History of Hall's

Our history kicks off in 1965 when Ivan Barry and Peter O’Mahoney establish the Brunswick Karate Club. Ivan and Peter link with Tino Cebrano and Jack Rozinsky to strengthen martial arts in Victoria.

In a pioneering move, Jack decides to change martial arts styles and hires Head Instructor Ke-Hyung No to introduce taekwondo to Australia. Martin Hall is one of the first students at the new Brunswick Taekwondo Club.

Jeanette has been dating Martin for a couple of years now and, inspired by his passion and progress, starts training as well. This was unusual, as women traditionally weren’t involved in the sport at this time.

Aged just 18, Martin competes at the third World Taekwondo Championships in South Korea, bringing home a bronze medal – his first of many medals over the years.

The fledgling club gains popularity, but it’s a tough environment. There’s a ‘No pain, no gain’ mentality and championships are open – you just fight who you meet in the draw, with no age, weight or belt divisions.

Martin continues to compete in Asian and World Championships through the late ‘70s and ‘80s, beginning a decade of success as undefeated Australian Featherweight Champion.

Martin Hall takes over the Brunswick Taekwondo Club. Founders Ivan Barry and Peter O’Mahoney recognise his energy and vision, and are convinced that he will succeed.

Martin and Jeanette marry. They continue to train hard and teach at night from the club ‘rooms’, a small church hall on Melville Road, West Brunswick. During the day, Jeanette works as a journalist and Martin as a marine electrician.

Martin and Jeanette decide to turn their passion into a business, and buy an old public pool in Brunswick. Renovations take nearly 12 months as they build a traditional sprung wooden training floor right over the pool. To this day the pool (with lane markings) is still under the floor.

Extensive renovations continue in Brunswick. Existing club members are a fantastic resource, committing wholeheartedly to Australia’s first full-time taekwondo-only fitness centre. Hall’s Taekwondo Brunswick opens in August 1984.

Ivan Barry, from the original 1965 karate club, walks into the centre one day (not long after Martin’s father had suddenly and sadly passed away) and says he’s there to work in whatever capacity we could use. Ivan becomes a much loved figure around the club.

Meanwhile, Martin and Jeanette’s first child Tiffiny is born, capping off an extraordinary year for the whole extended ‘family’ at Hall’s.

Martin decides to stop competing and focus on national and international coaching positions. Now super busy with Australia’s first full-time taekwondo centre, Martin and Jeanette also welcome their second child Bridget into the family.

Throughout the ‘80s and into the ‘90s, taekwondo grows worldwide, with new developments in protective equipment, and petitions from students and teachers that finally lead to women competing in world championships from 1987.

Martin is now grooming athletes, coaching extensively and travelling widely while, back at home, Jeanette handles much of the teaching and management load in Melbourne.

Hall’s is growing steadily and putting lots of effort into developing Hall’s Taekwondo Systems, documenting our approach, classes and programs. Our popularity makes us realise we need strong management and great systems to further advance our school.

We start to experiment with some bold marketing, introducing branded cars, advertising trailers and taekwondo demo teams. Our aim is to promote taekwondo as a real fitness choice that enhances people’s lives. Our approach is revolutionary for the times.

Hall’s begins a popular tradition of taking part in Melbourne’s annual Moomba Parade through the city streets – eventually we even build our own floats. The parades were a great social event for students, and a fun way to raise awareness about the sport of taekwondo.

As another way to encourage our members to live healthy, we develop an annual ALL FIT camp in Bacchus March. These functional fitness camps were ahead of their day, with canoeing, aerial rope and cardio obstacle courses, and team-building challenges like log carrying.

Ivan Barry sadly passed away on the 25th of May 1995. Ivan was a loved presence around the club, and a father figure to Martin and many members. Many of us still remember him as the kind-hearted, grumpy old guy around the place who never said a bad word about anyone.

Hall’s Taekwondo begins a tradition of awarding the Ivan Barry Scholarship to our most outstanding students. Past scholarship winners include:
1995: Oliver Roberts
1996: Luke Atkins
2000: Belinda Sanders
2001: Ryan Carneli
2003: Peter Whitefield
2007: Melissa Tarquinio
2016: Kiara Evans
2020: Reba Stewart
2023: Martin Hall Scholarship is awarded to Jake Buhagiar

Our second club, Hall’s Taekwondo Heidelberg, opens in the same year that Martin and Jeanette’s third child Lleyton is born. Lleyton is a new brother to Tiffiny (now 14) and Bridget (12).

