Anna Rivera breaks a board at a recent taekwondo competition. She said she is happy with the skills she has learned from the sport.

Eastern Oregon Family Taekwondo studio in Stanfield is bursting at the seams with champions and students, under the tutelage of Erwin Watson. A master-level black belt, Watson is also the studio’s owner.

As his business is now in its 14th year, he said he has taught so many students he cannot keep track of the exact number, but he thinks he has taught thousands of people.

Watson said he has a better sense of the number of students he has now — 110.

Students, old and new, approach him frequently. Often, because of their age, he will have to look at them closely before he recognizes them. After some time, the memories flood back, and he will see that a grown adult before him was once a young person he had taught.

“I now have a parent right now, whom I taught. I taught her and her brother. Now, she’s got her kids in my class,” he said.

Watson attributes EOFT’s longevity to the studio’s culture of kindness. Some of his students, he said, have come from broken homes. Others have learning difficulties. At his studio, he said, they are embraced.

He said he had troubles as a youth, growing up in the Philippines, and he wishes he would have had classes like the ones he taught.

Late in his teenage years, he discovered taekwondo. Moving to The Dalles, then to Eastern Oregon, he developed as a student and a teacher of the Korean martial art.

Then, when he opened his current studio in Stanfield, the town where he lives, he said his plan was to grow into a larger location. Time passed, however, and he said he was able to make better and better use of his current space, allowing him to grow while not relocating.

Though his studio stays in one location, his students are on the go. Recent trips to Kennewick and Eugene netted his students dozens of medals.

“After COVID, everybody’s getting a sense of tournaments again,” Watson said.

But there’s more to their success than simply medals, he added. Qualified students, who have proven themselves, can become assistant instructors. Anna Rivera is one such person.

The student who became a teacher“Being higher-ranking, I get to teach in some of the classes and help teach the kids,” Rivera, 16, said.

While she is working to progress from her current red belt, she is assisting younger people with their goals. She has been studying taekwondo for four years.

“I’ve always played 14 different sports, but none of them really clicked,” she said, laughing. “Well, not really 14, but a lot. I was looking at different sports, and none of them were what I wanted to do.”

After she discovered taekwondo, she “fell in love with it.” The best part about it, she said, is the community.

“It’s so much about helping each other get better, and training each other to have confidence and power,” she said.

Also, she said she appreciates that she can do it by herself, not having to specialize on a single position. Still, she works with others toward a single goal, which is the improvement of the entire group.

She said she has gained confidence, patience and love for others. Other students have developed similar to herself, she said, and she feels happy about that.

“It’s such a community,” she said.