At TaeCole TaeKwonDo & Fitness, we are proud to recognize one of our most dedicated and long-standing students, Michael Mele, who began training at TaeCole in 2010 and is now pursuing his PHD in Pharmacy at Buffalo State. Michael’s journey is a shining example of perseverance, leadership, and self-growth. His connection to TaeCole started before he could even walk—and continues today in the most inspiring way.
Below is Michael’s story, shared in his own words:
Michael Mele
2010 – Present
Buffalo State – PHD Pharmacy
My story begins before I was even born. My brothers had already been enrolled in TaeCole, and Master Messina was already familiar with my mother, soon to become Ms. Mimi. One day, my mother walks in, with a shocked expression on her face, and simply says to Master Messina, “I’m pregnant.” 9 months later, there I was, sitting in my mom's arms watching my brothers at their belt test. By age 3, I was begging to start. By age 5, I finally convinced my mom to start, and she brought me in after the first day of school. I had begun my path to success.
My first class on the mat felt like a dream. All I had ever wanted in my 5-year-old brain was coming true. Punching, kicking, rolling, falling, the star game, everything I saw my brothers do, I was doing. At age 5 I was a pretty athletic kid, I was one of the fastest runners at recess, and I picked up the basics Tae Kwon Do pretty quickly. And then as I went up the ranks, the difficulty increased exponentially. Although it’s true the difficulty is supposed to increase, It was extra hard on me because the biggest obstacle I had ever faced had become apparent in my life: My weight. Around age 7, I became very lazy, strayed away from sports, and ate lots of snacks. As I got older, it only got worse. I gained more weight, more fat, and Taekwondo was getting harder and harder. By the time I became a black belt, I was well overweight. I knew how to do the moves at this point, but I struggled to execute them. I was extremely discouraged. It is a very draining feeling when other kids your age are doing much better than you, when you are putting in lots of work. I wish I knew this sooner, but it is important to realize that everyone is on their own journey, and we shouldn’t compare ourselves with others. At age 10, I began assisting classes. I was simply standing there, studying how the instructors were teaching, and keeping the students quiet. I would hold targets occasionally, and demonstrate techniques once in a while. I continued assisting more classes each week as I got older, then something awful happened. The COVID-19 pandemic.
Unlike most students, I never stopped training during COVID. Just 2 days after the pandemic lockdown, Taecole had begun online Zoom classes. I would join the Zoom meetings, and we would all train together, and I would assist in the younger students' classes. From 2021-2022, we went back to in-person classes and completely stopped the Zoom meetings by 2022. We were wearing masks, but it was almost back to normal. Normal training resumed, I had taken a lead instructor role, and I was planning and leading my own classes. I was still overweight, but I knew I needed to change. I began training with Ray Messina, who is also a master at Taecole, and he helped me on my weight loss journey. I began eating right, exercising consistently, and going to the gym more. I was also training and teaching significantly more, and I was getting exponentially better at Taekwondo. By 2024, I had lost nearly 30 pounds, and by 2025, I had lost 50. I was in shape, I was a skilled black belt, and I was teaching and training almost every day of the week. I felt amazing. I felt accomplished. After all the discouragement when I was young, I was now encouraged. If there's one thing I will take away from my journey, it is not to compare myself with others. When I was young, I looked around at everyone better than me and never saw myself where they were, how good they were at the same age as me. At the moment, it was terrible. Looking back, when I think of all those people I was looking at who were better, they all quit. None of them continued with me. I am now a 4th-degree black belt, and they ended their journey prematurely. They missed the miracle. Simply because I persevered, my path was a righteous one. If I had let those discouraging feelings get the best of me because I compared myself to others, my path would have been just like everyone else's, with a mediocre ending. But I wanted the best ending. All thanks to Master Messina, who inspired me every second through my journey, I got the best ending.
Stay tuned for more senior spotlights on the Taecole blog.
