Scarborough Universal Taekwondo (officially known as Australian Universal Tae Kwon Do) was originally started by Master Ray Tan, 8th Dan, more than 40 years ago. We’ve changed names and locations, but some of the students of original members still train with us today.
We keep things as cheap as possible – as low as $5.50 per class. We teach taekwondo because we love it, not to make a living!
We know people are busy, get sick, go on holidays or have exams, so we don’t lock you in to month or year-long contracts – just pay per class, or buy a 10-visit pass that doesn’t expire. We aim for a casual, fun environment.
Scarborough Universal Taekwondo are proud members of the national body for taekwondo, Australian Taekwondo. Our instructors are internationally recognised and all hold Kukkiwon certificates.
While we are a WTF club, the sparring style we practice is more similar to International Taekwondo Federation (ITF). We don’t enter tournaments or practice Olympic style sparring – our focus is on sparring for self-defence and fitness. However, a lot of the skills are transferable – we’ve had a student get their black belt with us, then change to tournament club and become a state champion within one year.
We mainly use English terminology in our classes – no need to memorise the name of each kick and block in Korean – but we do use a few Korean words e.g. ‘start’ ‘stop’ ‘turn’ ‘bow’.
At the start of class, students recite the club oath: “As a student of Univeral Taekwondo, I will develop my mind and body. I will respect my instructors and fellow students, and demonstrate the spirit of taekwondo at all times.”