Black belt breaks record

Cheryl Cleveland of New Port Richey celebrated Independence Day by setting a world record. While competing July 4 at the U.S. Open World Martial Arts Championships in Orlando, she set a martial arts record for most boards broken by a female with a side kick.

Cleveland's side kick broke five 1-inch-thick pine boards placed back to back in a metal holder. "In recent years the record was four boards, held by multiple women from around the world. Now Cheryl and one other competitor from Texas hold the world record at five boards," a news release states.

Cleveland, 30, is CEO of Community Fun & Fitness Center in New Port Richey. She has 14 years of martial arts experience, and was first introduced to the sport at age 6.

"My main focus has always been tae kwon do but I also explored kenpo, uechi-ryu, capoeira, kali kuntao, and kung fu a bit too," she said. "I first got involved when I was 6 years old. One of my older brothers was taking tae kwon do and would come home and show me what he learned in class."

"He was really just using me as his training dummy," she said, adding with a chuckle, "I don't remember if I joined because I liked what he was showing me or felt that I needed to defend myself from him."

She considers her new world record the highlight of her career.

"I have won quite a few trophies in sparring, forms, and board breaking but never anything like this," she said.

She learned about the world record through online research, then started working toward the goal.

"I made sure I did 100 crunches, practiced my forms, and side kicked a heavy bag as hard as I could every morning," she said. "Sometimes I would kick the heavy bag so hard that the bones in my fingers would hurt from the shockwave ... I knew I had a good kick when that happened."

At the event, Cleveland set the new world record on her second attempt.

"Once I realized I had broken all of them it was such an awesome feeling," she said.

Cleveland, also a tae kwon do instructor at the New First Baptist Church of Odessa, wants to pass that feeling on to her students.

Inspiring people to get the most of martial arts and fitness is the idea behind Community Fun & Fitness, at 1234 Gunn Highway. Cleveland's Pasco-based nonprofit organization is headquartered in a building donated by New First Baptist Church of Odessa.

She took out a personal loan to pay for the $100,000 renovations the building needed before its scheduled 2010 opening.

"We just got a new roof, and this week the building is getting a facelift with new exterior paint and a new parking lot," she said.

She plans to compete at the U.S. Open World Martial Arts Event again in 2010. This time, she'll try to break her own record.

"Next year I will try for six," she said.

CHERYL CLEVELAND

SOME BACKGROUND: While competing this Fourth of July at the U.S. Open World Martial Arts Championships in Orlando, Cheryl Cleveland of New Port Richey set a martial arts record for most boards broken by a female with a side kick.

COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS: Cleveland has started a nonprofit agency that will offer fitness-related classes and activities on a donation basis.

A LITTLE HISTORY: The Massachusetts native moved to New Port Richey in 2001. She is married to Ben Orona, a second-degree black belt; she earned her own black belt in 2004 at Tarpon Spring's Elite Martial Arts. That same year she began teaching classes at recreation centers in New Port Richey and Odessa.

WHAT'S NEXT: Cleveland is preparing for the opening of Community Fun & Fitness Center on Jan. 1 or sooner, and is training for her fourth-degree black belt test.

GET INVOLVED: Cleveland offers donation-based tae kwon do classes at the New First Baptist Church of Odessa. Those interested can check out www.odessamartialarts .com for the class schedule. For footage of Cleveland setting her world karate record, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ntUi5cOEco. For information about the center, go to www.communityfunandfitness.org.