How it All Began
In the spring of 1988, an International Taekwondo school in Nanaimo had lost their instructor and was desperate to find someone that would take over the teaching responsibilities. At that time the club existed in a small two story school house in Harewood near Vancouver Island University . Master Steve (at that time a second degree black belt) met with them and soon began teaching at their school full time. It was a bit of a challenge to get the members to switch over to the World Taekwondo Federation style. However, the core members were strong and we all pulled together to make it work. The club started with only six members and within a year we had expanded to about seventy people. The club was then moved into the Beban Park Sports Complex where we spent the next few years in development and getting stronger.
It wasn’t long before our club was facing another challenge. Due to a restructuring in the Beban Park Complex we were forced to find a new area for our dojang. It was hard to find an available building because most of the areas were taken up by small business, excessively expensive, or were undeveloped and in need of a lot of capital investment. It was just luck that we happened upon a building that was available at a reasonable rate. Once again the members of the club pulled together to renovate an area above an electrical supply company that would serve as our new dojang. It was great for club unity as everyone pitched in to make our dream a reality. The drive was strong for this because now we could make the dojang into something that was more our own rather than have the restrictions that often accompany rental of a public facility.
We have been at this location for over twenty five years now. The club has been faced with many ups and downs over this time but has still managed to survive somehow. May 2020 will mark the 31st anniversary of the Woo Kim Nanaimo Taekwondo School.
