SAN ANTONIO – The Olympic games have ended after 19 days of competition and 32 sports on display. One of the sports on display was Taekwondo, a sport that was added to the Olympic competitions in 2000.
Lozano’s Martial Arts Studio is a gym on the South Side of San Antonio. Its founder, Henry Lozano, tells KSAT it’s the oldest martial arts gym on the South Side.
Students start martial arts at this studio at around five years old and grow to have favorite talents while on the mat.
8-year-old Emma Garcia said her favorite moves are shoulder rolls and kicks, while other students mentioned sparring, forms, and competing.
Lozano, a seventh-degree black belt, opened the gym in 1986 and his daughter Angelica Lozano now teaches several classes.
Lozano’s Martial Arts is inspiring the next generation of athletes. “We’re very traditional martial arts here,” Angelica said.
From Jiu-Jitsu to Taekwondo, even Hoi Jeon Moo Sool, these sports compete on very high levels, with Taekwondo even being on the Olympic stage.
“I would love to see myself in the Olympics,” student-athlete Matilda said.
“I saw some clips of the taekwondo sparring and it just, like, encouraged me to do better,” Inez, another athlete, said.
The students admire their sport being performed at such a high competition level and they’re putting in the work to reach that level every day.
“They’ve been really motivated to start competing,” Angelica said. “Our brown belts are working. They’re about 15, 16 years old, but they’ve been training since they were about 4 or 5.”
For some, this is also the first year they’re seeing themselves represented in more ways than one.
“Do you know who Carlos Yulo is?” Matilda asked KSAT reporter Zaria Oates.
“He won gold in gymnastics,” she said. “And, since I’m from the Philippines, it makes me happy seeing my pride and my culture being put out there.”
It’s that pride and culture, mixed with passion and dedication, that has kept Lozano’s Martial Arts Studio going after all these years.
“I gave up a lot of stuff to do this, to change the lives of children,” Henry Lozano said.