Name: David Paprocki

Age: 13

School: Eighth-grader at Immaculate Conception Grade School

Achievement: Paprocki, a black belt in the traditional Korean martial art of Tang Soo Do Karate, was co-captain of Elmhurst Tang Soo Do’s Kung Fu Panda demonstration at regionals April 15-17. The demo received first place at regionals. Last August, Paprocki also competed at the 2010 Tang Soo Do World Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

Key to Awesomeness: For the past seven years, David Paprocki has been studying Tang Soo Do Karate at Elmhurst Tang Soo Do Karate School. When he went to test for his black belt, he was the youngest person in the room—the five others testing were all adults.

Paprocki was up for the challenge.

“[Karate] has taught me the act of perseverence,” he says. “You have to try a lot. Then once you get your black belt, you have to give in so it’s easier for other people to get their black belt.”

At Elmhurst Tang Soo Do Karate School, black belts are expected to volunteer to mentor less advanced students, a responsibility Paprocki takes seriously. He is often at the school five days a week, either attending his own class or helping out in other classes, including that of his 9-year-old brother, Aaron.

This year’s demo included 28 karate students from age 5 to 32. Five karate schools competed in the friendly competition, in which they demonstrate form and skills learned using as many participants as they can. Using the fun theatrics of the Kung Fu Panda movies, the participants demonstrated to judges their skills in falling, fighting and breaking. Since weaponry is used in Tang Soo Do, staff also was on hand during the demo.

“We have a long history of getting first place for our demos,” says Holly Inoshita, who teaches at the karate school alongside her husband, Master Michael Inoshita. “We work really hard on our demos.”

Renee Mitchell, black belt who was the adult coordinator of the demo team, said the team, led by Paprocki and co-captain Katie Mitchell, worked tirelessly in preparation for regionals.

“They came to a practice once or twice a week, they learned their own material, and they would choreograph their own stuff,” says Mitchell.

“David was expected to do a very difficult backfall,” says Mitchell. “It doesn’t sound like anything, but to throw yourself in the air 3 feet above the ground and fall so that you don’t hurt anything is scary. He did a beautiful job, and overcame quite a bit of fear to do it.”

Despite the amount of time Paprocki spends in training for the martial art that he loves, he still finds time to play on the basketball team for Immaculate Conception and play snare drum and other percussion in band. But in his future, Paprocki can easily imagine himself one day becoming a karate instructor, himself. 

“It teaches me discipline and how to respect people,” says Paprocki. “That’s the most important thing to me.”