At the northern end of the strip mall, the business front of 318 N. Franklin Street houses 1 Team Martial Arts, where Taekwondo athletes in Crawford County go to train, many of whom have achieved state recognition. Among those athletes are Lance Pewitt, of Cuba, as well as three sisters from Steelville: Maddie, Megan and Morgan Dobkins. All train at 1 Team to compete in sanctioned ATA Martial Arts tournaments. These four athletes are in the state standings.

The business operates under the umbrella of ATA, the nation’s largest martial arts organization. It is owned and operated by eighth-degree black belt Chief Master Mark Prosser, who also owns other locations in Rolla and Salem. His wife, Shuree Prosser, runs the business from the front counter. He trains the athletes for their upcoming competitions on Mondays and Wednesdays at the Cuba location.

Athletes who compete in tournaments can participate in a max of eight events (forms, weapons, sparring, combat sparring, creative and extreme weapons and creative and extreme forms). 

The Dobkins sisters are homeschooled. The oldest is 17-year-old Maddie, 14-year-old Megan, and 11-year-old Morgan.

The sisters began training four years ago, after the COVID pandemic.

“Our world went to crap,” said Morgan when discussing how she and her sisters began martial arts. 

The Dobkins sisters are all the same rank as recommended black belts, but compete in different divisions based on age. 

Maddie participates in the age group 15-17 color belt girls, Megan is in the 13-14 color belt girls and Morgan is in the 11-12 color belt girls division.

Megan got into Taekwondo because of her sister. 

Maddie’s favorite tournament memory happened two years ago, when she won district titles in sparring, creative weapons and extreme weapons. She is a senior and plans on attending College of the Ozarks for a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN).

Morgan’s favorite part of going to tournaments is winning medals and trophies.

Pewitt, 38, began training around two years ago at 1 team. He is a 2005 graduate of Cuba High School and competes in the 30-39 age color belt division in ATA competitions. He currently holds the rank of brown belt.

“Personal goals for myself usually drive me,” said Pewitt about his training. 

He recently experienced an error regarding his tournament points. He emailed ATA because his points went to the 18-29 color belt division. 

When asked about organizing Taekwondo commitments and working as the store manager at Dollar General, Pewitt said, “very delicately.”

He also trains at the Rolla location, maxing out his training to four nights a week.

The Dobkins sisters also train at the Rolla location sometimes.

Pewitt is open to the possibility of running a school or club if the chance is presented.

Their instructor, Prosser, has been with ATA for 46 years. He trains under Grandmaster In-Hoe Lee, a ninth-degree black belt. 

“It’s unique to take a young man or young girl, and turn them into a champion,” said Prosser about training his athletes.

The athletes from 1 Team Martial Arts plan on competing at ATA Spring Nationals from April 10-11 in St. Louis 

Having a national ATA event in Missouri has stirred excitement. 

“This is the first time any major event is in Missouri,” said Prosser. 

The next tournament they have in the region (ATA Region 115) is in Lebanon on Feb. 28, hosted by Prosser. 

“We’d like to convert the tournament back to A status, did just raise (ATA from B to A tournaments) the numbers, hoping to get our A tournament back,” said Prosser about the upcoming tournament. 

ATA tournaments are broken into classifications. “A” and “B” tournaments are for regional classifications. “A” tournaments offer more points than “B” tournaments.

Usually, 75 percent of his schools attend the regional tournament in Lebanon. Prosser is hoping to take twenty students from Cuba, and that 100 percent of them will compete.