Heidelberg proves to be a great model for how to run a full-time fitness centre. As Hall’s becomes a fitness icon around northern Melbourne, we expand again with our first franchise centre in Essendon under Head Instructor Dan and daughter Samantha Vere-Flint.

In another move that we think is ahead of the times, Halls’ Taekwondo trademarks our belief in Fitness with Meaning. Our philosophy is that true health and fitness are underpinned by respect, continuous learning and a healthy mindset.

With perfect timing, taekwondo is admitted for the first time as a full sport at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Along with the team, Martin Hall is selected as one of Australia’s first Olympic taekwondo coaches.

Four of the eight Australian Taekwondo Olympic Team are Hall’s students – Warren Hansen, Lisa O’Keefe,
Paul Lyons and Lauren Burns.

Lauren Burns wins the first ever Taekwondo Olympic Gold Medal while another team member, Daniel Trenton – who earned his black belt and developed his passion for sparring at Hall’s – wins an Olympic Silver Medal.

In recognition of his services to the sport, Martin is awarded an Australian Sports Medal by Prime Minister John Howard.

Martin is awarded his 7th Dan Black Belt by Mr Young Youl Oh, Deputy Secretary General of the World Taekwondo Federation. This makes Martin one of very few Australians with such an advanced black belt.

Our club continues to grow as we open a big, new centre in Tullamarine, with multiple training floors and world-class facilities, instructors and programs.

Martin’s student Carlo Massimino becomes a dual Olympian when he qualifies for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Martin travels to Greece with the Australian Olympic Team as Carlo’s personal coach.

Prince Charles is in Melbourne inspecting venues for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and Hall’s Taekwondo Demo Team Xtreme is asked to put on a showcase performance for him at the State Netball and Hockey Centre.

Students continue to train at Hall’s from all over Melbourne. Together with Leanne Whiteroad we open Hall’s Taekwondo Sunshine. Leanne is one of our Black Belt Leadership graduates, and has more than 20 years of tertiary teaching expertise.

Ryan Carneli, who started training in 1993 at Hall’s Taekwondo Brunswick, continues a proud tradition by representing Australia at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

In the entertainment sphere, Demo Team Xtreme, led by Luke Atkins, reaches the final of Australia’s Got Talent, making it one of the top eight acts from 3000 auditions Australia-wide.

Meanwhile, our daughter Tiffiny also becomes a favourite on national TV as ‘Angel’ in the game show Gladiator, displaying her expertise in aerial games and martial arts.

A milestone year, as we celebrate Martin’s 40th year of training and Hall’s 25th anniversary operating full-time taekwondo centres.

Also in 2009, we launch the innovative TKD 360° Syllabus, further formalising our teaching beliefs and creating an extraordinary pathway for students. If you’ve seen the 360° Syllabus, we think there’s nothing quite like it in the world.

We begin to share ownership of Hall’s Taekwondo Heidelberg with Jerry Moraitis. Jerry becomes Head Instructor and takes a strong interest in coaching our young athletes.

Hall’s continues to grow and evolve to meet the needs of students across the city. We open Hall’s Taekwondo Melbourne, a perfect location for central city athletes.

Martin Hall demonstrates the value of continuous improvement by earning his 8^th Dan Grandmaster in Kukkiwon, South Korea, the World Taekwondo Headquarters. Martin’s instructor Mr Young Youl Oh travels to Korea to proudly witness his student grade.

Our unmatched focus on education and training continues as we publish the comprehensive Hall’s Taekwondo Beyond Black Belt Syllabus, mapping the journey to mastery for our dedicated students.

Committed to learning from the best to be our best, in 2013 we employ five new Korean instructors to teach across all our centres. These highly skilled overseas recruits strengthen our already impressive instructor base.

Our daughter and wonderful creative designer Bridget joins Head Office in Tullamarine and immediately starts refreshing our corporate brand to mark our 30th anniversary.

An amazing feature of our brand refresh is the inspiring chronological history now prominent in each centre. Stunning floor to ceiling photographic displays showcase students, instructors, events and competitions from our very beginning.

