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Kootenay Martial Arts gets a new home

The new dojang at 111 McDonald Drive opens to the public this weekend
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Dean Siminoff stands in Kootenay Martial Arts’ new dojang, which is being opened to the public this weekend. Photo: Tyler Harper

Kootenay Martial Arts began in a church basement with 60 white-belt students and one fledgling master who wanted to help his fellow worshippers become a little more fit.

It’s come a long way since then.

This weekend, the group is opening up its new dojang to the public for the annual Breaking Boards, Breaking Chains event on Saturday. The space, located above Nelson Animal Hospital at 111 McDonald Drive, gives Master Dean Siminoff the home he’s been searching for since starting out in the Nelson Covenant Church basement 17 years ago.

“This is looking like it’s going to be just a fantastic, long-term home. So we’re excited about that,” said Siminoff, who is now a sixth-Dan black belt.

“That way it gives a permanency to who we are, what we’re doing. With going on the past 17 years, promoted over 110, 115 first-degree black belts, just that whole longevity, it was time to cement this and grow it.”

KMA has dojangs at Playmore Junction and in Castlegar, but finding a permanent home in Nelson that fit its needs has been a challenge for Siminoff.

The group shared space with Maverick Fitness for the last year, but Siminoff said that wasn’t the right location either for his students. “When you’re borrowing a space … you feel like you’re couch surfing at your friend’s house,” he said.

Last year the space above the animal hospital was made available to the group. Construction took six months — longer than Siminoff expected — and cost $30,000, but has finished with a dojang that includes a 1,200-square-foot training floor, showers and office space.

The extra offices will come in handy now that a KMA initiative is a registered charity.

Siminoff also runs Martial Arts For Justice (MAJ), which raises money for the International Justice Mission, a Christian organization that assists law enforcement agencies in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia in protecting impoverished people from violence.

MAJ received charity status in December. A dojang for KMA means Siminoff, who is also a professional financial planner, can spend more time with his students and his charity and less time worried about the future.

“With all our black belt instructors now we can have multiple classes, multiple days of the week and eventually, as we fill in all that scheduling, we can help really twice as many people.”

Breaking Boards, Breaking Chains runs from noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday.



tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com

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Tyler Harper

About the Author: Tyler Harper

I’m editor-reporter at the Nelson Star, where I’ve worked since 2015.
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