The secure confidence that taekwondo brings

14-year-old Gloria Kiden in the Taekwondo class at Youth Sharing Centre Nsambya. Photo by Abubaker Lubowa.

What you need to know:

  • The art of self-defence. To learn and practise taekwondo requires discipline, commitment and once one has mastered the art, self-control. Even though the learning process often involves pain, the martial arts class will help one to get rid of ordinary fears such as being waylaid on the dark street corners.

At exactly 7pm on a Thursday evening, I walk through the gates of Sharing Youth Centre Nsambya, Kampala. I am a bit apprehensive because the area near the traffic lights is a dangerous spot at night. In the gathering twilight, two male youths are playing at the basketball court. Otherwise, the place looks abandoned.

A distance away, on the left side of the court, on a wide verandah, are four men in white doboks (taekwondo uniform). Each of them has on a red tti (belt). They are barefooted. Two of them are performing head-high kicks by kicking the upheld gloved hands of a colleague. As they yell and grunt as the kicks find the target, I wonder how an overweight woman can manage this kind of exercise because taekwondo is hyped as one of the faster ways to lose weight.
Usually, the taekwondo dojang (class) takes place in the main hall, every evening at 7pm, but today, it (the hall) is being used for other activities. The verandah is 19x9 feet and the cement is so smooth, I can almost see my shadow in it.

The fourth man seems to have come late because he is doing warm up kicks in the air on the side. Soon, other people approach the verandah. Each one of them offers a deep bow to the others in greeting. Among them is the only girl, 14-year-old Gloria Kiden. After bowing to her peers, she quickly enters one of the rooms. She soon emerges wearing a dobok with a blue tti.
The colour of the belts indicates the rank of the student. Taekwondo has junior and senior ranks and the darker the colour of the tti, the higher the rank. The junior ranks wear different coloured tti, with white being the lowest rank, and red being the highest. The senior ranks wear black ttis graded in nine degrees. No one is allowed to wear shoes in the school.

Kiden, on the cusp of womanhood, is soft-spoken – even shy. Since 2014, she is a regular in the martial arts class, an interest she picked from a friend.
“Four years ago, we had a neighbour who used to train in taekwondo,” says the Nakasero Senior Secondary school student, adding, “During the day, she would train at home and then come here in the night. Watching her, I was inspired. She was physically fit and travelled to many countries. When she invited me to come with her to Nsambya, I jumped at the chance.”

The instructor has arrived and he enters one of the rooms to change. He comes out dressed in a white dobok and black tti. Gold characters are written at the end of the tti. When he steps on the verandah, everyone stops and bows to him. He bows to them in turn.
Taekwondo students bow in respect of the knowledge, skill, and rank the other person has attained. The juniors first bow to the seniors. When one enters the dojang he or she bows, then he bows to the instructor, to the training partner, at the beginning and end of each lesson, and when they leave the dojang.

There are three girls in the class, although only Kiden has showed up today. She joins a line of other students waiting for their turn to high kick the gloved palm of the trainer. Some of her kicks are imperfect, and twice, her foot misses the gloved hand. But then, some of the young men also kick the air.

What is taekwondo?
Started in the late 1940s, in Seoul, South Korea, and refined in 1955, taekwondo is a martial art that involves a series of high, fast intensity movements, such as, punching, kicking, jumping, and twisting and leaping.

However, many people, especially women, frown on taekwondo, terming it a martial art for people with criminal intent. However, the assistant instructor, Ramathan Khaukha, dismisses these claims. “Their perception is wrong. Yes, taekwondo is a martial art, but it is also a sport. Women should not fear it because they will not be doing high kicks on the first day; you have to start with conditioning the body.”
Some of the body conditioning exercises a novice begins with include cardio exercises, such as, pull ups, stretching, and back squats; mental and verbal exercises.
In taekwondo, the instructors issue their directives using Korean terminology. Khaukha has a third dan (degree) black tti. According to the International Taekwon-Do Federation, instructors in the 1st to 3rd dan are called Boosabum (assistant instructor).

“With time, the novice will get the moves,” Khaukha says, continuing, “It is a gradual thing because with taekwondo, one has to have the passion. As a sport, it favours the younger generation, who are energetic. But, as a martial art, anyone can learn the different taekwondo moves, including 100-year-olds.”
In Nsambya, every student pays a registration fee of Shs20,000, and then, Shs10,000 every month. Khaukha also teaches a class at Big Mike’s Bar, Nightclub, and Steakhouse on Acacia Avenue in Kampala. Here, the emphasis is on self-defence. The students include children. The registration fee is Shs100,000 and every student pays Shs50,000 monthly.

