In the middle of 2009, Mr Philip Lear from England approached his local Special Needs School (for Children who have complex learning difficulties and autism, which includes moderate, complex, severe, profound or multiple issues) to start Taekwon-Do classes with them, after having a long conversation with a friend Mr John McIlvenny who was already teaching some successful classes in Special Needs Schools throughout Scotland.

He created a syllabus that related directly to ITF Taekwon-Do, but gave the students a chance to learn the techniques at a slower pace. After many meetings with the school, a trial period of classes was agreed from April 2010 and since then the school has not looked back. The positive effect on the children was immediate and now 9 months later the children are able to follow the correct Taekwon-Do protocol and have learnt not only basic Taekwon-Do techniques, but are also able to use Taekwon-Do terminology.

At the end of this term students from the school in Crowborough, East Sussex passed their grading. He graded the students who were put through their paces after having shown a variety of basic Taekwon-Do techniques including kicks and punches, four direction punch and four direction block. They also had to show multiple kicking combinations against a kick pad and then finished off with a theory test where they recited some Taekwon-Do terminology.

Mr Lear has seen the students advance in many areas of Taekwon-Do in the last nine months, as well as in the way they interact and behave during the class. He said “I love teaching this class and it gives me a great sense of achievement to be able to teach these students Taekwon-Do and see them truly value what they are learning. The teachers at the school have been surprised of the positive impact that the training has had and the respect they show in the class compared to their usual classes. I’m really proud of my students here and their personal achievements and the opportunity I have to help improve the lives of individuals who would never usually have the chance to learn Taekwon-Do”.

The School have now included Taekwon-Do as part of the physical activity for the children as a regular class and because of the amazing results, plan to continue running the class for the immediate future.