At the end of Asher Forbes’s Taekwondo class in the Lone Tree Wellness Center on Saturday, Feb. 5, instructor Curtis Long explained to the students that Forbes has transitioned into a leadership role in the program, that Forbes will be helping teach and instruct during class.

Forbes is only nine years old.

“Within our organization, we have two levels of leadership roles,” Long said. “One is more designed for adults, and one that’s designed more for our younger students. It’s designed to help them be more confident in leading and teaching other students. As instructors we get to decide who to invite into this program, it’s not anybody, but we have to invite them. It’s students that have shown that they’re working hard and that they’re willing to keep working hard.”

Long said Forbes caught his eye early on as a potential student for the leadership program, but Long waited until Forbes reached a higher belt level to invite him into the program. Forbes is currently a green belt.

“His mom has told me more than once that this is his thing. He’d been asked to play with a basketball team, and he still plays with them every once in a while, but only if it doesn’t interfere with Taekwondo,” Long said. “This is what he wants to do and likes to do and he’s very dedicated to it.”

On Tuesday evenings, Long invites the students in the leadership program (there is currently one other adult student) over to his house, where they hold a leadership class. They run through teaching scenarios and then talk about how it went, where they can improve and what they did well.

“Self confidence in your own ability to do something and confidence in being able to help somebody else do it are very different,” Long said. “The leadership role takes that confidence to the next step, where you’re confident enough that you can help somebody else learn it. It doesn’t matter how good you are at [a skill], you don’t truly think about it until you have to break it back down again.”

Forbes initially just helped out with other classes because he was usually at the Wellness Center early — he could be an extra person if there were an odd number of students. But after joining the leadership program, Forbes has improved his teaching and leadership skills with every class.

“Since he’s started in the leadership role and he’s helping out with other classes, he’s talking more in class. Before, it would be just watching and maybe telling one of the other instructors if he saw something or maybe just a small pointer to a student here or there, but every class he’s getting better about speaking up. Each class he gets a little bit better. He becomes a better leader every class.”

Taekwondo incorporates life skills, such as respect, honesty, integrity, courtesy and confidence, into the martial arts practice. Students in Long’s classes all have a life skill that they’re working on — and if they don’t meet goals related to that life skill, they can’t undergo testing for their new belt.

“I tell them you can be as good as you want to on that floor, but if you’re not meeting the life skills goals, you don’t test. That’s doubly important for leadership,” Long said.

Long said the confidence that comes from Taekwondo and from being in the leadership program bleeds over into other parts of life. Students who are leaders in the gym become leaders in team sports, at school and at home.

“It feels nice to be in [the leadership program, but you also have to build up to it. You have to stand up to your name, being in leadership,” Forbes said. “But life skills are teaching me things that I need to in Taekwondo, but also in other parts of life. Taekwondo is teaching me about making goals and now that I’m in Taekwondo, I’m actually meeting those goals.”