Our central city club relocates from Southbank to a more family-friendly home in Port Melbourne. Members love the new location, and the centre boasts new and innovative facilities.

Our popular Little Ninja’s Syllabus relaunches with bright, fun and more engaging materials and programs. We also introduce the equally fun and colourful Joeys Syllabus, for our youngest (and sometimes most excited) little martial artists.

Also in 2015, Hall’s Taekwondo sponsors the Arnold Classic Martial Arts Festival (as in Arnold Schwarzenegger), welcoming taekwondo students from all over the world regardless of affiliation to this inspiring goodwill event.

Never content to rest on our success, 2016 sees us renovate all facilities across Melbourne. To cater for fitness with meaning of all types, we introduce innovative high intensity interval training (HIIT) cages and equipment.

So that members can make the most of our upgraded facilities, Hall’s develops a cost-efficient Platinum membership, giving students the option to train as much (and as hard) as they want.

We continue to live our belief in never-ending improvement by launching a fantastic new website (you’re reading it now!) to better serve our members and take us proudly into the future.

Always looking for ways to enhance our members’ experience, we introduce a range of personally designed, Hall’s branded training equipment and protective gear, available at all centres and online.

So where does our path lead? In 2017, Mr Park from World Taekwondo Headquarters rates us as the ‘top ranked’ dojang worldwide, commending Hall’s for standing out among 10,000 dojangs around the globe.
Welcome to Hall’s Taekwondo.

Hall’s Taekwondo Preston is opened as a relocation from our Heidelberg Centre that had been running for 19 years.

Our staff and members give us the confidence to make this facility upgrade as many great friendships had been fostered at Heidelberg.

Without changing our 360° Cycle teaching method we launch a new Journey to Black Belt Syllabus that is a complete grading record book for our Commandos, Leaders, Teens and Adults as they word towards Black Belt.

Boxing drills are introduced at all levels, expanding on our diverse martial art syllabus. Students can now purchase their own Hall’s Taekwondo boxing gloves.

Representation in Australian Teams continues. Reba Stewart wins Bronze at the Dutch Open, competes at The Manchester World Taekwondo Championships, wins Bronze at the 2019 Korean Open, Gold at the Oceania Championships & Gold at the Pacific Games in Samoa.

For the 3^rd year in a row, Hall’s Taekwondo is awarded Top Ranked Do-Jang from Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarters.

GLOBAL PANDEMIC COVID-19

Along with the rest of the world, Hall’s Taekwondo is forced to close facilities in March 2020. We quickly do a website bolt-on and launch HOME BASED TRAINING to our members so they can pivot to online classes. Instructors and Staff create an in-house studio to film on-demand classes and teach livestream. Home Based Training enables everyone at Hall’s to stay active and connected. For many it was a life saver. Students were able to maintain their focus on Black Belt and beyond and continue their gradings. Due to Victorian Government regulations the fitness industry is the first to shut down and the last to reopen. After nearly 2 years, facilities re-open 03 November 2021.

Podcasts ‘More than Martial Arts’ and ‘Win the Morning, Win the Day’ are introduced together with a new online active program for Little Taeks trademarked ‘Happy Fit’.

Online competitions evolve during the pandemic. Kiara Evans wins a Silver Medal in the Female Under 30 Oceania Open Poomsae Online Championships.

Home Based Training on-demand videos have become a popular added-bonus. Exclusive member access becomes a mainstay at Hall’s Taekwondo. On-demand content is updated each term and supplementing studio training for revision and practise from home.

Reba Stewart is awarded the Ivan Barry Scholarship, acknowledging her Olympic dreams despite Covid lockdowns.

Tokyo 2021 Olympics

The 2020 Olympics are held in Tokyo, uniquely one year late, due to the Pandemic. Reba Stewart represents Hall’s Taekwondo in the Australian Olympic Taekwondo Team +67kg division.

This was Reba’s debut Olympics and after a steadfast performance she lost to Poland with a final score of 7-2. We are proud of Reba and our Australian Taekwondo athletes who stepped up to the Olympic Dream despite being completely starved of competitions during Covid isolation.

As Hall’s Taekwondo Centres gain life after Covid, athletes regain competition confidence internationally at Oceania, Asian and European Championships.

