Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Breaks ‘Partisan Gridlock’ Boards Using Taekwondo

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) successfully broke four wooden boards with his bare hands for a crowd of about 200 people on Tuesday in celebration of the state's first Taekwondo Day.

While sporting his honorary ninth-degree Taekwondo black belt, Hogan split the boards, which had “partisan gridlock” written on them. 

The Baltimore Sun reports the honorary black belt may have been awarded to Hogan during his trip to Korea. His wife, Yumi Hogan, is the first Korean-American first lady in the United States.

Taekwondo is is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea, similar to the practice of karate. 

Before the ceremony, Hogan joked, “I want to make it clear: It’s only honorary. So please, I don’t want any eighth-degree people trying to challenge me. I don’t really have the skills."

Watch the video above.

Hogan didn’t want to embarrass himself during the ceremony, an aide said, so he practiced his skills for at least a week prior.

"He's been practicing in his office," Hogan aide Keiffer Mitchell said. "He broke it. I thought it had been weakened or something first, but he did it."

Last June, Hogan announced that he had been diagnosed with late stage 3 non-Hodgkin lymphoma, an aggressive form of lymph node cancer.

In November, the first-term governor said his cancer was in remission. 

H/T The Baltimore Sun

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