of Tae Kwon Do, and the ability to share his passion with others.”
Now when driving down the road together on their way to practice as a family you can hear someone shouting from the back seat, “Elise started it,” Indeed, she did start it all for the family, and she will proudly tell you, “ I started it all and now we can all do it together as a family.”
The Dorpfeld family joins many other families several times a week at the Western Pocono Community Library encouraging and supporting each other on a clear path of spirit, focus, and power but most importantly, togetherness.
For more information on schedules and classes, please phone 570 269-0096 or e-mail wercnc@ptd.net
World Martial Arts Academy of Pennsylvania 