Appreciation and congratulations
19th April 2020

A personal note from Master Nicholls

Now into our fifth week of our dojangs/gyms being closed and moving into the fifth week of lockdown. Later in this email I want to talk about the sincerity of what we do but first, after the initial shock, inertia and fear created by the COVID-19 virus, I can see clear evidence of our resilience and positivity in the on-line activities and initiatives we are employing to maintain contact and encourage physical activity and mental wellbeing with our members and their families.

I want to congratulate all of you for the different initiatives, ideas and motivational interaction you have adapted to so quickly to engage with your students. All of us are well experienced in the face-to-face teaching of Taekwon-Do and associated activities and our IT skills were limited to that type of administration. I have seen so many ways of making these interactions by live video, workout and training programmes and generally ensuring that all of your members who want to continue training have that opportunity. I would further encourage a wider audience, that of parents and friends, understanding our role as instructors within a community is to involve as many people, whether they take your workouts and training seriously as a student, supporting parents just to have a go or your friends who just want to enjoy themselves.

Many of our members have experienced life-changing events due to this pandemic. I am sure you are reaching out to those but do humbly request that you do not let fees be a point of access to receive your tuition, allow these members to use their own integrity in their current financial situation. When all returns to normal, we will all have the opportunity to further assess our dojang/gym management. One of my experiences and it is certainly evidenced is that we must always appreciate every member from the recreational to the competitor and give every opportunity we can for our members to improve. Whilst we are doing so much work by remote activity, clubs will return as students can refer to books and videos but an instructor is for perfection, personal motivation and feedback. Of course, it is a real concern that not all venues and clubs will reopen. I would venture to hope that, where venues are viable, our members will demonstrate their loyalty and appreciation for our efforts now by returning to our clubs for our personal support and tuition, renewing their friendships at the club and resume their Taekwon-Do, Boxing, Kickboxing and personal development journey, truly valuing the individual and collective benefits of a martial art. This I see as the potential return on our investment - the passion with which we share our knowledge, understanding, enjoyment and guidance.

It would be all too easy to get complacent and relax our vigilance to the hygiene and social distancing measures which are playing such a significant part in the Government’s strategy of ‘Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’. I exhort us all to remain steadfast in our diligence to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our communities.
It is a real tribute to you all to see this generous, caring and motivating attitude. I salute you and your members for keeping the spirit of Taekwon-Do and associated activities, Boxing, Kickboxing, alive and kicking.

I very much look forward to visiting every area when our club activities resume, to meet every one of you and your club members, to thank you in person and train together with pride and a renewed appreciation of what training together brings after our period of isolation.

I wish each of you, your family, friends and members safe and well.

Trevor Nicholls