... Senior Sheila Salinas smiles on the front lawn on Nov. 6. Salinas started taekwondo when she was II and has continued doing it for 10 years. Noah Darnell Salinas prepares to break a board on Oct. 28. Salinas was a second degree black belt in tae– kwondo. Noah Darnell Salinas demonstrates an aerial punch on Oct. 28. Salinas taught taekwondo for four years in Virginia and for one year at Downtown Church of Christ in Searcy, Ark. Noah Darnell 5-Foot Fighter ~ Sh e was 5 feet taU and weighed 100 pounds. She had a huge smil e and an enco uraging word for everyone she met. She was sweet , small and kind. And also deadly. According to her frien~s, senior Sheila Salinas' would not hurt a fly. However, sh e could t~ke down someone three times her size. But no one would have guessed that by looking at her . Salinas was one of few elite athletes who earned a second degree black belt in taekwondo martial arts. She began her training at age II. "I was a military kid and wanted to get involved at the new base," Salinas said. " I just tried taekwondo and loved it.'· Salinas admitted that it was sometimes intimidating to train against grown men, hut she used her strengths of quickness and flexibility to gain a reputation among her peers. "1 was fighting a man who was at the. top of his game," Salinas said. "H e had won a trophy that was as taU as me. Before he could react , 1 nailed him in the head with my foot. Everyone was watch– ing. After th at I got the nicknames 'Ms. Stretch' and 'Sh e ila the headhunte r Sali nas.' ' ' Salinas won the first to urnament sh e ente red at age 13 and h eld the Virginia state t it le. By 14 , soft-spoken Salinas was teaching classes of 50 to 60 people of all sizes and ages. "I was terrified at first," Salinas said. "My assistants were grown men taking orders from a little girl. They called me 'Ms . Sheila.' They would yell and reprimand for me." 34 student li fe Salinas went on to place in every tournament she entered. \Vhen sh e was 17, Salinas completed a six - hour exten sive phYSical endur – ance tes t to attain her second degree black b elt. The test included tech ni que, self-defense. cardio work, endurance t raining and sparring. When sh e came to Harding, Salinas was asked to teach tae– kwondo by the Arkansas Martial Arts Academy, which was started at Downtown Church of Christ in the spring of 2006 . She even gave individual lessons to Harding alumnus and football player Reggi e Kimmons. "I was out practicing behind Sears so no one would see me," Sa– linas explained. "But the next day, Reggie came up to me and asked if 1 could teach him those moves, too." Through AMAA at the Downtown Church. Salinas taught les– son s for studenv and community membe r s alike. "She made it look so easy," senior N ick Dean , a student of Sali– nas. sa id. "She [was} so sweet and nice, but you knew that she could kill yo u. " Salinas said that eve n though school was more important , sh e would always value her training in taekwondo. " I found a lot of joy in it," Salinas said. " I met a lot of fr iends. and it help ed me become [a} more confident person." Salinas' success was proof that great things come in small pack– ages. Janet Orgo;n
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