Freeporters Robin Monahan and John Morang have four kids, two of whom – their sons, Ben and Frank – were, shall we say, “handfuls” as very young children.

But Monahan is a clever mother and found fresh directions for her boys’, ahem, “exuberance”: Frank she corralled into track and field; Ben, on the other hand, she set loose on Tae Kwan Do.

Both have excelled beyond her wildest imaginings.

It’s Ben’s turn in the spotlight, though: The elder brother (Ben is 14, Frank 11), now a black belt, has recently earned himself the right to represent the United States at the World Organization of Martial Arts Athletes’ 15th World Martial Games in Cardiff, Wales, on July 24-26.

“It is funny how both boys ended up excelling in the sport I plugged them into out of mere self-preservation,” says Monahan, laughing. “Ben was always a hyperactive child, very curious, smart, very physical. He loved to swim in our pool, started riding a two-wheel bike at 3 years old and seemed to lack in focus.

“I saw something about a TKD (Tae Kwon Do) class at Mast Landing School in the Freeport Recreation and Community brochure. Also our neighbor, Don Cyr, is a sensei, and he had witnessed Benjamin running across our lawn and down the driveway, and me right behind him. At age 5, we signed him up.”

Ben, an eighth-grader at Freeport Middle School, is Monahan and Morang’s biological son; in addition, the couple has three adopted kids, including Frank (African-American, hailing from Chicago). Sisters Emily (19, originally from China and presently attending Clark University, in Worcester, Mass.) and Addie (17, a junior at Freeport High School) round out the family.

Ben took to TKD “like a duck to water,” as Monahan puts it. “He loved it. His home life got better, too, as he had a true passion and loved to spend time working on his new craft. It was amazing to see [a 5-year-old] have such direction and skill.”

“TKD clicked with me from the start,” Ben Morang says. “I was very serious – or, as serious as a 5-year-old can be – when it came to working hard in class to progress through the ranks. [And] there was never a time I felt like giving up; although I did take time off here and there for various reasons, I always planned to come back.”

Ben advanced through the lower ranks quickly, but of course the requirements to move up another belt get tougher as an athlete presses forward.

“I was dedicated, however, and knew that if I put in the work, I would get to the next rank,” he says. Finally, when he was 12, Ben earned his black belt.

Ben’s been competing for seven years now, and competes in three circuits: the Independent Practitioners and Promoters of New England (“Ippone”), the State Martial Arts Ratings and Totals (S.M.A.R.T.) and Twin State.

Each circuit runs 10-16 tournaments a year, and at each tournament, Ben competes in two divisions, forms (displays of technique) and point fighting. All told, he’s taken part in hundreds of tournaments – which no doubt have started to blur together for him.

That said, some competitive moments still stand out in his memory, including a back-to-back pair of bouts against two top-circuit fighters – both of whom Ben beat. “It got me first place and some real street cred,” Ben says, “[though] nothing like the two guys I beat.”

At another competition, Ben came out on top despite facing a number of senior competitors.

“I received first place in my forms division, and qualified for the forms grand championship. [There] I saw many very good people, from ages 6 to 18. At 13, I was pretty intimidated.

“To keep it short,” he says modestly, “I performed very well and won the grand championship.”

Ben trains at Freeport Tae Kwan Do with senseis Steve Day, Wanda Daniele and Jake Daniele. Four friends from school train with him. “However,” he says, “I can’t tell you how many great friends I’ve met through martial arts. I’ve met well over 200 people that I regularly keep in touch with.”

To qualify for Wales, Ben had to earn an invitation onto Team America by strutting his stuff in a competition hosted by the World Organization of Martial Arts Athletes’ regional director for New England/the Northeastern U.S., Andy Campbell.

“I run a tournament the last Saturday in June called the Summer Spectacular,” says Campbell, who’s also the Team America captain. “To qualify for the World Games, you must place [first through fourth] at my event, or various others around the country and world. Ben placed first at my event last year.”

But Campbell had noticed Ben prior to his big win. “I’ve known Ben for four or five years now,” Campbell says. “He has always been a sweet, respectful young man outside the ring, and a fierce warrior in it!

“I invited him to be on Team America because he’s so successful in all the other tournaments he attends. Having gone to Europe for the past five years to compete, I know the level of competition, and knew that Ben would do well for our team.

“Ben is really strong in kata, but his best thing is sparring. He has fast hands and faster legs. He’s just what we need on our team.”

The Summer Spectacular itself wasn’t that challenging for Ben, “but,” he says, “that wasn’t the point. I’d been training for something like this since I started. I got very good and the only way to get on the team was to be invited.

“This was the challenge. Rather than showing my skill on a few single occasions, I had to show Team America I was at the caliber of international competition by consistently showing my skill at every tournament I attended.”

Ultimately, three U.S. teams will compete in Wales, each comprised of four to eight athletes.

“I don’t really know much about the competition overseas,” Ben says, “and in some sense it makes me nervous. All I know is that as long as I train hard, I’ll be a contender, or possibly a force to be reckoned with, in Wales.”

Every athlete is responsible for paying his own way to and from Wales. The Monahan-Morang family has scheduled their first fundraiser for April 1 at Petrillo’s in Freeport, and already planning their second as well. That one, thus far without a date, will take place at Bucks’ Naked BBQ, also in Freeport.

“We need a total of $4,500 for Ben to go along with one parent,” Monahan says.

That’s a significant price tag, but hardly unattainable. Since Ben’s only 14, his parents are naturally uncomfortable with the thought of his traveling alone across the Atlantic.

If Ben hasn’t learned all the ways of the world from studying Tae Kwan Do, he’s nevertheless learned quite a few.

“Martial arts has taught me many things about life,” he says. “It’s changed the way I look at life. It’s taught me extreme respect toward everyone, including myself; perseverance; dedication; strength, mentally and physically. And, most of all, it’s taught me what real camaraderie is.

“It’s also taught me how to kick someone in the head pretty hard.”

“Ben has a second family with this group,” Monahan says of Freeport Tae Kwan Do. “Fantastic people who are positive, great role models and truly supportive of each other. He’s also beginning to teach some classes, and to judge at tournaments.”

He doesn’t consider himself an expert yet, though; not by a mile. “Even though I have a black belt, I know I have a long way to go until I truly have a knowledge of my art that is at a point of mastery,” Ben said.

To that end, he plans to continue training indefinitely, and hopes to one day open a school of his own.

So will Ben branch out into other martial arts as well? With that much talent and focus at his disposal, would he welcome additional challenges?

“I’m sure there will be a point when I will try other styles,” he says, “but that won’t be for a while.” He wants to elevate his knowledge of Tae Kwan Do to its highest possible degree first.

In the meantime, he has plenty of other hobbies to occupy him, including “baseball, soccer, basketball, snowboarding, skateboarding, fishing, chorus, band, technology aspects of the world, physics, architecture and carpentry, golfing…I could go on,” he says, “but I think that should suffice.”

At least he’s not trying to tear down his parents’ house anymore.

A Closer Look:

A fundraiser for Ben Morang will be held at Petrillos, 15 Depot St., Freeport, on Wednesday, April 1, from 5-9 p.m. A total of 10 percent of meal proceeds goes to raise money for Morang’s upcoming trip to Wales. For more information, call 865-9032.

Andy Campbell and Freeport’s Ben Morang pose together at Campell’s Summer Spectacular tournament. Campbell is team captain for an American contingent of Tae Kwon Do martial artists, including Morang, competing in Wales this summer.

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