Franklin Park brothers rack up karate trophies

Peyton Psilos is only 5 years old, and he already has won two gold medals. His brother, Julian, is 6, and he's won silver and bronze medals.The children of Desiree and Steven Psilos of Franklin Park won the awards last month at a General Choi Memorial Cup Championship martial arts tournament in Toronto."The boys love getting a trophy or medal and it is always exciting, but they know they will not always win and the most important part is no matter if they win or lose their parents will always be proud of them," Desiree Psilos said.The General Choi tournament was the boys' first international competition, although Julian, a first-grader at Eden Christian Academy in Wexford, has won a number of awards at other competitions.Peyton, who is in preschool at Eden, won gold in the sparring and patterns categories at the General Choi tournament, and Julian won a silver in sparring and a bronze in patterns.Desiree Psilos said sparring is a form of training common to many martial arts. Although the precise form varies, it is essentially relatively "free-form" fighting, with enough rules to make injuries unlikely.Patterns are set sequences of moves that enable a student to train alone. There are 24 patterns in traditional tae kwon do.The tournament was hosted by Grandmaster Jong Soo Park in honor of General Choi, the founder of the martial art of tae kwon do. More than 25 martial arts schools from eight countries competed.Master Zang, the brothers' master instructor, recommended the boys compete. Their mother said her sons didn't have to qualify -- it was an invitational event and Master Zang's school -- Zang Taekwondo in Wexford -- was one of two schools in the United States invited to participate.It was Steven Psilos' decision to enroll his sons in martial arts classes after seeing how much they loved the movie "Karate Kid.""I was hesitant at first, because I didn't want them learning how to fight that young, but once we started them at Zang, I then realized the way that Master Zang teaches has positive benefits," his wife said.The boys, who also like soccer, T-ball and gymnastics, have learned how to show respect, not only to their parents but to other adults and their friends; how to not misuse what they learn in class; and the tenets of tae kwon do, which are courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, indomitable spirit and modesty.Peyton said his favorite part is sparring people, and Julian said he loves helping Master Zang teach class."As a mom I feel like my children accomplished something pretty amazing," Desiree Psilos said.