Taekwondo instructor Luke Mattias of Port is living proof that this martial art, with lessons in discipline, perseverance, respect, character and power, fills special needs

Luke Mattias is giving others what taekwondo gave him.

The 42-year-old Port Washington resident, whose left side of his body is affected by a mild degree of cerebral palsy, found the sport while growing up in Grafton.

Mattias said his parents were looking for “a sport that Luke can do that’s a confidence builder that he can work at his own pace and not be self-conscious about it.” They found taekwondo.

Mattias signed up for a few trial classes.

“I really liked it. It was something I could just focus on at my own pace,” he said. “That was a blessing.”

His physical therapist in Mequon saw the benefits the sport gave Mattias as well and asked if he thought about starting a class for others.

“I thought that was an awesome idea,” Mattias said.

That was a quarter century ago.

Last Saturday, Mattias held 

a 25th anniversary party for the Special Needs Academy of Martial Arts.

Mattias founded the academy as a side job and has seen what it has done for many others of all abilities.

“To see what people do and how people grow — some of them started with me as little kids and are now young adults,” he said.

The academy started as a specialty program at a therapy clinic in Mequon before moving to Mattias’ instructor’s studio in downtown Grafton run by Fred Van Hecke, a ninth-degree black belt, the highest attainable rank. Once it outgrew that facility, it moved to the Grafton Senior Center and has met there the last 17 years.

Mattias, a seventh-degree black belt, runs beginner and advanced classes on Mondays and Saturdays, and private lessons on Saturday afternoons. He is the main teacher and has assistants, many of whom he trained, including his younger brother Tony, a sixth-degree black belt who doesn’t have special needs.

“Challenges, whether they are physical, cognitive or emotional, can be benefited by taekwondo,” Mattias said.

Students come from Ozaukee, Washington, Milwaukee and Sheboygan counties.

“When it started it was a brand new thing. There was never anything I knew  before for special needs. We were kind of a pioneer in that,” Mattias said.

The pioneering continues. Mattias loves it when he sees the lightbulb turn on when a student succeeds at a new kick or breaks a board.

“The biggest thing you see is their self-confidence grows so much. When you see they can do something they never thought they could do before,” he said.

That’s just one of multiple skills he sees students learn.

“Their balance, their strength, their flexibility,” Mattias said. “And just learning respect and self-discipline. It teaches you a lot about how to respect others, especially your instructors.”

Mattias emphasizes taekwondo’s six tenets: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, humility and indomitable spirit.

The academy did plenty more than help Mattias with those traits; teaching taekwondo inspired his career in education. Mattias teaches Spanish at St. Mary’s Springs High School in Fond du Lac.

“It opened doors for all different things in my life,” he said.

Mattias was so dedicated to taekwondo that he chose a college nearby — Concordia University of Wisconsin in Mequon — so he could keep teaching. His only stretch of missing taekwondo classes is when he studied in Spain in 2006.

“I’ve had many different turns in areas of life, taught elementary school, middle school, high school, private and public. This has been the 100% constant. It’s been there and grown,” Mattias said.

“There aren’t many weeks I’ve had since I was 16 years old that I haven’t been in a taekwondo uniform a couple of times a week.”

His students have gone on to become contributing members of society, with careers in woodworking or at Disney World, and one has a master’s degree in history. Many have earned black belts and are still around the program.

Saturday’s celebration, which doubled as a Christmas party, let students meet others they didn’t know.

“We kind of look at our whole school as a family itself. It’s kind of a family we belong to. We’re all able to share and come together and help each other do well and succeed,” Mattias said. “We don’t get that many opportunities to get everyone together.”

Students range from age 5 to adult with varying abilities.

“We get to know the individual and try to help them find ways to succeed,” he said.

His experience in the classroom and at taekwondo has mutual benefits.

“The martial arts side helps the school teaching. You just learn so much from taking different approaches. If the first approach didn’t work so well, let’s try another. Just communicating with them too — let’s try to find something that works for you,” Mattias said.

“It’s been a great two-way direction there. I’ve definitely grown in both environments from the time in the other environment.”

Mattias’ background with cerebral palsy helps him relate.

“I’m always open to working with people and finding ways to help them succeed. My background of cerebral palsy and special needs myself helps to understand where people are coming from and the challenges they’re facing. I’m open to talking to anybody about it,” he said.

This week Mattias even started teaching an introduction to taekwondo class at St. Mary’s Springs through a program in which teachers may choose an elective to teach.

As a teen, Mattias never imagined what finding taekwondo could do for others, but he is thankful to pass along its life’s lessons and physical benefits.

“I never knew it back then. I thought it was something I did for myself,” he said. “The ability to pass that onto others who have a wide range of challenges they’re working through to be successful and do an activity they enjoy is a pretty big blessing for me.”

People are welcome to come watch classes before signing up. Mattias asks that they let him know first.

For more information, visit the Special Needs Academy of Martial Arts Facebook page or contact Mattias at luke.mattias@gmail.com or at (414) 840-7421.