FOLEY, Alabama — On Sept. 8, 2012, several martial arts students from Foley TaeKwonDo Academy gathered on the training floor for a different type of art. Scattered across the floor were poster boards, paints, brushes, markers, and children.

The objective: make artistic expressions of support for Team Foley. In all, twelve signs were emblazoned with encouragement. Encouragement and support for the 26 students who would compete in the 2012 Tiger Rock Martial Arts Fall National Tournament in Gulf Breeze, Fla. Sept 15.

Before and after competition, groups of students donning bright blue and lime green shirts with “Foley TaeKwonDo Academy” on the front could be found sitting together under tall, yellow cutout of the State of Alabama which said, “The One and Only Team Foley is Making a STATEment.”

During competition, the sea of blue and green could be seen on the outskirts of varying rings of their fellow competitors.

They cheered loudly. Several Foley parents would migrate from one competition ring to another to watch their own children and to support and encourage other ‘Foley Fighters.’

“As a martial arts instructor,” Courtney Hulsey, chief instructor of Foley TaeKwonDo Academy said, “I teach the physical aspects of taekwondo. But it’s more than that. I also instill character, confidence and mental agility. I watch students transform, not only into great martial artists, but stronger and more confident students. Some who come through my door are extremely shy. As they progress, they slowly start to open up.”

Hulsey says it is hardest for those students to compete in front of others, but it is taekwondo that can help them build confidence in their own ability. “Courage and strength are two of our tenets, and it’s not just physical strength that these students gain from taekwondo.”

That inner strength and confidence helped those 26 students bring home 32 medals.

“I’m glad they did well and had fun,” Hulsey said. “But what I am most proud of is how they represented themselves, their academy, and their community. It is natural for me to brag on the students that train at my academy. It’s when parents and instructors from other academies tell me how impressed they are with my students that really tells the story.”

Hulsey said those parents weren’t just impressed with the students’ performance at the tournament. It was how they conducted themselves throughout the day, cheering each other on.

“Taekwondo is more than a physical sport,” Hulsey said. “It encompasses the mental and spiritual journey of each student as they learn the physical aspects of the sport.”

She knows that a gold medal for a form or sparring round well done is the outward reward of hard work. But the inner gold medal is what every student will take home with them at the end of the day no matter how many, or how few, actual medals they won that day.