He is a science and computing teacher by day and a Taekwondo black belt practitioner after hours. Irae Mose Simi is a school teacher at Leifiifi College who is a newly graded black belt from the KLAS Taekwondo Dojang.

Four students successfully received their 1st Dan black belt last Thursday. This is a significant achievement for KLAS Taekwondo Club, as they prepare to represent Samoa in the Pacific Games 2023 in Solomon Islands.

Simi has diligently trained and waited four years for his black belt and said he was very nervous on the day but believed that it was a necessary step towards achieving his dream of representing Samoa in the sport. 

“Ever since I was a little kid I have always been fascinated by martial arts and I didn’t know of any schools at the time. I joined the art in 2019 juggling between my school education and training eventually leading up to this year where I was able to be selected as one of the athletes representing Samoa at the Pacific Games,” said Simi.

He obtained his first medal at the Samoa games which was the nationwide effort to improve and prepare athletes for these types of international competitions.

“As a young child I went through a lot of bullying and now that I learnt Taekwondo I am now very confident to look after myself in any situation,” said Simi.

He hopes to inspire his students to take on the sport and experience for themselves the confidence boosting and the beauty of Taekwondo.

KLAS Taekwondo Head Instructor and former Samoa Olympian, Kaino Thomsen-Fuataga proudly conveyed that the condition of Taekwondo in Samoa is in good shape and the journey of his students’ preparations for the upcoming Games are going well.

“I was so proud to see our students do their best and throw everything out there, especially for that last test where they had to break boards using different techniques. It is not an easy thing to do. They’re actual boards used for building houses, so they are pretty solid,” he said.

“Majority of them have been sitting on red belts for two to three years but they have grown enough as a person, as a martial artist, to be able to get to where they are today.”  

During their grading, the students are graded on physical fitness, different taekwondo forms, knowledge of the Korean language and finishing off strong with breaking boards.

Kaino likened the board breaking task as breaking through barriers both mental and physical.