Erwin Watson (right), founder and owner of Eastern Oregon Family Taekwondo in Stanfield, teaches a first-time student how to do wrist escapes. Watson said his teaching style is tailor-made to work with and relate to children who want to learn the Korean martial art.

As taekwondo instructor Erwin Watson taught his students at his dojo in Stanfield Wednesday, the frustration on Brandi Pollick’s face mounted.

Pollick, a white belt, just started learning the martial art, and she was struggling to remember the new steps being taught.

She was learning a series of steps, punches and blocks, called kata, and was disappointed with herself when she wasn’t right in the first try.

Watson remained patient, smiled and laughed to ease Pollick’s frustration, walked her through the steps again and then congratulated and praised her when she got them right.

In 2009, Watson never thought he’d be doing taekwondo again after getting burned out from spending his entire adult life around martial arts. While he has a black belt, the highest-ranked color a person can receive, earning the belt took his enjoyment from the sport, he said.

“It’s really easy (to get burned out),” he said from his dojo. “There’s a certain level of belt ranking that you get to, where you do get burnt out. Like everything else, you just don’t want to do it.”

Six years later, after Pollick performed the steps correctly to pass her advancement test, Watson rewarded her with another stripe on her white belt, a blue one, the fifth she’s earned. When Watson gave her the stripe, he added a caveat: Pollick must continue to practice until she gets the moves down pat.

Six years ago, Watson never envisioned he would be back on the dojo, handing out belts and guiding students through forms. Seeing the accomplishment and confidence on his students’ faces, however, keep him going and hold off any more burn out, he said.

“I want them feeling when they leave that they have the attitude, the positive attitude and confidence that I try to build in them,” Watson said. “If you give them a small amount of confidence, that goes a long ways.”

Hermiston residents Candy Zimmerly, 36, and her daughter Cora McCann, 12, go to the dojo because of Watson’s style. The sessions offer them more than exercise, though.

Zimmerly said taekwondo is a nice bonding activity for her and her daughter, but it is also “a way of life.”

“Taekwondo is a life sport. It’s a lifestyle,” Zimmerly said Thursday. “It won’t end when you get out of high school or college.”

Zimmerly and McCann are two of The Eastern Family Oregon Taekwondo center’s regular students that have attended since the dojo opened in 2009. They were among the first to join.

Zimmerly said she was familiar with Watson and his wife, Lorry, and wanted to give their dojo a try because they wanted to help out the Watson.

Zimmerly and McCann like it for separate reasons.

Zimmerly sees the way Watson interacts with the children — he is fun and stern, but playful and serious — and she trusts his ability to teach them correctly.

“He’s not like other (teachers),” Zimmerly said after their class Thursday. “They seem to be a little too aggressive (with children).”

McCann said she likes everything about the martial art.

“I like doing all the stuff,” McCann said. “I like moving up belts, doing forms. (Watson’s) always funny. He teaches us a lot.”

Watson said his playful attitude with the students stems from an experience he had when he was introducing martial arts to his oldest son, Tyler, who’s now 26 and lives in The Dalles.

He started by taking Tyler to a karate dojo when he was 5 in Pendleton but quickly decided that wasn’t the best place for his son. The instructor was too intense for a 5-year-old, Watson said, and he wasn’t comfortable with putting his young son through that level of aggression.

So, when he opened EO Family in 2009, he made it child-focused with an emphasis on fun, respect and proper technique. “I enjoy the kids,” he said. “I wish I had more adults, but that’s alright. I think it’s really all about the kids. I always try to make it fun. I try to be strict, and they know how far (they can go), and they know respect.”

Wednesday’s class had just a handful of students, and Watson’s voice echoed through the dojo. Thursday, however, had a full dojo. Students from orange belts to blue belts were learning and practicing techniques. All but two were children.

Because Watson is so children-focused, he has them bring in their report cards and progress reports from school. When they bring the cards for the first time, he gives them a patch to go over their heart, to show everyone that their focus should be on not just taekwondo, but on life outside the dojo as well. When the report cards are good, he rewards them a red star to go around their collars and sleeves.

By placing an emphasis on doing the right thing inside and outside of the dojo, Watson said he is trying to instill concepts that are larger than just learning how to punch, kick and block.

“Respect is my No. 1 rule, and you have to follow that,” Watson said. “I’m hoping that I’m teaching that to these kids and it’ll be in their mind, so when they grow up, they’ll know what respect is.”

One student who has benefited from Watson’s message of respect is 10-year-old orange belt JP Phillips. According to Watson and Phillips’ grandmother, Juanita, Phillips struggled with anger issues growing up. He lashed out at his grandparents and had trouble focusing at school.

Watson’s approach to keep the mood light while being strict at the same time has really helped Phillips, they said. He’s doing better in school because of taekwondo. His behavior at home has improved. Even Phillips himself has seen an improvement.

“My grandma said it’s affecting my focus,” Phillips said after class Thursday. “My focus on my work at school and at home.”

Watson’s family-focused emphasis is also present in lessons. He ended Thursday’s session with a couple rounds of “Mr. Watson Says,” a varation of “Simon Says,” to teach discipline and honesty. The dozen or so children loved it, and the winners were rewarded with candy of their choice.

Watson reinforces the life lessons he teaches students in other ways. Before a student can graduate from an orange belt to a green belt, he has him or her write an essay about a quality, such as respect or integrity. He said students can’t truly know what those qualities are until they can describe it in their own words.

Phillips had to write an essay on respect.

“We always talk about respect all the time,” Watson said.

For more information about the Eastern Oregon Family Taekwondo, call 541-667-9872.