Sometimes opportunities happen spontaneously, such as the decision to launch Dojang X at a second location – this time in Abingdon’s nearby friendly village: Sutton Courtenay!
Here’s the story
The idea to serve martial arts to the people of Sutton Courteney came about following a chance conversation over a cup of tea prior to the festive break. Yep – thank tea!
The lady who was kind enough to host the tea meet up, who I now consider a friend, felt positive about Dojang X serving the local community and suggested that I ask around further.
Doing this, it became obvious that there was a good level of interest, which was exciting and also a bit pressured! After all, it was very close to Christmas and places were closing up. I needed to work hard and fast to find a venue that had the availability, decide a launch date and plan the programme and promotion – all whilst preparing to travel and then spend time with my family in the North, who I was missing greatly and hadn’t seen for a few months.
It’s funny when things sometimes just happen so fast and fall into place at the same time 😅
And then January arrived
Dojang X opened its doors in Sutton Courtenay on Friday 6th January 2023 to invite a new group of beginner students to start their Soo Bahk Do martial arts journey!
We started our launch with our first intake of the ‘Little Ninjas’ programme for four-to-six year olds. This programme is designed to equip young kids with the skills and behaviours that will set them up for success and leadership to then progress to the mixed aged 7+ class. The following class was for the mixed 7+ age group that includes teens and adults.
It takes great courage to try something new and especially to try a martial art like Soo Bahk Do which is otherwise unheard in Oxfordshire. These students who continue to train with us are among the first in the area to begin their black belt journey under this traditional Korean martial art system that is officially approved by Hwang Kee’s World Moo Duk Kwan organisation. Moreover, our Sutton Courtenay branch joins our existing Abingdon students to become the first Soo Bahk Do practitioners in Oxfordshire and the first cohort of students to join Dojang X still before our club’s first year anniversary!
As the Instructor, I’m excited to support them and see how they develop as martial artists and leaders in our community 😊
