VETERAN karate teacher Ray McLean has important lessons of life to share with his first class in Inglewood in four years.
McLean says martial arts is about self-respect and self-discipline.
“Martial arts is more than kicking and punching,” said McLean. “There is also the spiritual side, of being able to walk away if someone challenges you.”
“I’m originally from Sydney and as a kid was I bullied so I started learning self-defence.
“I just loved it and learnt a lot of things about myself.”
Teaching for 45 years, McLean this month returned to teaching in Inglewood, the town where he first shared that love of karate when he moved to Victoria in 2017.
McLean said COVID put a temporary end to his classes in Inglewood and the Bendigo suburb of Ironbark.
Lockdowns were spent researching the Korean style of karate that he teaches.
“There are similarities between karate and tae-kwon- do that translates as tae ‘strike with foot’, kwon ‘strike with hand’, and do  ‘the art or way’.
“I teach in the style of Korean karate.”
Early tae-kwon-do had similarities with the Korean style called shotokan. 
Some of the masters who also trained in Japan came back and taught under the name tang soo do which in Japanese would be karate.
McLean already has seven primary and secondary school-aged children attending his Inglewood classes.
“I’ve been doing karate for 58 years and love passing on the knowledge to a new generation of students,” he said.