Santa Clara student wins gold

By Grant Hughes

Forgive Morgan Newman if she just wants to hang out and be a college student for awhile. She's earned the right to relax, having spent the last year training seven hours a day at Richard Lee's East West Kung Fu School. The results of that training have earned Newman an honor shared by only a select few throughout the world.

In November of 2003, Newman, a 21-year-old political science major at Santa Clara, won the gold medal and was named World Champion at the World Kuoshu Championships in Brazil. Newman's honor marks her as the best in the world in her weight class. She is a member of the sixth generation of students to represent Grand Master Richard Lee in world class competition. While Lee's school has been producing champions for decades, Newman's story begins much more recently, in 1995.

A student of Lee's Bok Fu Do system for nearly 10 years, Newman remembers starting out at the school in Alamo against her will.

"My little brother was actually doing martial arts, and I think I was like 11 or 12 and I got in trouble or something, so my parents sort of forced me into it," Newman recalled.

"It was definitely something that I might not have done if I hadn't been pushed into it."

As Newman continued at the school, she became acquainted with the Bok Fu Do style and realized that it might present her with some opportunities in the future. According to Newman's teacher, John Buckley, the system teaches students that success is practically an inevitable result of dedication and preparation.

"Obviously, it's nice to know how to protect yourself, which is just a part of what martial arts is about," Newman said. "But the system had such an amazing tradition of success that I started to think about getting serious with it, looking toward competition and things like that."

Newman is extremely generous in crediting the Bok Fu Do style of Richard Lee with much of her success. According to Newman, Bok Fu Do is essentially just one style of Kung Fu, which encompasses many kinds of Chinese martial arts. Apparently, it is also incredibly effective in world competitions.

"My junior year of high school, I got serious about it. I mean, I just knew that the training was available to me and that I was in the best possible environment to try to run with it," Newman said.

Getting serious with the training is something of an understatement.

"Basically I put everything else on hold when I started training for the 2003 Championships," Newman said. "I cut down my schedule to two classes and the professors were very understanding about my commitments outside of Santa Clara."

Newman trained for seven hours a day, mixing sparring with substantial cardiovascular and endurance work.

"Basically, you feel like you're going to die," joked Newman.

"But Grand Master Lee and John Buckley have been training students for so long that they know your limits better than you do," said Newman. "We trained as though we were going to fight for nine rounds, even though the World Competition only lasts for three."

According to Newman, two to three weeks before the actual competition, sparring is cut off so "the bruises can heal."

Newman said that winning the gold medal was her goal from the beginning, but her attachment to the process of preparation is equally impressive.

"If I hadn't won, of course I would have been disappointed, but honestly, everything leading up to the competition was really valuable, too," Newman recalled.

"We have a saying here, which is 'you win when you lose, if you learn'," Buckley said. "Sometimes, you can lose a match before it even begins, if you don't have the right mind set. Bok Fu Do teaches a confident humility that really prepares students for success. The system can really teach you and give you many more opportunities than just competition."

Added Newman, "I was able to travel to places and meet people that I never would have come into contact with otherwise. And the bonds you form with the other students are really lasting. Besides that, the training can really surprise you, when you find out how much you're actually capable of doing."

When Newman says that the experience is one that she'll take with her for a lifetime, she's not just talking about winning. She's talking about the process as a whole. The appreciation for the journey, as well as the end result is something Newman credits to her training and teachers, but there seems to be an appreciation for hard work within her own personality as well.

"There have been a ton of people that walked through the doors here with more natural ability than Morgan [Newman], but she's followed through on it," Buckley said. "Her dedication is infectious, the whole team feeds on it."

As for the present, Newman is trying to get back to the things she had to ignore during her intensive training. School is now a higher priority and she has more time to spend with her friends and family. However, she still teaches two classes a week at her school, which is a commitment in itself, requiring an hour-long commute each way from Santa Clara.

"I'm just enjoying being a student again, doing normal stuff, nothing exciting," a relaxed Newman said.

Newman knows that her hiatus will not last long though, as 2006 will present her with an opportunity to defend her title.

"It's definitely something I'm looking forward to, but I probably won't start the whole training process until next year," Newman said. "It's such a huge commitment that I'm not really ready to think about it right now. But having gone through it before, I should have a pretty good idea of what to expect."

Enjoying the present, but hopeful and ambitious when looking toward the future, Newman knows she is living a life that many people would admire. Finding success in a field that brings so much enjoyment is truly a rare feat. The strangest aspect of Newman's success is that she remains, for lack of a better description, normal. She is oftentimes surprised to see herself mentioned in newspapers. Given the fact that her status in the world of Kung Fu has achieved celebrity-like levels, her head remains as level as ever.

"That's another credit to the system," Buckley said.

"Students at our school learn to project confidence, but to sort of get rid of the ego," Buckley continued. "You see quite a bit of the opposite sometimes. Morgan [Newman], along with our other students, is an example of how it should be."

"I know I'm in a fortunate position and that I'm lucky to have the opportunities that I've had," Newman said. "This is my passion and whether I continue with competition or teaching, it's something that will be part of my life for a long time. I'd like to keep it close to me."

Unfortunately for the other competitors in the 2006 World Championships, Newman seems intent on keeping something else close to her as well: her gold medal.

û Contact Grant Hughes at (408) 554-4852 or ghughes@scu.edu