Kicking, punching and punching is a 'way of life' for North East taekwondo star Brian Meagher

Kicking, punching and punching is a 'way of life' for North East taekwondo star Brian Meagher

Four weeks before the World University Games in China, the northeastern junior suffered a painful herniated disc in his back. He fought two teammates anyway — with surprising results.

Brian Meagher felt the weight of the moment lift as he walked up the stairs with his two teammates. Before them on the bright stage was a sign that read “United States of America.”

“There's probably 1,000 people watching you,” recalled Meagher, a junior at Northeastern. “And many of them are Chinese citizens who all want China to win. So if something happened or you messed up, you'd know because you'd hear them all gasping.”

He's been something of a taekwondo prodigy since his mother enrolled him in a local club in Fairfield, Connecticut, at age 7 — performing well in regional and national competitions despite growing to 6 feet, 2 inches, a height which adds complexity to his martial art.

But those screening events in the U.S. haven't drawn nearly as large a crowd as the one he had last month in Chengdu, China. And he had never competed for an award as important as this one at World University Gameswhich Meagher considers the second biggest event on the planet for his favorite form of taekwondo, known as poomsae.

The setting and the pomp threatened to overwhelm him as he and his teammates bowed to their coach while a group of American fans chanted “USA.”

“My mind almost went numb,” says Meagher. “I don't think anything could have prepared me for what I felt.”

And there was something else – the herniated disc in his back that he had suffered three weeks earlier.

With another bow to the judges, Meagher and his teammates began their moves, choreographed and synchronized, maintaining discipline despite the pressure.

“He's been in this world before”

“Northeastern has always been my dream school,” Meagher says, and taekwondo had something to do with it.

An older friend had tipped Meagher off about university Club Taekwondo. Meagher says the club helps attract students to Northeastern.

“As big as our club is,” says Meagher, referring to its 100-plus members, “it attracts a lot of people who have done taekwondo before in their lives. People see that.”

In a sign of the sport's profound influence, Meagher's college application essay included everything he took from taekwondo, including the sense of independence he had gained since age 14, when he began flying solo in tournaments and training camps, including a in California. which took place entirely in the gym—he and the other students trained eight hours a day, ate their meals there, and slept on its mat floor.

His mother, Jennifer Meagher, was initially surprised when Brian, the youngest of her four children, immediately fell in love with the martial art. But now her kinship makes sense.

“Even when he was quite young he would be very observant with a deep knowledge of things,” says Jennifer Meagher. “My parents were like, 'We think he's been in this world before.'”

The quiet child was 10 years old when he started teaching younger students. Meagher gained confidence while investing in himself.

“It gave me a sense of empowerment,” says Meagher, a fourth-degree black belt who has earned master status at the Fairfield club. “When I got into the studio, it took me away from everything. I felt very strong and powerful. I didn't have any of my friends from school who did it and I didn't really want them to. I just wanted this to be my space.”

Meagher's sense of the wider world has influenced his career goals. He is majoring in international relations with minors in economics and environmental studies.

“I hope I can help address the issue of climate change,” says Meagher, who seeks partnerships to that end. “Climate change is not going to be solved by one country, so I wanted the international affairs aspect. I also realized that the world is run by money, so I was thinking about finance. and then environmental studies to broaden my knowledge of the environment.”

The name of his relatively young martial art—developed in Korea in the late 1950s—comes from tae (kick), kwon (fist) and do (discipline). The Summer Olympics offer medals for taekwondo sparring, a form in which Meagher competes for Northeastern.

“Sparring is like chess: You have to read what the other person is going to kick or throw,” he says. “I remember getting hit pretty hard in the chest and it was like the wind knocked you out. But you have to forget that because it could be a foot in your face next. You really have to protect your head a lot.”

Meagher has never used taekwondo away from the gym.

“One time I was out with my friends,” he says, recalling a chance encounter with strangers. “They were both upset because they both fell out with each other. I just kind of moved forward.”

He separated them – “go over there, you go over there” – while reminding them that they would never see each other again. The innate confidence that he could protect himself if needed, combined with his size at 190kg, certainly helped defuse the situation. The sense of peace can be both intimidating and convincing.

In its first year as a Division I program, Northeastern's Club Taekwondo won the Eastern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference. Meagher competed in both sparring and poomsae. has climbed to No. 12 nationally in recent form with the help of Northeastern assistant coaches Leah Rosenzweig and Andrew Hurd, both former competitors in the program.

It was no surprise that Meagher tried to compete after a painful back injury.

“He's always very upbeat and positive, no matter the situation,” says Northeast coach George Panagiotakopoulos, who built the club's squad eight years ago. “To compete with an injury like the one Brian had, it takes a lot of grit, a lot of discipline and basic resilience, because you're going to have some bad days, some painful days. And making sure you're able to manage everything beyond the stress of training and managing your schedule — it takes a lot.”

“The best run I've ever seen”

Meagher suffered his back injury while training on July 1, four weeks before the World University Games. He quickly began an extensive physical therapy regimen.

“When he said he had a herniated disc, I thought he was going to tell me he wasn't going to compete,” says Jennifer Meagher. “But instead he said, 'I'm fighting anyway.'”

Jennifer, a special education teacher, had become the office manager for Brian's club in Fairfield, World Taekwondo Champion, directed by Master Kwangjin Ha. Jennifer has also taken up the sport and is currently a black belt.

“We did some swimming to help his back and he did a lot of stretching at home,” says Jennifer. “He couldn't train as hard as before.”