STARKVILLE — With tears swelling in his eyes, Dave Dampier helped martial arts instructor Ken Moore stand from his wheelchair — which he’s been confined to for 10 years — to receive his third-degree black belt in Taekwondo.
Moore rested his hand on Dampier’s shoulder for balance as Dampier tied the black belt around the former Marine to a crowd of applause Saturday in the First United Methodist Church gymnasium in Starkville.
Dampier first started the Naval Postgraduate School of Taekwondo nearly three decades ago in California specifically for success stories like Moore’s.
“Phenomenal,” Dampier said while wiping his tears. “He’s a retired gunnery sergeant from the Marine Corps and I’m a retired major from the Army. We have a kinship there. … We don’t let physical limitations get in our way. If they work hard, they will make it. He’s a perfect example of that.”
NPS, which Dampier founded with his wife Caryn, is a World Taekwondo Federation club that teaches the Korean Kukkiwon Taekwondo for free, only charging fees when a student moves to a new belt. Since the first generation of masters started training students, those former students have branched off, starting clubs of their own throughout the nation, including a club in Starkville.
Each year the organization holds tests and competitions at different clubs. This year it was Starkville’s club, where Moore and 20 other candidates from clubs around the country tested for higher black belt degrees. They showcased their form, strength and discipline to the NPS board of masters who determine whether candidates will raise their rankings.
Moore tested for his third-degree black belt by teaching the techniques and formations needed for that level. He also showcased his own talents by breaking four boards in quick succession on the first try.
For Moore, coming one step closer to becoming a master, fourth-degree black belt, means even more because he’s confined to a wheelchair.
“If I had my legs, I think I would be less excited,” Moore said. “Being in a wheelchair, I have to actually teach and learn the stances. Most people doing the stances, it’s muscle memory. It’s a little harder for me. It’s more exciting for me to get to this level.”
The injury
Moore teaches Taekwondo in a studio outside Atlanta under Master Susan McKenzie.
In her 20 years of experience, McKenzie said she’s never seen an instructor quite like Moore.
“He is first, last and always a Marine,” McKenzie said. “He can teach the high-level kicks better than anyone I know. He helps (students) because how can anyone else complain? You get to the place that you forget he’s even in a chair. He’s just Mr. Ken.”
Moore served 16 years in the Marines as a gunnery sergeant. After a misdiagnosis while serving in Afghanistan, he began taking medication he didn’t need. The medication caused him to have grand mal seizures, which ultimately damaged his neck. Unaware of his neck injury, Moore started playing a pick-up game of basketball in 2009.
“When I was just shooting hoops, playing basketball, I got knocked down,” Moore said. “It shattered my C-6 (vertebrate in my neck).”
Confined to a wheelchair, Moore started taking his son to Taekwondo and eventually started to attend those lessons himself.
“Primarily my job in the military was a platoon leader,” Moore said. “One of my jobs was to teach them how to fight. (My son and wife) persuaded me to start Taekwondo. It was a pretty easy transition for me. It really helped me out a lot. At that point I could barely stand. Now I’m able to stand a lot more. I can’t walk yet, but you never know.”
‘A self challenge’
Allen McBroom, Starkville club master, has known Moore aboiut five years. He described Moore as disciplined, kind and an inspiration to both his students and his masters.
“Ken is quiet,” McBroom said. “He’s a very low-key guy. He’s humble but a very dangerous man. It’s hard not to go on and on about him. (The masters) draw inspiration from (the students). We get people who are physically unable to do these things and then they do. They think they’re drawing from us, but we are drawing from them.”
With the organization spanning across multiple states, McBroom said NPS and its members stay in contact. Knowing Moore’s story and seeing his success is one of the many ways NPS impacts people, he added.
“Our motto is ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” McBroom said. “Almost any person in here has a story that would make an inspirational book. This whole organization helps people develop focus, physical coordination, emotional strength and confidence. Everything we do appears to be physical. It’s not. It’s mental.”
For Moore, neither his injury nor his wheelchair has set him back. Excited about earning his third-degree belt, his main goal is to continue teaching disciplined students the art of Taekwondo.
“In a wheelchair doing Taekwondo, I can’t do the kicks,” Moore said. “But with my military background and other martial arts experience I’m able to teach and defend other things that are going on, especially with the body, since I’ve studied it being in a wheelchair.
“It’s a self challenge,” he added. “Being in a wheelchair gives me limitations, but I still overcome those challenges on everything I do. This is just another step in my challenge. It’s self-motivation.”
Moore’s wife Heidi watched from the crowd as her husband started warm-ups Saturday morning. She too credits Taekwondo for her husband’s mental recovery following his injury.
“Ken at first thought he couldn’t do this, because he was in a wheelchair,” Heidi said. “He totally got into this. It takes a lot for him to do what he does. It’s definitely a lot harder for him, but he’s good, he loves it and he’s a great teacher. He’s always been very positive. I don’t know where he gets that. He’s obviously a fighter.”
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