Dr. Jeremy Henkel, assistant professor of philosophy, became interested in tae kwon do in high school, and that led to an interest in non-Western philosophy. The two merge in his classes at Wofford.  “A lot of insights I have in philosophy come originally from my martial arts experience,” Henkel says. “Martial arts is sort of like meditation in action. It’s a lot about focus, and you can learn to expand that into other areas of your life. It gives me the tools to explain that in a philosophy class, and it helps students see the value of philosophy beyond simply checking the box on their class requirement sheets.” 
 
Henkel, who oversees a tae kwon do studio in Hawaii, where he attended graduate school, has taught martial arts in Interim several times, and those classes led to the start of a campus tae kwon do club.  “Reading [French philosopher] Descartes’ thoughts about the relationship between mind and body got me thinking about my own experiences in tae kwon do and the martial arts,” he says. “I kind of realized that Descartes was just wrong. I did a research project on that. 
 
“People look at meditation as sitting and staring at a candle or concentrating on one thing to stop the endless stream of thoughts and worries and ideas and anticipations that are constantly running through the mind, but running 5 miles or doing tae kwon do or any intense physical act does the same thing as far as calming the mind.”