Mayor Jim Schwantz will team up with Grandmaster Dae In Kim to raise funds for Palatine’s Senior Center and to celebrate the grand opening of the W. Kim Tae Kwon Do School at its new location at Regency Plaza on Saturday, April 2, 2011. All are welcome to attend, and participate, from 12 to 3 p.m.
The grand opening will include Tae Kwon Do demonstrations, food, and fun. Mayor Schwantz will showcase his new Tae Kwon Do skills and attempt board breaks. Attendees may donate a board for Mayor Schwantz to break, or attempt a board break themselves. All donations will go to Palatine’s Senior Center .
Jim Schwantz
Mayor Schwantz has quite a history in athletics and community service. After earning a BA and playing football at Purdue University , Mr. Schwantz began his professional football career with the Chicago Bears. In 1994, he was traded to the Dallas Cowboys where he spent his next three seasons – including the winning Super Bowl XXX team. He was selected to the Pro Bowl as the Special Team’s Player in 1996. Mr. Schwantz also received the NFL’s “Unsung Hero Award,” given to those whose unselfish dedication and commitment to their community goes unrecognized. He was also the NFL Alumni’s Special Teams Player of the year in 1996. The San Francisco 49ers signed him in 1997, and after playing there for a season, he came back to Chicago for his final season.
In addition to serving as Palatine’s mayor, Mr. Schwantz works in Palatine as the National Account sales Manager of Von Sydow’s Moving & Storage. He also co-hosts the Chicago Bear’s pre-game and post-game shows on WBBM Newsradio 780 AM and also various sports shows on The Score, 670 AM.
W. Kim Tae Kwon Do School
The W. Kim Tae Kwon Do School has been teaching Korea ’s martial art in Palatine since 1981. The school was founded by Great Grandmaster Wan Sup Kim of South Korea. He was the Tae Kwon Do world champion in 1964. The school is now led by his sons: Grandmaster Dae In Kim, a graduate of Purdue University where he was president of Purdue’s Tae Kwon Do club; and Master Tae Hyung Kim, a graduate of the University of Illinois and Palatine’s Olympic hopeful in 2000. This year the school celebrates its new location in Palatine as well as its 30th anniversary.
At the W. Kim School, students learn the Tae Kwon Do skills of kicking, punching, and self defense. Importantly, instruction also includes character development, specifically, goal-setting, confidence, focus, concentration, ad discipline. Students of all ages, as young as 3 and beyond 70 years old, learn the tenets of courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, and indomitable spirit. It is in the spirit of the Tae Kwon Do oath of “I shall respect my instructors and seniors” that the W. Kim School will raise funds to benefit Palatine ’s senior center.
