54 | T H E B AR OSSA M AG
Following a well-orchestrated
transformation of the Nuriootpa High
School stadium into a Taekwondo training
ground, enthusiastic pupils patiently await
their instructor.
Duan Maguire began learning from Master
Paul Cooper at ILYO TAEKWONDO
eighteen years ago at the age of six, simply
because her brother and his friend started it.
“I didn’t want to be left out so I tagged
along,” she says.
Duan had never enjoyed ball sports like
everyone expects when you’re tall. However,
in Taekwondo, she took an instant liking to
the fitness, flexibility and kicking involved in
the discipline.
“It helped me focus, not only during training
but at school too. I just loved how it made
me feel physically and mentally. I am a calm,
centred person because of it.”
Duan persisted and trained up to five times
a week for most of her schooling years.
She became a black belt at the age of 13
which was a big achievement for her at the
time.
She often competed in sports Taekwondo at
a state and national level where she fought
to become the National Taekwondo
Champion in 2010.
It was in these final years of school when
she began coaching and training others to
compete in Taekwondo.
“It taught me effective leadership and
communication skills which contributed
towards my double degree in Middle/
Secondary School Education,” she says.
While she was studying at university, Duan
would travel back to the Barossa to train and
teach Taekwondo on a weekly basis.
Duan is also involved in hosting and
organising State Taekwondo events as well
as being a board member of the South
Australian Taekwondo League.
Tragically, toward the end of her studies,
Duan’s Head Instructor and founder of ILYO
TAEKWONDO, Master Paul Cooper became
extremely ill with cancer.
He spent the last six months of his life
training and preparing Duan for her fourth
Dan Black belt grading which would enable
her to run her own club and grade other
students to their next belt level.
Duan successfully passed the excruciating 5.5
hour physical and mental exam. However,
soon after Paul Cooper passed away.
With the help of Paul’s daughter, Zoe
Cooper, Duan was honoured to take over
the ILYO TAEKWONDO club and continue
supporting the community he had built over
30 years.
Zoe Cooper now runs her own ILYO
TAEKWONDO club (sister club) in Narooma,
NSW, which Duan is the Head Instructor of.
Duan travels to Narooma, NSW three times a
year to grade the club’s students.
Since taking ownership of ILYO
TAEKWONDO, enrolments have grown and
lessons have developed from one standard
hour and a half class for ages five and up, to
three tailored classes in two locations that
suit a range of age groups.