Thursday, December 04, 2025
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Matthias Kalmbach kicking over a staff in the Freewind Martial Arts studio. Kalmbach is a green with white belt and helps instruct while at the studio. It’s a responsibility most students take on as they rank up.

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Martial arts builds dedication, character
June 27, 2025 3:05 a.m.

Martial arts builds dedication, character

MOSES LAKE – Matthias Kalmbach, a junior at Moses Lake High School, is nearing his sixth year at Freewind Martial Arts. Now a dedicated student and instructor, it all started as something that looked interesting at a Halloween Walk Around. “I noticed they had a punching bag out with a Michael Myers mask on, and I was like, ‘Hey, that looks pretty interesting. I'd like to try that.’ So, a few months later, I did, and then we went straight through COVID,” Kalmbach said. However, despite the pandemic causing several disruptions to normalcy, it did not prevent Kalmbach from pursuing his new interest. He attended online classes and said that a lot of content had to be revisited once in person classes returned. According to Kalmbach, since the classes were online, some things could not be learned to their fullest.