2022 World Poomsae Championships in Goyang, South Korea, we are represented in the Junior Australian Team by Shaquille Wakit, Noah Irwin, Jack Irwin.

2022 Cadet & Junior World Championships in Sophia, Bosnia we are represented by a record seven (7) Australian Team members. Cadets: Lacie Gleeson, Bilal Atay, Mila Clark, Mika Natoli, Mackenzie Macdonald and Juniors: Jake Buhagiar & Aiden Stilley.

2022 Dutch Open, Cadets, Clementine Brown Dufour-Lamartinie & Lacie Gleeson both win Bronze medals for Australia.

2022 World Championships in Mexico, Reba Stewart and Sophia Typou represent Australia.

In February 2023, Martin Hall completes the Kukkiwon Master Course and Examiner Course in Sydney; a physical challenge after recent knee replacements and shoulder reconstruction. He now had that confidence and belief that 9^th Dan was not only possible but a goal. It had been more than 11 years since he visited Kukkiwon to do 8^th Dan and his love for Taekwondo had never shifted. He commenced serious training for his 9^th Dan in Korea.

17 May 2023, Martin Hall went for 9^th Dan at Kukkiwon in Seoul, South Korea and successfully passed. 9^th Dan Grand Master is the highest rank you can be awarded from Kukkiwon. To mark the occasion of Martin’s 9^th Dan, we dived deep into the archives to acknowledge and celebrate Hall’s Taekwondo Black Belts past and present. The list is extensive, dating back to Martin’s 1^st Dan in 1975 when he was a foundation member of the Australian Taekwondo Association, directly affiliated with Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo headquarters, in its foundation years. 4496 Black were listed at this time.

Sparring Coach Jerry Moraitis continues to develop strong sparring athletes at Hall’s Taekwondo and also assists Australian Taekwondo when he can, to develop up high performance athletes.

2023 Belgium Open Anastasia Typou & Reba Stewart represent Australia

2023 World Taekwondo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, Reba Stewart & Jake Buhagiar represent Australia.

2023 Cadet World Championships, Sarajevo, Bosnia, four of our members represent Australia: Bilal Atay, Andrea Ishac, Lacie Gleeson & Mackenzie Macdonald.

2023 Bosnia & Herzegovina Open, Lacie Gleeson & Mackenzie Macdonald both win Gold Medals.

The Inaugural Martin Hall Scholarship is awarded to Jake Buhagiar now 18 years old and advancing to Seniors with dedication and talent.

09 September, 2023 Martin & Jeanette Hall return to Kukkiwon for Martin’s 9^th Dan prestigious Black Belt and Certificate presentation in traditional ceremonial gown. In his acceptance speech Martin thanks Kukkiwon, Mr. Young Youl Oh for his guidance over 50 years and he dedicates his speech to Jeanette for her unwavering support since he started Taekwondo.

“Nothing compares to my quiet reflections of what Taekwondo has done for me as a person. My best moments have been when I have contributed to the success of others. From tiny kids who one day ‘just get it’ to well accomplished athletes and instructors whose dreams come true. Remember, your Black Belt is not the end of your journey. It’s the beginning of another level of accomplishment.”

2023 Australian Taekwondo Awards Dinner, Perth, Jerry Moraitis is awarded the top award: ‘Performance Coach of the Year’ and the ‘Commitment to Excellence Award’ for his dedication to the Australian Team at the 2023 World Taekwondo Cadet Championships.

2023 National Championships in Perth, Poomsae and Sparring Teams excelled and for the second year running, Hall’s Taekwondo was ranked Number 1 for its Sparring results Australia wide.

Prestigious ‘Multi Branch Business Award’ for Business Excellence is presented by Martial Arts Australia to Martin Hall at a special Awards Ceremony in Melbourne. Hall’s Taekwondo is recognised as providing excellent service, safe training facilities and highly trained staff.

To mark the occasion of Grand Master Martin Hall achieving 9^th Dan on 17 May 2023, Hall’s Taekwondo launches Black Belt Honour list on our digital platform to acknowledge and celebrate all Black Belts past and present.

All students inspired Martin Hall on his 54 year journey to 9th Dan Grand Master. We have tracked down 4,567 BLACK BELTS who have graded at Hall’s Taekwondo.

We now need you, your friends and family who have earned their Black Belt with us to check you’re on list and your details are correct.