You’ve heard of Teenage Ninja Turtles, the Karate Kid, Jackie Chan or Jet Lee? Well here come the CHUNGDO KIDS!

Chungdo kids is a unique martial arts program introducing all the benefits of martial arts to children as young as 4yrs old. Kootenay Christian Martial Arts offers this program as part of their family oriented martial arts classes. They also offer specialty classes for kids up to 11 years of age, teenagers, adults and seniors as well as Black Belts.

KCMA curriculum instills the tenets of courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit as part of their core teaching. These tenets become second nature to your everyday life. Besides character training, some of the benefits of tae kwon do include fitness, flexibility, mental training, focus, and social skills. With 40 yrs of martial arts experience, the highest ranked woman in Tae Kwon Do in the world, Grandmaster Brenda J. Sell designed the chungdo kids program to fit with this special age group of 4-6 yr olds.

Locally the Kootenay Christian Martial Arts children’s program is headed up by Black Belt Instructor Marilynn Farnham and her staff of responsible Teen Age Black Belts, who are also certified instructors. A mother of 2 upcoming young black belts, Ms Farnham has taken great pride in the progress of the program over the past 2 years. Children start out as white belts and progress with exams to different colour belt levels, building their confidence and knowledge with each step. With perseverance and good parental support these kids will become Tae Kwon Do Black Belts.

The youngest Black Belts in the school are Kelly (11) and Annie Hellman (10), who along with Jenna Rigby (14) put countless hours into their own training while assisting Ms Farnham with teaching these young future black belts. Jenna Rigby is a 1st Degree black belt and she is very active in the local competitive synchronized swimming team. Jenna also enjoys traveling, skiing, working with her school yearbook committee, violin and studying to achieve her goal of medical school. Kelly and Annie first started in Tae Kwon Do at ages 4 and 5.  They come from an athletic family and both are accomplished skiers with Kelly excelling at the Biathlon in the past 2 years. Kelly plans to continue competing in the biathlon at a higher level with a dream of reaching the Olympics. In the summertime the sisters are both accomplished canoeists and kayakers and help instruct younger kids in the sport of paddling.  Both girls excel at climbing and hiking in the summertime and both girls love teaching Tae Kwon Do.

Parental feed back speaks for itself! “Both of my children have been through Marilynn’s Chungdo class. The differences we have seen in our children since beginning Tae Kwon Do are amazing. Both kids are more physically able - balance, coordination, stamina, flexibility, and strength. The biggest change, however, is emotional. Both of my children are happier, with more self-confidence and self-esteem. They take pride in the things they accomplish at TKD. Marilynn’s teaching could not be better. She seems to understand what each child needs, and helps them develop themselves. She does not treat the children as a group, but as a group of individuals. Her patience is incredible. I have never been more pleased with a decision we have made for our children than when we decided to enroll them in the Kootenay Christian Tae Kwon Do.”
Mom - Andrea C. - Nelson BC

Classes are offered in Nelson on Mondays and Thursdays at 430pm and 530pm and at the Playmore Junction Mondays and Fridays at 530pm and are open to ALL ability levels. For further information on martial arts or this school visit www.kootenaymartialarts.com or email mastersiminoff@telus.net