About

Pacific Kicks was founded in 2000 by Wes and Tricia Lewallen.  The Lewallens were students under Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee, who has been recognized as the “Father of American Taekwondo”.  Under the Lewallen’s leadership, Pacific Kicks became one of the premier martial arts schools in the Tri-Cities.

 

At Pacific Kicks, we work to build community with our students in a family-centered environment. We are an inclusive community and have had adults and children with varying abilities participate in taekwondo. We offer classes for ages 4 (Little Dragons) and up.  While the majority of our students are youths, we do have many parents and even grandparents taking classes with their children and grandchildren.  We strive to be a school that the whole family can enjoy together. We have recently started seeing the 3rd generation of children beginning to train with us as did their parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

 

Many of our students, both past and present, have competed in tournaments on local and national levels.  Many of them have returned home as national champions.  Not only does this show the quality of our students, it is a testament to the quality of our instructors.  Our instructors are some of the best in the Tri-Cities.  Several of our instructors have been with Pacific Kicks since they were “Little Dragons” themselves and have grown up at Pacific Kicks.  A few of our students have gone on to open martial arts schools of their own within the Tri-Cities.

 

Not only have our students excelled in the martial arts, they also excel in the classroom.  We require students to maintain a “B” average or better to be eligible to test for their black belt. Once a black belt, we require our students to perform community service before they can advance to their next belt level.  Building a strong and happy community is a fundamental pillar of our school.  So much so, we have incorporated it into our student creed, which we recite at the beginning of each and every class.