A young Taekwondo student watches Master Hosuk Oh (and his reflection) give a demonstration last week at HS Taekwondo in Battle Ground. The martial arts studio opened last summer and has picked up in popularity in recent months.
Taekwondo Master Hosuk Oh gives a demonstration for his students with one of his interns last week at HS Taekwondo in Battle Ground.
Master Hosuk Oh teaches a Taekwondo kick at HS Taekwondo in Battle Ground last week.
Most weeknights at the Battle Ground Village you’ll find a few groups of children kicking and screaming — but they aren’t throwing a fit.
On the contrary they’re building foundations of respect at HS taekwondo studio. Taekwondo Master Hosuk Oh, together with his wife Jullie Ji, opened HS Taekwondo last summer and has begun to pick up speed in recent months, primarily by word-of-mouth and social media.
The couple decided on Battle Ground to open their first studio because they felt there was a void of martial arts in the area and found the community welcoming.
Before they decided to pursue their own business in a more rural area, Oh spent time as an instructor in Lake Oswego then Camas.
Oh is a Sixth Degree Black Belt with a bachelor’s of arts in taekwondo from Dong-A University in South Korea; he has won three gold medals in the Korean National Championship, two in the Taiwan Open Championship and a Qatar Open Championship; and he was a student of Daesung Moon, who was on the Olympic gold medal among heavyweights at the 2004 Athens games.
Moon, who Oh said is as close as family, spent a few weeks in Battle Ground last summer soon after HS opened and the couple is hoping to have him back this year.
While YouTube clips and Olympic footage of the ancient Korean sport offers high flying kicks, Oh’s primary focus with his students isn’t stylish fighting.
When parents come, they usually expect something out of a movie like Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee, Oh said. What they first learn is discipline, and most importantly respect.
It’s not about the kicking or the punching, Oh said. It’s how to build simple life skills. This is reflected best in the way one earns each level of belt; each has its own theme based on a life skill, the first being respect.
Oh said the martial art is a full-body sport for all ages, and that’s exactly what HS has — their youngest student isn’t quite 4 years old and their oldest is 75.
For adults students, Oh said taekwondo is a good source of cardio that also serves as a stress reliever and teaches discipline.
HS now offers full-gear sparring and as the studio continues to grow, they hope to soon bring in another master from South Korea.
Oh said the best way to figure out whether or not you want to join a taekwondo class is by first observing one and encouraged any interested parties to do so.
