Bill Wacholz of Rancho Bernardo has achieved a rare top honor a half-century in the making in the world of taekwondo.
The 76-year-old was awarded the rank of Grand Master at the American Taekwondo Association’s world tournament from July 22-28 in Phoenix.
He now holds the ninth highest rank in the organization that has over 100,000 participants worldwide, he said. In addition he is the first ATA Grand Master in San Diego, Southern California and the Southwest District.
“It is a lifetime award that took 50 years,” Wacholz said. “I trained a lot of instructors, at least 500, and my students have been in the thousands over the years.”
Last year he earned his ninth-degree black belt, the highest level. That is when he became eligible for Grand Master training.
“Not all get the title,” he said. “Nine were tested (in Phoenix) and five got it.”
Wacholz and his family moved to Rancho Bernardo in 1987. He ran various studios and clubs while in the military. Thirty years ago he opened Wacholz’s ATA Black Belt Academy at the RB Swim & Tennis Club, which has 110 students, ages 3 to 65.
In Phoenix, Grand Master nominees had to demonstrate many skills, including sparring, board breaking, knife fighting and knife self defense, he said. In all, Wacholz had to incorporate 98 movements into his demonstration on a stage in front of around 1,000 attendees.
Nominees also had to prove their self-discipline. He was required to fast and could not speak for a day.
He said the fasting was not as intense as in previous tests when he had to fast for nine days, including three days where nothing but water could be consumed, while also physically training eight hours per day.
Master Instructor Karla Walsh, who has her sixth-degree black belt and is one of the instructors at Wacholz’s studio, said the fasting is very difficult.
“When we consumed just water and had to workout … we were all shaking,” she recalled of the time when she earned her sixth-degree black belt.
Walsh, 61, began studying taekwondo in North Carolina. After moving to Rancho Bernardo she began studying with Wacholz in 1996, and has been one of the instructors at his studio since 1998. She is a world champion with a weapon called a bo staff (a stick that is several feet long).
Years ago her daughter, Kasey, was also one of the studio’s instructors as a teen.
“He pushes us to be our best,” Walsh said of Wacholz.
Walsh said she is not sure if all their studio’s young students truly understand the enormity of Wacholz’s accomplishment in being named a Grand Master.
“It is a big deal,” she said.
“(Becoming Grand Master) is a culmination of decades of hard work, continuous learning and selfless dedication to his students and the art of martial arts,” said Rosario Cruz, a fourth-degree black belt and a certified instructor at his studio.
“This milestone is not only a personal achievement for him, but also a point of pride for our entire community,” Cruz said.
Wacholz started in taekwondo, a Korean martial art, in 1974 when living in Milwaukee. After playing football in high school and at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee he was looking for a new challenge that required physical and mental discipline.
“It was the mental and physical contributions together, along with the spiritual side to it,” Wacholz said about taekwondo’s appeal.
The sport complemented the physical and leadership skills Wacholz said he needed in the military as well. For many years as an enlisted sailor he worked in law enforcement. Sometimes he used the physical skills he learned in taekwondo, such as when he had to disarm a knife-wielding individual, he said.
After serving as a chief petty officer Wacholz said he attended Officer Candidate School. Following 28 years of service he retired from the Navy in 1997 at the rank of lieutenant commander.
“Sometimes I worked 20 hours per day, every day for three days in a row,” Wacholz said about his Navy years. “You need the strength to overcome those obstacles.”
Earning the title of Grand Master is not something Wacholz set out to achieve during his early years in the sport.
“Back in the ‘70s there were not a lot of senior martial artists coming to the U.S.,” he said, explaining it takes decades to achieve senior ranks.
The American Taekwondo Association formed 55 years ago. Wacholz said his first instructor was a seventh-degree black belt.
“When I was training for my first-degree black belt, I thought I’d be lucky if I reached fourth-degree. I just worked at it one belt at a time,” he said.
Walcholz earned his first-degree black belt in 1976 and progressed up the ranks over the decades.
There is also a required delay between levels. For example, after seventh-degree he said a person has to wait at least seven years before becoming eligible to test for eighth, and at least eight years after achieving eight before ninth.
“I did not think I would get ninth because most who are eligible are not selected,” he said. “In my group, 25 were eligible and they picked nine.”
The top life skill he said taekwondo taught him was self-discipline.
“You can achieve anything in the world when you set goals, have discipline, respect, courtesy and value those traits.”
Many of the parents who sign up their children for lessons want them to learn these life skills while also getting exercise and learning self-defense, Wacholz said.
While there are several forms of martial arts and schools take various focuses — such as combat training, ground fighting, weapons or competing in tournaments — Wacholz said his studio gives a rounded experience that focuses on life skills and his students still enter regional, national and world tournaments.
“That’s what makes us different,” he said. “What we teach … the priority for us is life skills, self defense, physical fitness and helping people achieve their dreams so they can be successful in life.
“We create leaders who will go out in life and achieve,” he said, noting some of the leadership skills he instills in students include how to be a good communicator, which requires not only listening but empathy.
He has also seen demographic changes in the sport. When Wacholz began in the ‘70s he said participants were mostly men, with maybe 30 percent being children and women. Now, around 55 percent are women, 45 percent men. In addition, around 80 percent of students are youths.
“I have a bunch of instructors who are now sixth-degree black belts who started when they were 4 years old,” he said.
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