A remarkable nine of Joe Hoey’s Taekwondo students passed their black belt promotions during lockdown.
Hoey was unable to teach at St Joseph’s Chapel hall during lockdown but the impressive 67-year-old adapted by embracing modern technology.
He was able to continue teaching students remotely via Zoom and the Holytown man was rewarded when nine of his students, across different demographics, passed their grading exams in Edinburgh.
“I’ve sent nine students for black belt promotions during lockdown,” Hoey said. “Three went first hand, one went for second, three went for fourth, one at fifth and one at sixth.
“Three of the younger girls have been training for years and they were ready to be graded but thankfully they continued during lockdown.
“Everybody stuck with it and I was so chuffed that everybody passed the grading.
“It’s really impressive but it’s taken them a while due to the pandemic. Some of them were supposed to sit before everything kicked off but everything moved to zoom.
“Every class was taught through video and that’s not the easiest for a guy of my age.
“The grading examiners came up to Scotland to put everyone through their exams. They had to sit in front of the panel to hear the outcome.
“We managed to do pre-gradings on zoom with a host of instructors. At the start of lockdown, everybody was talking about zoom and I wanted to continue despite having no idea what zoom was.
Hoey started to learn Taekwondo over 35 years ago years ago after stumbling across the discipline but he’s delighted to be back teaching in person after lockdown restrictions eased.
“I started doing Tae Kwon do in the 1980’s when I went into one of the local social clubs. I thought it looked dead easy but I quickly found out that it wasn’t.
“Once I started, I really enjoyed it and I’ve never looked back. We are back in the gym now at the chapel hall and it was a massive relief for everyone.
“It’s so good to see everybody’s faces again as opposed to on video.”
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