“Not many women will voluntarily think of trying out taekwondo because they believe it is a male art,” Khaukha say, adding, “But they should try it out because it is a unique art, in that the whole body, inducing the mind, is involved.”

As a weight loss technique
Millicent Mugabi, a project manager with British Council Uganda, practised taekwondo last year, from April to October. As a result, she brought down her weight.
“I was training three times a week with my sons. We would meet the coach at an arranged place during the week, and then, on Saturday, we had a longer session at Big Mike’s. Taekwondo is a martial art that helps one to keep fit; so one of the byproducts is losing weight.”

As the student of taekwondo keeps on performing the high intensity moves, the fat in their body turns into muscle with time.
“I would say maybe I lost about five kilogrammes,”Mugabi says, continuing, “Since you work out specific parts of the body, the buildup of muscles replaces the fats. The weight will not go immediately but you will feel it in that pair of jeans that used to be tight.”

As a self defence
With the high incidences of crime nowadays, women are vulnerable to attack. Taekwondo, with its emphasis on instinctive high kicks, comes in handy.
“I am physically fit and I can do my own self-defense,” Kiden says, continuing, “One night in 2015, when I was 11 years old, as I was walking down into Nsambya slum (Musoke Zone, Katwe-Kinyoro) three young men approached me. One of them grabbed my arm. Coach always tells us not to just attack; we first ask what the person wants and if he touches you again, you have to defend yourself. I told those men to leave me alone but they insisted they wanted to talk to me.”

Musoke Zone is the home of the criminal Kifeesi gang. Kiden hesitated because part of the martial art’s oath that a student takes involves vowing never to misuse taekwondo.
“The men asked why I was so tough. I freed my arm and began walking away. They followed me. When one of them reached for my arm again, I pushed him away and gave him a kick. All the three men ran away.”
Taekwondo gives a woman confidence that she can handle herself in any situation. She no longer has to feel vulnerable.

“You never know what is going to happen or you are going to meet,” Mugabi says, adding, “I do not want to sound cliché, but I am a woman, and there are people who might want to take advantage of me. So, just learning some basic moves specifically to defend myself gives me confidence.”
However, Mugabi concurs with Kiden that taekwondo comes with a sense of discipline and one should not only know how to fight, but how to control it.

The challenges of taekwondo
Although Kiden has been practising the martial art since she was 10 years old, she still meets challenges, especially now that she longs to represent Uganda on the international stage.
“There is a lot of pain when someone hits you. People get wounds or even black eyes. The good thing is that our training occurs in a controlled environment so the injuries are minimal. I know I can represent Uganda, but I am a bit apprehensive, though not scared.”
As a working woman, Mugabi’s greatest challenge was finding the time to attend the classes. With time, she let go of the sport.

“We were meeting the coach in different locations during the week. I would leave work, and then pick up my sons from school while the coach would come from work to join us. The challenge was in coordinating the time and getting through the traffic from one part of the city to the other.”
Besides managing time, for first timers, taekwondo can be challenging. “It is a bit hard in the beginning,” Mugabi concedes, adding, “But, when you get into it, you start to depend on those classes. The Saturday sessions were longer and more intense; my body would look forward to them. I gradually got used to it, to a point where I would sweat, strain, and feel the pain on my body, but in a good way.”
At 8.30pm, I leave the class. Kiden, though, is still going strong in her training. My fear of the dark returns as I walk out of the gate and cross the road, waiting for a taxi. Luckily for Kiden, because of her training, such fears no longer exist.

Other places that offer martial arts training
Besides Youth Sharing Centre Nsambya, Big Mikes Bar and Barbeque Lounge, other places that offer self-defence training, muscle toning, and tummy tightening include:
Country Wing Fitness Institute: the institute is run by five certified Ugandan masters. Learn Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Wushu, Wing Chun, and aerobics. at Plot 23 Acacia Avenue, Kololo, Kampala.
Besides martial arts training, seated Tai Chi also has health benefits such as, reduction in stress, improvement in balance, and steady blood pressure levels.

Nateete Mixed Academy: the class in Wakaliga is run by a Kung Fu master, Charles Bukenya. He mainly trains children who act in Wakaliwood movies.
Uganda Taekwondo Academy: located on Zimwe Road in Kisugu, you will learn lots of Korean martial arts and physical fitness.

Acacia Wellbeing Centre: here you will learn Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Japanese Aikido, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Classes are on daily between 4pm and 5.30pm. The centre is found on Plot 23, Acacia Avenue, Kololo.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu focuses on ground fighting, where weaker people can defend themselves by taking the fight to the ground.