Frutos Promoted To First Degree Black Belt

Rebecca Frutos, a 17 year-old Newtown resident and student of Porco’s Karate Academy, has been training in the Korean martial art of Tang Soo Do for the past eight years. Last month she was promoted to First Degree Black Belt in front of her family, friends, fellow students, regional Masters, as well as the Grand Master of the World Tang Soo Do Association.

Frutos has proven her readiness to take the next step to black belt through the various leadership roles she has taken at Porco’s. She has organized and led the studio’s summer karate camps, assists with the after school martial arts program at Reed Intermediate School, and is also an assistant teacher at Porco’s Karate Academy located in the center of Sandy Hook. 

Frutos’ countless hours of training and leadership led her to her first regional black belt test, which took place in Meriden earlier this year. Before test day, she was required to complete a 1,000 word essay which she wrote on the similarities of transitioning from blue belt to black belt and from high school to college; a studio project in which she documented key historical events in the history of Tang Soo Do for other students to learn and study from; community service time; and a parent/teacher evaluation.

On test day she was given one hour to complete a 100-question written test on the history of Tang Soo Do as well as translating terminology from English to Korean. Following her written test, Frutos had a three-hour physical test that covered all of the hand and feet techniques she had learned over the years, as well as all 11 forms (a series of offensive and defensive techniques against an imaginary opponent), three weapons forms, 90 practical self-defense moves, her sparring ability against one and two opponents, and board breaking. Frutos excelled in all facets of her test and received passing marks from all 12 masters on the testing panel, earning her a black belt in Tang Soo Do.

Frutos’ accomplishments don’t stop at her recent promotion. This 2011 Newtown High School student graduated with a 3.8 GPA, was Vice President of the Ecology Club and is currently developing a marketing campaign for ADP (Automatic Data Processing). She was also awarded the Regional Tang Soo Do Scholarship. She is majoring in management with a concentration in international business at the University of Connecticut.