[i]Boy, 12, tries to set Guinness kick record
October 17, 2005
ANN ARBOR, Mich. --Alternating his legs, Michael Hoffman had just spent the last hour pummeling a cushion in an effort to kick his way into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Although slightly winded, the 12-year-old Ann Arbor boy managed 2,377 kicks Saturday, and his supporters said he likely will set the record.
“I’m very happy it is over,” Michael told The Ann Arbor News.
His mother, Ana Hotaling, a martial arts teacher, said Guinness officials sanctioned one hour of continuous kicking as a new category, but they required his foot to touch the floor after every kick.
Guinness also required that two martial arts experts witness the feat. The cushion had to be held by someone at least 5 feet, 9 inches tall, and the kicks had to hit between the hips and chest of the cushion holder.
Michael, a second-degree black belt in tae kwon do, has been studying martial arts for eight years. He said he got the idea for the record after hearing that a 14-year-old Virginia girl had tried it in September but didn’t set the record because her kicking foot didn’t touch the ground after each kick.
After he was finished kicking at the Ann Arbor YMCA, his family and other supporters cheered in expectation of the record.
Hotaling said she will send a videotape and statements from the two martial arts experts to Guinness officials in London in two weeks. The family will wait for Guinness to notify them of the results, she said.[/i]
He started TKD at 4.