AFTER months of battle with regulatory red tape and COVID-19 setbacks, a Redlands hapkido facility will hold its grand opening on April 24.
The new Bayside Hapkido centre, on German Church Road at Redland Bay, came about when the martial arts facility outgrew its previous home at St Rita's Primary School.
"We had been training out of St Rita's for many years and one of our students who had land on German Church Road was able to get permission from the council to build the first indoor sports centre in Redland Bay," head instructor Nathan McDonald said.
"We were limited with times at the school and could not grow any more so the full time location has enabled us to open up more times and serve the community a lot better."
The 370 square metre centre is purpose-built to allow maximum training space and includes toilets, a kitchen and office space.
"As we start to settle in we will add more and more features to help support the local community," Mr McDonald said.
He said hapkido - a form of self-defence that uses techniques like grappling, throwing, kicks and punches - could be beneficial for anyone aged 4 and up.
"We cater for all ages and even had people training in their 60s and 70s," Mr McDonald said.
"[It provides] a safe place to train, [learn] anti-bullying techniques, women's self defence classes, health and fitness, develop new skills, better concentration and the like."
The construction process took about 18 months and Mr McDonald said it was great to see the facility come to life.
"A lot of money and time has been invested," he said.
The grand opening of the new Bayside Hapkido centre at 906C German Church Road, Redland Bay will be held on April 24 at 11am.
It will include seminars for children and adults as well as a food truck and jumping castle.
See Bayside Hapkido on Facebook for more information.
