Taekwondo has the ability to enhance self-esteem by working on your physical and mental powers. It can help build confidence by encouraging and help you take control of your life. It demands respect and trust with self and others. That is why today, Tucson Biz Beat is honored to salute Master Alan Roberts and Victory Taekwondo South, Rita Ranch’s premier martial arts school.

Roberts, a 4th Degree Black Belt, Taekwondo, 1st Degree Black Belt, Combat Hapkido is the owner and instructor of Victory Taekwondo South and said he has had a dream since he was a child of owning and running a martial arts school. Also called a dojang, his first school was in South Tucson at a friend’s gym.  “Those were the early days, when we only had about 3 students”, Master Roberts says and then laughs.

“I always knew I wanted to open a school, but we had to start small.”  Master Roberts says that his love of martial arts and his desire to teach it grew out of what it provided for him as a youth.  “I was in trouble a lot and martial arts taught me to have respect for myself and others; it taught me the discipline I needed so badly”.

Taekwondo literally translated means, “the way of the hand and foot”.  In the 1940′s General Choi combined the hand techniques of Japanese Karate and the ancient foot fighting of Korea Taekkyeon and created Taekwondo. Alan Roberts knew this when he began his martial arts training at the age of 11 years old at his local elementary school training under Master Lee who was, himself, from Korea. Flash forward about 30 years and Alan Roberts, holding a 4^th degree in Taekwondo, a 1^st degree in Combat Hapkido and a brown belt in Judo opens his first martial arts school.

Today, Victory Taekwondo South martial arts academy in Rita Ranch at Houghton & Valencia is opened 6 days a week and has well over 150 active students. Master Roberts and his instructor team have built a custom, all encompassing curriculum from the ground up incorporating traditional Taekwondo, Judo and Hapkido.

They have classes for 3-5 year olds called, Little Samurais.  These classes focus on what Victory calls, “PreSkills” which is a curriculum based on attributes and activities that teach, balance, focus, teamwork and more.  This program prepares them for the Victory Kids class.

The Victory Kids class is for 5-11 year old kids.  This program is far more than just punching and kicking.  The staff at Victory have developed an entire Life Skills program that focuses on attributes such as, respect, family, responsibly, integrity, attitude and courtesy, to name a few.

Additionally, Victory Taekwondo South also has exciting and high-energy adult classes that focus more on proper techniques of the art, self-defense and lots of fitness. “We have created a place of community here, this dojang is for the residents of Rita Ranch; it is their dojang”, says Master Roberts.  The ‘community’ they have created extends beyond the training floor; the group regularly gets together outside of the school for social gatherings such as family BBQ’s and parties.  Every couple of months the school hosts a “Parent’s Night Out” where the kids come and eat pizza, do Taekwondo and watch a movie while the parents get a night out to themselves.

Master Roberts, along with his wife Kelly Roberts and his staff are always looking for additional ways to provide more services to the community.  They are currently developing a Victory Fitness program, which is a type of boot camp workout with martial arts flair and hope to roll it out after the 1^st of the year.

Victory Taekwondo South is much more than just a Taekwondo studio and they do much more than teach. Roberts and his team teach mind body spirit techniques that help people walk a better path, feel better about themselves and reach for higher goals. It is nothing more than an honor for Tucson Biz Beat to salute this wonderful studio and the people who make it all possible. Roberts and his team is building a better community for Tucson and is proud of his community. He teaches free Taekwondo at AZ Ranch Haven once a month and offers his services as often as he can to help improve his community of Tucson.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 15th, 2012 at 12:26 pm and is filed under Bussiness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.