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Black belt siblings earn their chops by Corrine Ramey At 4-foot-6 and 65 pounds, Kevin McClaren, 9, looks like he couldn't hurt a fly. But when he ties his black belt around the waist of his white taekwondo uniform, everything changes. Suddenly, Kevin can break boards with a swipe of his arm and defend himself against attackers twice his size. Kevin and his sister Camille, 11, recently returned from competing in the Junior Olympics for the third consecutive year, where Kevin won a silver medal for the second time. The two Inwood residents have studied taekwondo for the past six years, and now, both black belts, are competing seriously in local and national tournaments.  It all started when then 4-year-old Kevin decided he wanted to learn karate. Instead, he began taking taekwondo classes at the Bronx’s Taekwondo Warriors, housed in Astral Fitness, because at the time he was attending nearby Marble Hill Preschool. Camille joined about a month later, and today the two siblings are on the elite team at their taekwondo school. Their father, Keith McClaren, remembered his then 4-year-old son explaining why he wanted to take martial arts classes.
“I want to learn karate so I can win a trophy,” Keith recalled him saying. Today, Kevin competes in a component of taekwondo called sparring, or self-defense fighting. “I like sparring, because you actually get to fight people, and afterwards you say, ‘good job,’” said Kevin. Camille competes in a taekwondo event called forms, or choreographed patterns of kicks, blocks and strikes that are performed against an imaginary opponent. For the past five years, she has been the New York State champion in her division and has finished in the top eight in the U.S. for the past three years. Although it happened by chance, the siblings are glad that they don’t compete against each other. “There's definitely more than a little sibling rivalry between those two,” said Keith. And they realize that each has a different talent. “Put together we would make the ultimate taekwondo person,” said Camille, imagining a competitor that possessed her memory and precision with her brother's fighting skills. But outside of their taekwondo studio, both Kevin and Camille are normal kids. Both attend public school, Kevin at the Midtown West School and Camille at the Greenwich Village Middle School. Camille said her favorite subjects are math and history, and she enjoys doing art projects. Kevin particularly likes kickball and early morning hikes.  Although time consuming – the siblings train one to two hours each day, five days a week – the hard work has been worth it. “It's just been wonderful for them and brought out a lot of discipline and maturity,” said Keith, their father. “It's brought out a drive in them that school hasn't.”
The siblings have big goals for the future. Kevin aspires to go to the Olympics four times, and score gold medals each time. Camille hopes to earn the highest level of black belt, also go to the Olympics (although forms are currently not an Olympic sport) and open her own taekwondo school. As for their non-fighting lives? Kevin would like to be a lawyer when he grows up because he hopes to make a lot of money. Camille plans to be an oceanographer, architect and veterinarian. “I want to own the largest dog shelter in the world,” she said. Master John Williams, a taekwondo instructor who has taught both siblings for six years, has high hopes for the siblings as well. “Those are two amazing kids, and I see them going far,” he said. “Maybe we'll see an Olympian in the future.” The Manhattan Times is the bilingual newspaper of Washington Heights and Inwood.
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