Instructor Aidan McCance with the many recent medals he has won. Photo / Warren Buckland
Instructor Aidan McCance with the many recent medals he has won. Photo / Warren Buckland
Inclusive Taekwondo in Hastings is helping turn around the lives of people with disabilities.
Aidan McCance struggled to find a place where he could fit in before he found taekwon-do.
Now McCance, who has autism, is thriving: he’s soon to be a 4th-degree black belt, he’s been entrusted with runningclasses and a community gym and he’s helping to organise a promotional trip for the sport he loves to the United States.
McCance will lead a team demonstration in Florida in December of a group from the NZ ITF Taekwon-Do Centre on King St South in Hastings.
The aim is to showcase to the American crowd just how inclusive taekwon-do can be.
It’s another notch in the belt for the 29-year-old, whose journey started when he was introduced to taekwon-do at Fairhaven School in 2012.
He’s since travelled the world to places such as England and Argentina, and competed and represented New Zealand in inclusive taekwon-do, which started in Hawke’s Bay with instructor Ben Evans.
“I never used to fit in anywhere, but when taekwon-do was introduced to me it turned it all around for me,” McCance said.
His favourite part about the sport is learning the patterns, which is something that is enhanced by his exceptional focus.
Taekwon-do has helped him learn to deal with and manage his anxiety and autism. Evans says it has given McCance a purpose.
In August, he was chosen by Evans to take over classes and run the community gym on his own for two weeks when Evans left to compete in Kazakhstan.
Taekwon-do has given Aidan McCance a purpose through instructing mainstream and inclusive classes. Photo / Warren Buckland
McCance said he became upset when Evans left as the pressure of the responsibility had got to him, but he quickly settled into teaching the classes and running the gym.
“It was a bit of a challenge at first – hardly anyone showed up for my first class.”
At the time, he taught between 12 and 15 classes a week and worked with children and adults who were part of the inclusive and mainstream classes at NZ ITF Taekwon-Do.
He said the sport had helped him to become the person he is today. If he wasn’t competing and instructing, he would be “at home on his bed”.
Evans said McCance did not receive payment for his teaching work but his love of the sport was such that he was there even when he didn’t have to be.
At the recent Inclusive World Championships in Hastings, McCance was among the golds as New Zealand secured 30 gold, 30 silver and 21 bronze medals, leading the overall country rankings.
In the NZ ITF International Open, New Zealand won 65 gold, 40 silver and 15 bronze medals, clinching the top spot, with Australia and India as runners-up.
McCance will receive his fourth black belt title at the beginning of December before heading to Florida with the group.
“I will be on my merry way to the USA,” he said.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
