Champion Taekwondo Kenya Featured In The Korea Times

Taekwondo craze spreads through mining villages in Kenya

Taekwondo is becoming an icon of hope for practitioners. In the men’s lightweight final of the World Taekwondo Championships held at Medisun Square Garden in New York in April 1993, Korea’s Park Se-jin and Canada’s Victor Luke clashed in the final. Unfortunately, Victor Look ended his swimming career with a silver medal. After retirement, Look opened a Taekwondo gym in Toronto and continues to devote his passion to promoting Taekwondo by teaching many trainees. Victor Look opened the large gym last summer with Kenyan, Korean and Canadian flags hanging on Champion seals the size of four stadium mats, built by the Fluorspar mining company in Keiro Vally, a five-hour drive from Nairobi, Kenya. On July 2, 2013, at the 1st anniversary celebration and belt test, Mr. Charles Field-Marsham, the president of the mining development company who built the gymnasium, was a Taekwondo expert. 2nd Dan) and the Canadian Ambassador to Kenya.

Many distinguished guests attended, and in particular, the ambassador’s wife and instructors (above) and trainees’ families (below), who attended the opening ceremony, were invited and their teacher, Master Am Lee of Canada, made the event shine. He focused on instilling Taekwondo skills as well as Taekwondo spirit among the trainees there for free for a year through instructor Kyung chan (Euh) dispatched from Korea. The results were successful. The residents, who saw the polite and energetic appearance of the trainees who had changed significantly, fell in love with the charm of Taekwondo. Victor Luke! He has now become a hero in Kenya’s Keiro Valley, and the popularity of Taekwondo has become the center of attention among local residents.
Master Lee Am and Victor have been in a trainee-master relationship since 1977, and Professor Jong-Wan Yoon (formerly Dean of Sangmyung University College of Arts and Physical Education) and Master Lee Am are university alumni. At Master Lee Am’s request, Professor Yoon and Victor supported Victor’s training field in Korea several times during his middle and high school days, and also provided coverage of the broadcast held at the World Championships in New York (KBS commentary).

Even when building a dojang in a mining town, Victor consulted with Instructor Iam and received advice on the overall operation from a Korean instructor dispatched from Wanam Academy (made from the letters Yoon Jong-wan and Iam, meaning ‘wan’) and KOIKA in Sri Lanka. Master Eo Gyeong-chan from Kyung Hee University, who acted as an agent, was dispatched. Champion Dojang opened on July 2, 2012. At the opening ceremony, the Canadian Ambassador and his wife and overseas correspondents covered the status of Taekwondo, with over 500 trainees, including miners and their children, not only in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, but also in the mining village of Kim Warer Keiro (1,600m above sea level).

Victor is becoming an ‘icon’ of hope for Taekwondo trainees by inviting excellent trainees to Canada in the future and promising parents that they will receive free study and Taekwondo training. Charles (Mr. Charles Field-Marsham), who willingly built the Taekwondo gym, is a 2nd degree Taekwondo master, and is one of Canada’s most wealthy people. His two daughters are also first degree students living in Toronto, Canada, learning Taekwondo.
Victor Luke is an instructor (certified 7th dan) who served as the Canadian national team coach and runs four Taekwondo gyms in Toronto. He is a long-time friend of the same age as Charles, and is a teacher and teacher in Taekwondo. They are related, and Charles’ two daughters are also Victor’s students.

Wan Am. Teakwondo Instructor Academy Korea was established for the purpose of supporting and serving requests for instructors from desired countries to promote Taekwondo overseas. Professor Yoon emphasized that many desirable things, such as the establishment of a Taekwondo gym in Kenya, will be accomplished through Wanam Academy, which will serve as a bridgehead for many instructors to advance overseas.