For McInerney taekwondo runs in family
BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

ERIC SUCAR staff Laurie McInerney is the only world taekwondo champion in her family, though her mother, Judy, brother, John, and father, Jack, have also fared quite well in competitions over the years.

Laurie McInerney doesn't like to bring attention to herself. But when you are a three-time world champion, that's kind of hard.

McInerney, who runs the ATA (American Taekwondo Association) Black Belt Academy in Marlboro, won the world championship in sparring, as well as a bronze medal in traditional forms at the ATA World Championships held earlier this summer in Little Rock, Ark. She competed against an international field. It was her third world championship. Her other titles came in 1996 and again in 2003.

"I love competition," she pointed out.

Her track record would seem to back that up.

Of the three world titles, she said she worked the hardest for the first one, and that remains the most exciting. But each world title is special in its own way to her.

While McInerney likes to quietly go about running her business at ATA Black Belt Academy on Ryan Road in Marlboro, her students are certainly aware of what their teacher has accomplished.

"Normally, I don't like to talk about myself," she pointed out. "They think it's cool."

Laurie McInerney comes from a remarkable family. Her father, Jack, mother, Judy, and younger brother, John, are all black belts in taekwondo and run dojos (studios where martial arts is taught). Jack and Judy run the ATA Black Belt Academy in Parlin in the Sayrebrook Towne Center as well as a part-time one in Perth Amboy, and John has his ATA Black Belt Academy in Old Bridge. Not only are the McInerneys all black belts, all four have competed at the ATA World Championships, which is a remarkable feat in itself. To get to the "worlds" a competitor has to have won at the regional and national championships. Then, the Top 10 compete against each other at the world championships. In other words, all of the McInerneys have been ranked in the Top 10 in the world and have had top five finishes.

It was younger brother John who got it all started for the family, and Laurie quickly followed in his footsteps.

"I wanted to do it also," she said. "It looked like so much fun."

So she followed her brother up the ranks to black belt and along the way discovered that competing suited her.

"I really liked competing and going to the competitions," she pointed out.

Soon, John and Laurie had company in their father and eventually, their mother.

Jack McInerney had done martial arts before (karate, judo, etc.), but there was something about taekwondo.

"It was the style - I said this is the one for me," he said. "It was the perfect fit for me."

Next, his wife, Judy, joined the taekwondo clan and it was all in the family.

Jack McInerney is not surprised that it is Laurie who has won a world championship (he and John have placed as high as second).

"It takes a lot of hard work; it's not an easy thing to accomplish," he said. "It takes perseverance and adapting to the changes you need to adapt to.

"Her perseverance is astounding - she will not give up at anything," he added.

Laurie McInerney credits her parents for her relentless perseverance.

"They taught me to never give up," she said.

While athleticism is critical to competing at the international level, taekwondo, like all other sports, requires a very strong mental attitude.

"It's really in your head," said Laurie McInerney. "Anyone can win if you're smart, if you have thoughts that you can win."

Laurie McInerney describes herself as a counterpuncher in competition.

"It's like a chess match," she said of the competition. "I want to see what the other person is doing and pounce on it. I wait for the opening to be there and then I move aggressively."

In taekwondo competition, there are four ways to score points - a fighter gets one point for a kick to the body, two points for a kick to the head, two points for a jump-kick to the body and two points for a jump-kick to the head. The first competitor to score five points wins. A fight lasts two minutes, and the winner will be the competitor with the most points if no one has reached five points. In no time did Laurie McInerney have a match that went the distance this year.

All of the McInerneys are drawn to taekwondo more for its life meaning than anything else.

"I really feel we make a huge difference in people's lives," Laurie McInerney said. "It [taekwondo] gives people confidence. It's basic life skills, courtesy, respect and discipline, and being kind to each other."