After School Clubs: Taekwon-Do

Written by: Grant

When I first arrived at The Olive Tree I had no idea of what was going to happen during the following six years. I could never have expected that Taekwon-Do classes at the Olive Tree would grow from 7 to 50 people in just a few short years. Why? Because they always made me feel at home.

I am the one who arrives when everyone else leaves, and the one who closes the school at night. For me, I feel the school is, in a way alive. You can breathe in this positive energy that makes you feel relaxed but also connected. I often watch how the kids and families pick their kids up and can feel how happy everyone is.

After six years I can certainly say there’s a big difference between The Olive Tree compared with the other international schools I have worked with. The Olive Tree is in fact, the only place I can call home, and the only school I’ve decided to further develop my project.

The environment at The Olive Tree is ideal for expressing and developing Taekwon-Do ITF for the children as it has been for me. The Olive Tree management has never feared my classes growing, and continues to support former students or children outside of The Olive Tree to join the Taekwon-Do lessons.  The Olive Tree is focused on seeing happy children, no matter where they come from. This indeed is an enormous sign of the philosophy and drive behind the school.

Like any club, some students are more adept at Taekwon-Do than others. Some children have had a hard time blending into the class initially, but once they’ve understood and connected with the group, each of them has grown as people. So, in fact, with hard work and love for what I do, everybody has become better; children, teenagers and even grownups.