A FIXTURE of Ballarat\u2019s martial arts community is having a milestone birthday later this year, with previous students and instructors invited to celebrate.<\/p>\n
Ballarat and Western Victorian Taekwondo is turning 50 years old this year and current members are preparing to acknowledge the anniversary with a reunion event in March.<\/p>\n
Instructor and secretary Simon Andrews has been with the non-profit since 1995 and said he\u2019s excited to reminisce with past members.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really important for us to put this on as it means a lot to the club,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to catching up with people we\u2019ve trained with in the past and seeing where they\u2019re at in life and to discuss those times. It\u2019ll be a casual sort of catchup.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want as many former head instructors, head instructors, and students as well as current members to come to this. We\u2019re expecting between 20 to 30 people so far.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of the organisation\u2019s five decades, head instructor Ron Parkinson has been a member for 48 years and has served in his role for nearly 30 years.<\/p>\n
He said to reach half a century is an enormous achievement for a martial arts academy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually quite rare,\u201d he said. \u201cYou see some that will last as long as the transient teachers who\u2019ll come through the town, but I\u2019ve always been in Ballarat so it\u2019s kept going.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think one of our strong points is that we\u2019ve been able to teach kids with autism which some martial arts schools won\u2019t teach.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently with about 10 to 15 students and instructors, members meet on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings for training.<\/p>\n
Established in 1974 by Melbourne-based martial artist John Le Busque, training was previously held at the former YMCA building at Camp Street before moving to several locations including a Sturt Street site.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe outgrew everything back then,\u201d Mr Parkinson said.<\/p>\n
The organisation is currently based at the Victorian Railways Institute Hall where members have operated for 11 years.<\/p>\n
The anniversary event will begin at 12pm at the North Star Hotel on Saturday 23 March.<\/p>\n
Those wishing to join Ballarat and Western Victoria Taekwondo can do so via the group\u2019s Facebook page or by emailing ballarat_taekwondo@hotmail.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A FIXTURE of Ballarat\u2019s martial arts community is having a milestone birthday later this year, with previous students and instructors invited to celebrate. Ballarat and Western Victorian Taekwondo is turning 50 years old this year and current members are preparing to acknowledge the anniversary with a reunion event in March. Instructor and secretary Simon Andrews […]<\/p>\n