One by one, the youths file into the large recreation room lined with mirrored walls and a padded floor. Barefoot and dressed in white kimonos, they form a line facing American and Korean flags. Clasping their hands, they bow and recite the following oath:
I shall observe the tenets of tae kwon do.
I shall respect the instructors and seniors.
I shall never misuse tae kwon do.
I shall be a champion of freedom and justice.
I shall build a more peaceful world.
For these teenagers, it is a familiar drill and part of a tae kwon do class offered to them as residents of the Little City Foundation in Palatine. Little City is a private, non-profit organization that provides housing, recreational activities and a variety of educational programs to children and young adults with mental and developmental disabilities.
Standing erect with her hands folded behind her back, Jennifer, who has Down’s syndrome, looks restless as she awaits further instruction.
“Can we do some kicks?” she asks.
“Maybe later,” says Rick Brabeck, a volunteer who has taught the martial art at Little City since 1989. “Right now we need to do some gut-busting. Everyone grab a partner. I want 10 sit-ups from everybody!”
Brabeck’s greatest challenge is keeping the students motivated and focused.
“Repetition leads to boredom, so I take a creative approach to everything I teach,” he says.
“For example, a front kick can be done a variety of ways. Instead of doing a straightforward kick, I’ll have the kids hop over a set of plastic pylons, crawl through a small tunnel and then tag a marker before doing the kick. That really gets (them) moving. It’s exhilarating and
makes them concentrate at the same time.”
Tae kwon do, which was developed in Korea, translates as “art of the hands and feet.” The name refers to the method used to deliver blows to vulnerable points on the body by using the hands, knees, elbows and feet. Rank in the art is achieved through a series of tests, and competency is designated by a colored belt with black representing the highest level.
“I like starting things off with a few stretching exercises to loosen everyone up,” says Brabeck, 35. “To clear everyone’s head, we do some deep breathing. After that, we do a few push-ups and leg lifts to help build abdominal and leg muscles.”
Brabeck’s classes also include self-defense techniques such as sparring, deflecting, punching and kicking.
“Tae kwon do keeps you engaged-both physically and mentally,” he says. “It relaxes you mentally while it revives you physically.”
Brabeck, a black belt and member of the Universal Tae Kwon Do Federation based in Wheeling, has been teaching for more than a decade. He learned about Little City after participating in a demonstration there with other federation members.
“Afterward, staffers came up to me and said how much they enjoyed it,” he says. “They told me they’d never seen the participants so pumped up and that it was too bad they couldn’t learn it for themselves.
“That’s when I thought, `Well, heck, what’s stopping them? All they need is someone to show them the ropes.’ “
A few weeks later, Brabeck and Larry Liss, another federation member, started a beginners course. When Liss was transferred out of state, Brabeck continued teaching the classes alone.
“The participants were making too much progress to let it end there,” he says. “I figured that if they still wanted to learn, I still wanted to teach.”
In the beginning, fewer than 10 students were in Brabeck’s class. Today, there are 35, many of whom are now progressing through the colored-belt ranks.
Several have competed in an annual martial arts tournament for people with disabilities before an audience of friends, families and judges. The tournament includes demonstrations in kicks and board-breaking.
“Sure, there’s competition at these tournaments, but that’s not what they’re all about,” Brabeck says. “These tournaments are about having fun. They’re about helping participants realize their potential.
“If someone breaks a board, well, that’s great. But that’s not the end-all for me, and they know it. What matters is that they gain a new level of confidence, that they get the chance to prove themselves-to strut their stuff and show ’em what they’ve got. That’s the important thing.”
Brabeck’s interest in the martial arts goes as far back as he can remember. Like many of his childhood friends, he grew up wanting to be the next Bruce Lee.
“Yeah, I was like every other kid on my block,” he says with a big laugh. “On Saturday mornings, I’d sit in front of the TV watching karate movies-you know, the ones dubbed in English-thinking, `That’ll be me someday.’ The problem was, I was small for my age and didn’t have much meat on my bones. It wasn’t until after college that I bulked up and felt confident enough to take my first class.”
Brabeck grew up in Arlington Heights and graduated from Rolling Meadows High School in 1978. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics in 1982 from Illinois State University in Normal.
He began studying tae kwon do in 1983 and earned his black belt about three years later.
He works as a sales manager for a metal fabricating company in Schiller Park. He and his wife, Susan, live in Cary with their two children, ages 4 and 7.
“It’s people like Rick who have made Little City so extraordinary,” says Barbara Linhares, who is the community relations and volunteer coordinator.
“With so much going on in his own life, he still finds time to enrich the lives of those who really need his support. He’s inspired many of our participants to accomplish things they never would have dreamed of.”
Brabeck teaches two classes, one for girls on Monday evenings and one for boys on Thursday evenings. Each class has at least 15 students, ages 12 to 18.
“Each class is different,” Brabeck says. “We always have fun, but sometimes it’s a struggle.
“When participants get too wired, that’s when behavioral problems seem to crop up. Some yell, others kick. If one person acts up, the whole class goes berserk. If that happens, I just deal with it. I try not to overreact. I sit them down and talk them through it. I get them to take long deep breaths, relax, and then we go on with the class.”
Little City staff members also participate in the classes.
“What makes Rick’s class fun is that it’s so uplifting,” says Tina Anton, a recreational assistant who has attended the Monday evening class for about eight months. “By the end of the day, it’s exactly what I need. It’s good for the body as well as the soul.”
Established in 1959, Little City, 1760 W. Algonquin Rd., grew out of a concern by five families for the well-being of their children with mental disabilities. Looking for an alternative to institutional care, they bought 12 acres of rural land northwest of Chicago. The land was developed into what is now an internationally known center for children and adults with disabilities including mental retardation, autism, Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and emotional disturbance.
Little City provides residences for more than 300 people, ages 5 to 65, in 9 group homes and 13 apartments; a community-based job-training and placement program; recreational activities; a media arts program that teaches students to operate video equipment and produce television shows for public-access cable TV; a foster care program for children ages 12 and younger; and workshops designed to meet various needs including vocational, daily living and personal care.
“An important part of what we do here is helping participants integrate into the community,” Linhares says. “Programs such as Rick’s give participants a chance to learn valuable skills and achieve levels of confidence that benefit them in all aspects of their lives-at school, on the job and socially.”
The foundation has a 400-member staff and about 100 volunteers.
“What I do here is only part of a much bigger picture,” Brabeck says. “The real story is with these kids. They’re the real heroes. They’re the ones struggling every day to lead the kind of lives most of us take for granted.”
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For more information about the Little City Foundation, call 358-5510.
