Taekwon“Geremy” - The Spectrum Magazine - Redwood City's ...

Students at Redwood City Martial Arts are training with the best.
In late January, the studio — which operates out of
Powerhouse Gym at 2075 Broadway St. — received a
“Best School” award at the Golden Gate Open Taekwondo
Tournament in San Anselmo.
“Out of all the schools there, we took home the most medals
— seven gold and one silver,” said Greg Escolta, who heads Redwood City
Martial Arts. “This validated [that] the quality of our teaching is very good.
My kids won. I’ve had some kids who have been training with me only a few
months who have participated.”
Junior World Taekwondo champion
In addition to the studio’s recently receiving a “Best School” designation,
Escolta’s son, Geremy, 17, who trains with Redwood City Martial Arts,
received a gold medal in the 2012 Junior World Championships in South
Korea last July.
“So far, it’s my biggest accomplishment,” the younger Escolta said. “It was
great to be able to go out of the country and be able to compete at the highest level.”
The gold medal from the Junior World Championships hangs in his room.
The Junior World Championships featured teams from 68 different countries.
“It was always his goal to win a major international competition,” his father noted.
When a tournament is coming up, Geremy Escolta trains four to five hours
a day, in the morning and after school.
Before going to South Korea, he told his father, “It’s my time, Dad. I’ve
trained so hard.”
Geremy Escolta went to South Korea by himself. It was the first time Greg
“If you want to be the best, you have
to train like you want to be the best.”
Escolta had been unable to watch his son compete. It was nerve-wracking
having his son on the other side of the world by himself, and learning that
some of his teammates had been injured didn’t make it any better, he said,
noting that it was “the worst two weeks of my life.”
Even with a Junior World Championship under his belt, Geremy Escolta
hungers for more and aspires to go further.
His next goal is to go to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “Once
you’re at Olympic level, that’s the highest you can take your career,” he said.
Always been around taekwondo
Geremy Escolta — who is of Filipino descent with influences from Spain,
Denmark and Sweden — has always been around taekwondo.
In fact, the day he first came home from the hospital, he was taken to meet
his older brother, Gregory, at taekwondo lessons, he said. He officially started
taekwondo at age 3.
In addition to studying taekwondo, Geremy Escolta is team captain for the
Sequoia High School Wrestling Team.
World champion is in many ways a typical teen
Outside of school and athletics, he enjoys doing typical teenage things like
hanging out with his friends, going to movies and playing video games.
He manages to find a good balance between sports, school and friends, he
noted. “I’ve been doing it for a while, so I’m used to it. I’ve got a routine down.”
Helping other students become champions, too
Redwood City Martial Arts strives to help its other martial arts students
become champions, just like Geremy Escolta.
In fact, six students from the studio happen to be going to the Junior and
Senior Olympic Taekwondo National Championships in Chicago July 3
through July 9.
“It is my goal to produce the greatest citizens Redwood City has ever
produced,” Greg Escolta said.
He added, “We’re a very, very good school. I like to think of it as a factory
for building champions.”
Redwood City Martial Arts has classes for both youth and adults. Students
range in age from 3 to 33.
Students expected to keep their grades up
Youth are expected to earn good grades in their classes at school while
they’re with Redwood City Martial Arts. Escolta looks at their transcripts
and if they have below a B in any of their classes, he has them concentrate on
their schoolwork instead of martial arts.
Building self-confidence,
learning respect and discipline
Those who study martial arts not only get exercise but also gain self-esteem
and learn respect and discipline, noted Escolta, who has 40 years of martial
arts experience, including 20 years of taekwondo experience.
You’re never too old
You’re never too old to learn martial arts, Escolta emphasized. He provides
private lessons to a man who is 65 and knows of people in their 90s who are
still training.
A unique hybrid
Escolta describes his style of martial arts as “a hybrid of kempo karate,
taekwondo, kickboxing and wrestling.”
No need to call him master
Students refer to Escolta as Mr. Escolta, not master. Escolta is stern, but he
has a soft side, too. “I want to be approachable,” he said. “I don’t want them
to be afraid of me, but I want them to respect me.”
Quitting not an option
At Redwood City Martial Arts, quitting isn’t an option. Shortcuts aren’t
allowed either.
“If you want to be the best, you have to train like you want to be the best,”
Escolta said. “There’s no mediocrity here. There’s no shortcuts here. If [you]
take a shortcut, you’re the one that’s going to be on the receiving end of being
knocked out.”
Helping youth with special needs learn,
enjoy martial arts
Escolta has helped youth with special needs learn and enjoy martial arts.
“I have kids with various difficulties and I have been able to reach all of
them,” he said.
One of those students is Dillin Barganski, 12, a sixth-grader at Charles
Armstrong School in Belmont, who has dyslexia and ADHD, or attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder.
“I like that he’s really tough on us to do good,” Dillin said. “He makes us feel like
we’re the star of the class. He keeps you up and doesn’t let your head hang low.”
Despite having special needs, Dillin has always been treated like
everybody else, he said.
“He teaches you like you’re everybody else,” Dillin said. “He treats us
together like a family. He’s really nice to everybody.” Dillin said Escolta
“makes you feel good inside about who you are.”
Dillin, whose parents are divorced, said that, “Geremy is like an older
brother to me. Mr. Escolta is like the dad I didn’t have.”
Dillin’s mom, Lisa Picchi, who is a single mom, said it’s been great
knowing her son has the support of the Escoltas.
She likes that Greg Escolta “teaches the entire child. He’s making them
champion kids in every area.”
Every kid, whether they’re a white belt or a black belt, leaves there thinking
they’re black belts, Picchi said. “They all walk away feeling like a champion.”
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