In 1995 my oldest son François asked me if he could learn a martial art. I was somewhat prejudiced against the martial arts; I thought that François was too young and that it would be too violent. Although he remained interested, I tried to stall him as long as possible. However, my plan did not work for very long. In 1996, François really insisted and I finally agreed that he could take a course offered by the City of Gatineau recreation department with the Club de Taekwon-Do de Gatineau. The city had been offering this course for a long time, so I thought it must be good. Nevertheless, I asked if I could sit in on the classes and was surprised that this was not a problem. What a pleasant surprise! Taekwon-Do was not at all what I thought it would be.

Soon my younger son Richard joined his brother for Taekwon-Do classes. After a couple of years of sitting on the bench and meeting many of the students, parents, and friends – some of whom became excellent friends – I decided that it was my turn to get involved. I started Taekwon-Do classes, and my wife Nicole joined me.

When François qualified for his first participation in a World Championship (in Ponce, Porto Rico), Richard was a black stripe, and he participated by cheering enthusiastically for his brother. Richard really admired François’ achievements and looked up to him. After the tournament, Richard was hooked on the idea of competing on the international level. He made up his mind that he was going to participate in the next tournament in Riccione, Italy, and the two boys immediately started to train together. They both qualified for a position in the Canadian delegation for the Riccione championship. As you can imagine, Nicole and I were very proud of our sons!

Since I was a member of the Canadian armed forces, we had never lived in one place for more than a few years and had never lived close to our families. Our Taekwon-Do club became our “second home”.

Our family has enjoyed the excitement of competition, the medals won, and the fellowship of other Taekwon-Do practitioners. We have also benefited from the improvement in our physical condition. These are all positive results from Taekwon-Do. In addition, we have learned to take pride in what we have accomplished and in the quality of the technical expertise and teaching at our club.

Sometimes parents need examples to show children that success in school, and in life, comes only with hard work. Our children learned that working hard at Taekwon-Do training meant that they could participate in the World Championship, in the same way that working hard on schoolwork leads to better results, results they can really be proud of.

Nicole and I found that learning and applying the tenets of Taekwon-Do helped us to have a calmer home and a happier family life. We still disagree at times, but we have all learned to do so within the parameters of the Taekwon-Do tenets.

Many young people drop out of school, only to go back when they realize that they need a diploma to get a good job. We believe that studying Taekwon-Do helped our sons to understand the importance of persevering to complete their education.

To sum up our experience: What started with one young boy’s interest in martial arts has evolved into a love for the art of Taekwon-Do for our whole family. Taekwon-Do has truly become our way of life.

Yours in Taekwon-Do,
Alain Martineau and the Family

ITF Activities Archive