EVERYBODY likes Taekwondo master Joon No. His daughter and student Bianca can vouch for that.
"Dad is different to other instructors because he forms a good relationship with his students," Bianca, 11, said looking at her father in the lounge room of their Bulleen home.
"A lot of students like dad."

Mr No, who has been teaching Taekwondo in Australia for 28 years, smiled shyly, but proudly. Yes, he admitted, coaching Taekwondo was more than just a business to him.

Mr No has been doing Taekwondo all his life. While he was being brought up in Korea his whole family was involved in the sport and when he finished school he studied martial arts at university.

Mr No said it was always his dream to teach Taekwondo overseas.

"I wanted to be a professional," Mr No said. "I had trained every day, every hour. I am sitting here now and I am still thinking about it."

Mr No now runs Taekowndo classes all over Melbourne, including beginner and advanced classes at Manningham Park Primary School in Lower Templestowe. Most of his students are around 13 years old, but his daughter started lessons when she was just four.

Mr No said watching his students grow and develop confidence was the most rewarding part of his job. He said Taekwondo was not just a self defence mechanism, but a mental attitude as well.

"A lot of kids who start in my class have no confidence, they are shy," Mr No said.

"I like to give them confidence. The most rewarding thing is seeing the change in the kids and seeing them happy." Mr No said he instilled confidence and discipline in his students through "hard training, talks and education". He said he also tried to make them believe they could achieve.

So far Mr No has produced many national and international champions.

He has also trained potential contenders for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Mr No said he would like to be an Olympic Coach and give his students worldwide recognition, but the sport was not just about winning.

"Winning is just one part of it," Mr No said. "I think the most important thing is the mental attitude."

Picture by Andrew Brownbill