Morris using martial arts knowledge to master football
By Anna Snyder
Tribune Sports Writer
Football was not Dmitri Morris’ first love.
The Sequoyah center practiced Taekwondo
for 11 years and competed for nine in
local and national tournaments, including
being named a national champion in 2012
at the USA Taekwondo National Championship
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He began playing football when he was
in seventh grade, balancing the two sports
for about two years.
“Football is a one season sport, and
with Taekwondo, you can have competitions
throughout the whole entire winter.”
Morris said. “I focused on football during
the football season and Taekwondo in the
offseason.”
In 2019, Morris stopped competing
in Taekwondo so he could fully pursue
football.
“I started Taekwondo when I was 4-yearsold,”
Morris said. “I recently stopped competing
but I still do at home drills and stuff
like that.”
The rising sophomore reached the second
Dan level at Taekwondo of Woodstock,
which is the equivalent to earning
his second-degree black belt, before he
stopped competing.
“Once you reach a certain level, you’ll
get your black belt,” Morris said. “And you
can keep progressing to add more Dan,
so once you hit fourth Dan that’s considered
a master and you can open up your
own school.”
Now, Morris is going into his fourth year
of playing football. He said he believes
his martial arts background has helped
him succeed quickly in football, and that
football has aided him with his martial
arts abilities.
“Definitely the flexibility (helps me with
football),” Morris said. “Like if we are doing
high kicks or stuff like that.
“Football (helps) physically (as does)
the mental aspect. (Coach) Teter does
a great job training us, so it definitely
relates back to the strength aspect of
Taekwondo.”
Sequoyah offensive line coach Ben Jacqmein
said Morris is the leader of the offensive
line right now, and he cited his
background in Taekwondo as one of the
reasons for his success.
“He’s one of our hardest working
kids,” Jacqmein said. “He’s extremely
flexible, especially in the lower body.
His martial arts background has really
helped with that. He’s getting
stronger every single day. Very, very
smart. Kind of a leader of our offensive
line right now.
“He’s made good strides since May.
He’s quick to learn. He’s already got all
his rules down, and he knows everybody
else’s job as well.”
The coaches said this will be a big season
for Morris, as he takes over the starting
center role but Morris said he is up for
the challenge.
“Honestly, I’m (just ready) to have a
great season,” Morris said. “You know,
COVID has made an impact, so I’m really
glad to get out here putting in work. I really
hope we do something special, make
playoffs, you know.”
Even though Morris stopped practicing
Taekwondo to play football, he does not
think his days of practicing the martial
art are over.
Morris said he now feels comfortable
with football, so he is thinking
about continuing to pursue the sport
that shaped him, Taekwondo, in the
offseason.
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