Welcome to Glendowie Taekwon-Do! On our website, you will find a wealth of information about our school, and we'd love you to contact us. Alternatively, come along and visit us at a training session and give it a go!

Our family focus

We are a family-oriented martial arts school, which means we have classes targeted to children and families, and a great community spirit. We also have a number of great athletes who are in their teens and twenties. Our variety of classes enables us to cater for many different needs.

History of Taekwon-Do in Glendowie

International Taekwon-Do has a long history in Glendowie. Barry Vaughan, officer in the New Zealand Police, opened our first school in 1989. The area was difficult to crack, and the school struggled until it finally closed in 1998.

Trevor Harbrow, a professional Taekwon-Do instructor, opened the present school in 1999, originally with Rhee Taekwon-Do. When he and his fellow instructors joined International Taekwon-Do in 2003, Dr (then Mr) Harbrow decided to retrain as a chiropractor. (He now runs Harbrow Family Chiropractic in St Heliers.)

As Dr Harbrow studied more, two of his black belts taught the classes. The school struggled a little until Master Banicevich returned to New Zealand in 2004, after living two years in Sydney. Master Banicevich planned to open his own school, and Master McPhail suggested he teach at Glendowie. Dr Harbrow offered Master Banicevich the school, but Master Banicevich hoped to open a school closer to where he lived in Greenlane. Instead he agreed to teach the school for a few months to help out.

International Taekwon-Do Glendowie

After a few months, Dr Harbrow offered Master Banicevich the school again. By this time, Master Banicevich had grown attached to the students, and he agreed.

The school incorporated in November 2005, led by a number of key students. Duncan Styles became President, Glen Kenny (now training in Nelson) was Secretary, and James Varcoe was Treasurer. Incorporation worked well for the school until late 2011, when Master Banicevich asked to take over the school as a private enterprise. After 22 years of International Taekwon-Do, he didn't want to pay to train any more!

In 2014 the school expanded into a second venue, when Mr Ryan van Heerden started classes in Glendowie Primary School for 8-12 year olds. In 2017, Master Banicevich was approached by Mr Davy van de Vusse, who ran martial arts classes at Kohimarama School. As a result of these discussions, we adopted Mr van de Vusse's students, and expanded our classes into Kohimarama School. Unfortunately, following the COVID 19 pandemic, we had to cease offering classes at Kohimarama school in 2022.

At the end of 2023, Master Banicevich decided to retire from TaeKwon-Do to spend more time with his family. He then handed over the club to Mr Aryono (Dennis) Sudyatmiko who took over in 2024.

Why not come along and meet us, and give International Taekwon-Do a try!