13-year-old receives black belt in taekwondo

Corona del Mar middle school student Brooke Stinson, 13, recently received her black belt in taekwondo from Master Tom Marshall of Marshall’s Tae Kwon Do studio in Costa Mesa.

Brooke said she was always interested in martial arts, and when her mother, Beverly, saw an advertisement for the studio three years ago, Brooke told her she was ready to take on the sport she described as “cool.”

Beverly Stinson and her husband were divorcing and their older daughter was away at college.

“Brooke was going through a tough time, and I wanted her to have something she could call her own,” Beverly Stinson said.

Brooke describes taekwondo as a disciplined sport, where “you can’t mess up a lot.”

— Sue Thoensen