Iqaluit youth becomes first Nunavut Inuk to hold black belt in taekwondo

Simon Winsor with a certificate declaring he’s passed all the requirements for a black belt in taekwondo. (PHOTO COURTESY OF ROBERT DYKSTRA)

Simon taking his test Nov. 8 with Senior Grand Master Phap Lu. (PHOTO COURTESY OF ROBERT DYKSTRA)

Simon Winsor with his father, Corbin Winsor. Simon is the first Inuk male in Nunavut to earn a black belt in taekwondo. (PHOTO BY STEVE DUCHARME)

As a young boy, Simon Winsor could often be found watching his father’s collection of Bruce Lee action movies at his family home in Pangnirtung.

Winsor scrutinized every frame of Lee’s classic kung fu films — every punch and kick was examined, every martial art philosophy was internalized and imitated.

In Iqaluit on Nov. 8, Winsor passed his final examinations to earn a first-degree black belt in taekwondo, an Olympic sport since 2000, which combines combat techniques like kicking, blocking, dodging and moving.

Winsor’s achievement is remarkable: The 15 -year-old is the first Inuit man of any age to ever earn a black belt in the Chan Hun International Taekwon-Do Federation.

The journey to his black belt, for Winsor and his family, was challenging — a journey filled with complex choices, sacrifices and a little bit of adolescent mischief.

In the classic film “Enter the Dragon”, Bruce Lee scolds a student for a half-hearted attempt at a kick during a lesson.

“We need emotional content,” Lee stresses, reminding the student that he needs to believe in what he does.

In Winsor’s case, truer words have never been spoken.

Three years ago, his mother and father made the decision to move to Iqaluit from their hometown of Pangnirtung to take advantage of better schooling and extra-curricular activities for their children.

On his first day in town, Winsor’s father took him to register in the Iqaluit Taekwondo Society, formed in 2010.

The society, which operates out of Aqsarniit Middle School, receives some of its funding from Iqaluit’s District Education Authority.

And, because of its ties to the school board, the society aims to provide a safe and structured place for Iqaluit’s at-risk youth.

“My thought was I was going to be like Bruce Lee,” writes Winsor in an essay about his taekwondo experience, which was one of the requirements for earning his black belt.

Winsor stuck with the program the reminder of the school year, attending a competition in Ottawa, where he won two silver medals.

But, during his first summer break in Iqaluit, he lost his direction.

The friends whom Winsor had met while first attending his taekwondo class stopped going.

And that forced him to make a choice between spending his time training or hanging out with his friends — he chose the latter.

His father caught him lying about attending taekwondo classes when he was skipping them for other activities.

“He went through a really rough spot, trying to figure out being a young Inuit boy,” said Simon’s father, Corbin Winsor.

It was the beginning of a tumultuous period in his son’s life.

“The next six months were hard for me. I was acting out at school and not listening at home,” wrote Simon Winsor.

As punishment, it was decided that Winsor would attend taekwondo class until he received his black belt.

“My parents got me some help with dealing with my problems. The lady I talked with really helped me and I talked about my problems with my parents,” he said.

The page turned quickly, with Winsor attending up to six classes a week.

On some nights he was the only student who would show up to train, but he began to reconnect with his memories as a child watching Bruce Lee movies in Pangnirtung.

Re-energized, Winsor earned his taekwondo belts in quick succession and performed in exhibitions for his school and on CBC television.

“This is when things really felt like they were starting to come together for me in my life. My dad said it was like a light being turned on for me,” Winsor said.

When CHITF Senior Grand Master Phap Lu handed Winsor his I Dan Black Belt earlier this month at the end of his exams, all the hard work and sacrifice over the last three years was finally validated for the Winsors.

“We all hope that taekwondo is very good for him as well for the youth up North,” wrote Master Lu in a statement to Nunatsiaq News.

“We hope that Simon will continue to enjoy this art — once you become a black belt, the art will become a part of your life.”

“It was a really emotional day for us because there was a lot of hard work put into it by everyone in our family,” said Winsor’s father, Corbin.

“It gives justification from moving to Iqaluit from Pang.”

Now, at the end of his “punishment,” Simon Winsor says his journey with taekwondo is just beginning.

There are already plans underway from the Iqaluit Taekwon-Do Society to send Winsor and other teammates to Ottawa for the Annual General Choi Memorial Cup, with the goal to possibly work towards entering the World Championships in 2016.

When asked by Nunatsiaq News about where he’d like to go as the newest member in the global Taekwon-Do community, Winsor stayed true to form and kept his response brief and modest.

Only a slight grin gave him away.

“Lots to choose from,” he said. “Newfoundland. I would like to go to Greenland or somewhere in China.”

Home, however, will never be far from his mind.

“Someday, not too soon I hope, we will go back to Pangnirtung,” he wrote in his essay.

“The school kids have a lot of free time and not many after school activities… I think I could bring taekwondo to Pangnirtung.”

His first student, says his father, is his two-year-old sister, who imitates her brother, during his practice routines and sits on his back while he does push-ups in the family living room.

“We have a lot of appreciation for what a lot of people have done for us,” said Corbin Winsor.

The Winsor family said they want to thank the Iqaluit Taekwon-Do Society instructors, Don Peters (III Dan Black Belt) and Robert Dykstra (II Dan Black Belt) for motivating Simon to continue his training, as well as CHITF Senior Grand Master Lu for travelling to Iqaluit and administering the test.

Alex McDermott, another local Iqaluit Taekwon-Do student and I Dan black belt, also helped Simon train for his examinations and will continue to train with him towards their II Dan black belts.

Simon also works part-time at a local gas station when he’s not training or going to school and would like to thank his employer for working around his busy schedule.