Discovery Martial Arts Academy in Plympton has had its most successful month ever, despite Covid, as more people turn away from Netflix, Nintendo and their refrigerators to don Doboks, bust out their Taekwondo moves and virtually train together in live streaming classes, five days a week.
After experiencing a worrying membership decline at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the new year has seen the club attain its strongest position yet. Participation is now significantly higher than it was pre- COVID with more members fighting lockdown boredom and training online then they ever did in person.
“The pandemic hit our club hard because the social aspect of training has always been a massive motivating factor,” said Gary Burdock, chief instructor and director of Discovery Martial Arts Academy, which is based in Longbridge Road, Marsh Mills.
“Adults made the transition to virtual training with relative ease, but we did struggle to retain some of our youngest members who missed that personal touch and went on hold during the crisis.”
Fast forward a year and the club has evolved into a different position where teaching students remotely has become second nature for Discovery’s instructors and they have found success in unknown territory through collaboration, fun and creativity. Members have reactivated, youngsters have adapted to change, there is renewed interest in the live streaming format, and Discovery is once again thriving.
“Membership hasn’t fully recovered to pre-COVID levels yet, but participation has skyrocketed, and our training family has been the driving force behind it,” added Gary.
“They’ve been absolutely fantastic and have shown so much positive spirit, support and encouragement of each other. We can’t wait until all this craziness stops and we can resume in-person classes but in the meantime, we’ll enjoy fighting it out.” adds Gary.
January is historically the club’s busiest month and this year has been no exception. Gary attributes the club’s turnaround to small changes which have boosted engagement and reconnected members to the club they love. Black belts have taken over breakout sessions and it’s being future proofed from within.
Nick Jackson, first degree black belt, whose family has been heavily involved in Discovery Martial Arts Academy since it was set up six years ago, said:
“Training together is something our whole family looks forward to! It gives us a chance to connect to others, stay active, support local and keep motivated. The instructors have done a great job in keeping everyone moving and fighting fit during the pandemic.”
For details visit www.discoverymaa.co.uk
