The Fordham Tae Kwon Do Club is one of the only sports clubs on campus at Fordham Lincoln Center (FLC). The club meets once a week on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in G76B and has been around for almost three decades.
According to Diego Lopez, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’26, who has been part of the club since his first year at Fordham, the club practices not only Tae Kwon Do but a variety of mixed martial arts (MMA).
Though the club focuses on a variety of self-defense techniques, Tae Kwon Do is the primary martial art that is taught. Tae Kwon Do is a Korean self-defense martial art that has a foundation of striking and kicking.
The weekly meeting is instructed by Fordham alumnus, Pat Natoli, FCLC ’99, who is one of the founding members of Mission Martial Arts in Brooklyn, where he instructs all ages in martial arts.
Though the club is currently named Tae Kwon Do Club, Lopez hopes to change the name to reflect the entirety of martial arts the club practices.
“The name is a little misleading. We are trying to rename the club to Martial Arts Club, because we believe that it captures the essence of what we do in our club more accurately,” Lopez said.
The weekly meeting is instructed by Fordham alumnus, Pat Natoli, FCLC ’99, who is one of the founding members of Mission Martial Arts in Brooklyn, where he instructs all ages in martial arts. Natoli is also responsible for originating the Tae Kwon Do Club during his time as an undergraduate student at Fordham in 1995.
Lopez said, “(the club) was founded in 1995 by Pat himself and he just decided that he was going to do weekly lessons. He started the Tae Kwon Do Club when he was a student, but he was the instructor.”
As soon as I walked into one of the Tuesday night meetings, it was clear that the club is a welcoming environment. All the members are enthusiastic about sharing their club with the Fordham community.
Since 1995 club’s founding mission has endured — and so has the reason its members of the club want to practice martial arts on campus. For Lopez, the club’s mission is to provide a space for students on campus to be introduced to martial arts.
“We want to provide an outlet and a community where people can feel welcome to exercise at LC (Lincoln Center) … We are in New York, we are in a big city, learning how to handle yourself (and) learning how to defend yourself, these are really important skills to have,” Lopez said.
As soon as I walked into one of the Tuesday night meetings, it was clear that the club is a welcoming environment. All the members are enthusiastic about sharing their club with the Fordham community. Lopez said there are no tryouts and they invite people of all skill levels and MMA experience to join.
“We welcome and appreciate anybody’s presence,” Lopez said.
The practicality of all the skills is one of the most crucial parts of learning at Tae Kwon Do Club. For the vice president of the club, Easa Gomez, FCLC ’27, the culmination of self-defense and exercise was her main pull to the club.
The meeting consisted of learning the basic motions and skill sets of Tae Kwon Do. Natoli showed the various stances, blocks and strikes at the foundation of Tae Kwon Do. Along with practicing the foundational movements, towards the end of the meeting the members of the team practice their kicks with bagwork. The meeting was an introduction to Tae Kwon Do and self-defense in general.
The practicality of all the skills is one of the most crucial parts of learning at Tae Kwon Do Club. For the vice president of the club, Easa Gomez, FCLC ’27, the culmination of self-defense and exercise was her main pull to the club.
“I never had martial arts experience, I just wanted to practice some self-defense and exercise. In case whatever happens, it doesn’t have to be in a dojo, it could be out on the street, in case something happens which hopefully doesn’t happen you can try using these skills to try and defend yourself,” Gomez said.
Though the Tae Kwon Do Club is an FLC club, their membership includes students from both campuses. Tomas Vonder Haar, Fordham College at Rose Hill ’28, came all the way from the Rose Hill campus to participate. Vonder Haar shared that he had Tae Kwon Do experience before attending a meeting, but wanted to come out to see what the club was about.
“I came to the Tae Kwon Do Club — this is my first time — to just try something new,” Vonder Haar said.
In Lopez’s first year, the club served as an athletic activity on campus, but quickly became a staple to his life at Fordham.
“Throughout my first meetings, I grew to appreciate the way that Pat taught us, bringing together different aspects of martial arts instructions, like flexibility, coordination and balance, while also really hammering in practical self-defense situations,” Lopez said.
Though the club has struggled with reaching its consistent membership numbers from before the COVID-19 pandemic, Tae Kwon Do Club provides an environment for all students to learn self-defense from a professional instructor. Lopez said it is important to learn self-defense skills in a big city like New York.
“I think the practical aspects are important for any student,” Lopez said.
The Tae Kwon Do Club urges any student who has an interest in MMA or needs something to do to come to a meeting.
“Anybody and everybody is welcome!” Lopez said.
