Eric Chadwick of Crofton said his son Landon, 5, was relatively new to eating steamed crabs. But the boy didn't hesitate to dig right into a hard-shell.

The Chadwicks and about 40 others were at Vuong's Taekwondo Center in Gambrills on Saturday for a crab feast fundraiser.

"We're trying to raise money for a new punching bag system," said Michael Visitacion, an instructor and manager at Vuong's. The center wants to replace its freestanding punching bags with heavyweight bags that would hang from the ceiling and utilize a hydraulic lock system, he said. 

While the fundraiser was being held in a first floor empty space that's under construction and will be available for lease in the future, a variety of martial arts classes were held upstairs in the Vuong's building.

The training was a joint effort that included several martial arts schools from Maryland and Virginia, said Chien Vuong, who founded Vuong's Taekwondo Center in 1992. About 60 students between ages five and 32 were at the event, he said.

Carol Geithner of Arnold, Md. was at the center while her son Ian, 14, trained. "It's good to train against other schools," she said. 

Steve Kaii-Ziegler of Annapolis -- whose daughter Emily, 14, was in class at the center on Saturday -- agreed.

"That always helps your skill level improve," he said of students who train at a variety of schools. "More exposure, more experience, that helps everybody." 

Both taekwondo and karate are two of the most popular forms of martial arts. However, while karate uses the the arm and hand more than the legs, the center said that taekwondo is  often characterized by fast, high and spinning kicks. They said that the word taekwondo is often translated as 'the way of hand and foot.'

Vuong's is active in the community and young students of the school were recently seen showing off their skills at the Kiwanis Halloween Parade on Crofton Parkway.

The center also held a two-session Bully-Buster seminar for students at Nantucket Elementary School last month. The session was to help the students confront bullies without confrontation.

To get a class schedule and learn more about Vuong's Taekwondo Center, visit www.vuongs.com. To learn more about the crabs from Shoreline Seafood Inc., visit www.shorelineseafood.com.