Master Nancy Hull conducts her Kim's Taekwon Do Chehalis beginner class on Thursday evening in Chehalis.
Students in the beginners’ class at Kim's Taekwon Do Chehalis do pushups to warm up on Thursday evening in Chehalis.
Student Jordan de Bruyn, 7, learns some new moves during the beginners’ class at Kim's Taekwon Do Chehalis on Thursday evening in Chehalis.
Master Nancy Hull may be a sixth-degree black belt, but her focus has always been on mastering control.
“We have a really strong focus on teaching kids discipline, respect for themselves and respect for others,” said Nancy Hull, one of two Taekwondo instructors for Kim’s Taekwon Do Chehalis. “We have a real focus on self defense. In fact, one of our big things is that anything you learn in here, you go to school (and) you use it to bully somebody, I will hear about it.”
If a student uses the moves they learn from Kim’s Taekwon Do Chehalis to bully someone, the first offense is 500 pushups. The second offense is 1,000.
“If you do it a third time, you’re gone because that’s not what our philosophy is,” Nancy Hull said. “I’ve never had a problem.”
For the last 10 years, Nancy Hull and her husband Master Chuck Hull — a fifth-degree black belt — have taught under the Chehalis Parks and Recreation umbrella. Due to the popularity of their classes and a need for more space, however, they moved to a new location in town at the beginning of December.
“They (Chehalis Parks and Recreation) have been fabulous with promoting us,” Nancy Hull said. “We had a great relationship with them, but as soon as we weren’t using one of their facilities anymore and had to pay our expenses outside of their program, that’s the only reason we’re not under them anymore. We just needed a bigger space and they didn’t have a place available for us.”
During the Hulls’ time in Chehalis, they have encouraged their students to be more involved in the community — it’s part of the black belt oath. This year, students performed at the Southwest Washington Fair. Additionally, Kim’s Taekwon Do Chehalis holds annual food drives, toy drives and school supplies drives.
Nancy Hull began teaching Taekwondo in 1998. In addition to her sixth-degree black belt status, Nancy Hull is a full-time paralegal in Olympia. Her introduction into martial arts began with a self defense class.
“I was like, ‘I think I like this — I’m hooked,’” Hull said. “So then I started taking regular Taekwondo classes with my children. They grew up and moved away and mama kept with it. That was the same with my husband. He started with his daughter and then she grew up and moved away. He just kept with it.”
Since Hull works full time, she doesn’t typically take students who are younger than 8 years old. However, she currently has one student in her beginners’ class that is 7. The oldest student in either of her classes is 67.
“We have a real variety, and of course my husband and I aren’t babies either,” Nancy Hull said. “Because it’s traditional, and because it’s non-contact, kids can work out with adults. Men and women can work out together. Black belts can work out with white belts, and part of the reason we like to do that is because everybody benefits that way.”
Nancy Hull explained that when the white belts work out with black belts, it shows them what they could become. The black belts benefit from working out with newer students by practicing more control over their moves.
From the first class, students begin learning moves. Nancy Hull starts out students’ Taekwondo education with defensive moves.
“The first thing they learn is certain blocks, like a low block, a middle block,” Nancy Hull said. “... We teach them how to make a proper fist and punch properly. And then from that we move on to beginning to teach them the strike points on the human body and the weapons on the human body.”
What differentiates Taekwondo from other forms of martial arts, Nancy Hull said, is the control and focus on self defense.
“We focus primarily on kicks, strikes and blocks,” Nancy Hull said. “We don’t grapple, like a lot of martial arts grapple and throw each other to the ground. … Part of the philosophy of that is again, from the self defense standpoint, you don’t want to be on the ground. You want to avoid that at all costs because if you’re on the ground, you’re vulnerable. So we focus on blocking, striking, dodging, getting out of the way.”
Kim’s Taekwon Do Chehalis moved to 123 W. Main St. in Chehalis (inside the Masonic Temple) on Dec. 1. Masters Nancy and Chuck Hull offer classes at 5:45-6:45 p.m. for beginning students and 6:45-7:45 p.m. for adults and advanced students (ages 12+ and/or blue stripe and above) on Mondays and Thursdays. For more information, go to http://hulltkd.wixsite.com/hull-taekwondo.
