The following is a Q&A with Kirkwood Community College Alumni Katy Sebers (class of 2018). She and her husband, Wyatt, co-own Guardian Institute of Martial Arts in Marion. Sebers graduated Kirkwood with an Associate of Science in Nursing.
What brought you to choose Kirkwood and your major? I choose Kirkwood for the flexibility of their program combined with how fast the nursing program could be completed. I started out in nursing school in 2007 at a different college but life got in the way.
Four kids and 10 years later I realized how much I still wanted to go into nursing and found myself at Kirkwood.
So why a fitness/martial arts school? What inspired you to go in this direction? I joined Taekwondo to help with fitness and as a way to spend time with my kids. The rest of my family started the program long before I did, but it was great to learn and grow together. I always said I appreciated being with my kids without actually having to parent them during the classes.
In 2021, the previous owner approached me and my husband (Wyatt) with an offer to sell the school due to his declining health. Owning our own martial arts school was a dream for us so we accepted the offer.
Are you using your nursing degree that you earned at Kirkwood? Yes, I work as a fulltime Home Health Care Nurse during the day for St. Luke’s Home Health Care.
How did you decide on the location? The school is still located in its previous location. We have discussed moving but it’s a recognized place where people remember a school was located.
Have you ever thought of expanding? We’ve discussed many times how and when we would like to expand. We already have grown in the last three years.
We added a Korean sword art program – Kumdo-Iaido, restarted the preschool Taekwondo tigers, put together a demo team that performs at farmers markets and competitions, and started a competition team for students who want to push themselves to the next level.
In addition, we’ve been teaching self-defense courses to local Girl Scout troops and college groups. Someday in the future we’d love to move to a bigger facility, especially with taller ceilings.
If you were asked to speak at Kirkwood to a class from your major, what advice would you give them? Giving a speech to nursing students about martial arts is a hard question.
I would say it’s the unexpected parts of your life that can make you a better nurse. Feeling comfortable and confident with myself because of Taekwondo makes dealing with difficult patients easier. But also finding an outlet outside of work is important. For so long that was Taekwondo for me when I was first learning. The stress, the fatigue, anything I brought home with me from the hospital- it stopped mattering the second I stepped on those mats and gave my brain and body something else to focus and work on.
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