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When Elliot Scheer first walked into the dojang, he was
five years old, wearing an oversized uniform and nervously holding his
mother's hand. An hour later, we walked out of the room and told his
mother, "I want to do it again."
Elliot first was introduced to Tae Kwon Do when he was three, from pictures
on his wall of his mother, Jill Scheer, wearing her new black belt and
performing side kicks and back kicks, twenty years earlier. When he
asked what she was doing, she told him all about Tae Kwon Do.
"Elliott helped get me back into it. I had quit when I had Monica,
because I thought parenting would take up to much time. Elliot made
me start thinking about it again. I really wanted to start working out
again, and I still had that yearning to start doing it again, so I did.
Jill would bring Elliott and his sister, Monica, to her classes. They
would both watch, wide-eyed, while she worked. A year later, Elliott
wanted to start Tae Kwon Do. 
"I mainly started because of three reasons: the Power Rangers,
the Ninja Turtles, and because I have a sleeping bag with them on it,
and my mom. She's been a great inspiration throughout everything. She's
helped me at home with it, and she's basically kept me into it. I mean,
we took our black belt test together, and that was really great."
Now Elliot, his sister Monica, and Jill all take Tae Kwon Do. Elliott
says that, "We all tease Dad because he doesn't do it."
"Tae Kwon Do has helped me in a lot of ways…I think about
my actions now, and it's sort of a given me a can-do attitude. I have
more discipline." Elliot says he believes in the main rules of
Tae Kwon Do: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, and an
indomitable spirit. "I try to make my life a reflection of those
rules," he said. Elliot tries to bring work ethics into a class
with him, because he knows that "Tae Kwon Do is pretty much work."
Sometimes work can be fun, thought, and that's what he likes about Tae
Kwon Do. "It is hard work. But it's fun at the same time. There's
no other way to describe it."
When asked what his best experience in Tae Kwon Do has been, he related
getting handed his black belt. He said, "I felt like I had achieved
something really big. I was proud. I knew that Subumnim was proud of
me, that my whole family was proud of me too. It was great," However,
he said the he didn't like the test. "It was entirely nerve-racking.
Every time I made a mistake, I was really mad at myself in my mind.
I don't like things like that," Contrary to that, Elliot also says
that he really likes doing the local tournaments. "I find that
it's a way to compare myself to other people that are my age and rank."
Elliot says that he has an entire panel on his wall that is devoted
to his medals. "I have been to so many tournaments, I can't remember
them all. When I don't win gold, or I made a mistake, I get back on
my feet and try again in the next tournament. That's part of what Tae
Kwon Do is, and when I do that I realize that I am a winner after all,"
This year Elliot has made it his goal to go to the Junior Olympics.
He feels very supported in his decision. "Whatever happens, I know
that my friends and family will be behind me all the way."
Elliot says the best thing about Choi's Tae Kwon Do, compared to the
other ones that he's been to, has been how everyone is kind of like
a family. "Everyone is included. It's not like, a segmented class
or anything. I mean, everyone has their groups that they prefer to hang
out in, but everyone knows each other and gets along. It's great!"
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