Presently, Master Pete McKeown holds a 5th degree black belt in Taekwondo.

Sidekicks Taekwondo was born in the late 80's mostly because of an idea implanted into the mind of Master McKeown by one of his black belt instructors. Fortunately Master McKeown put some serious action behind the idea.

It was February 27th 1984 when he stepped foot into his first martial arts studio in "old town" Arvada, Colorado; 6 months after his first and only all-out street fight. With a fractured jaw and chipped teeth, it was several months before he could chew on a steak or bite down on a cube of ice. It was then he open the Denver Yellow Pages and started looking for a martial art school. At that time he did not know the difference between Karate, Kung Fu or Taekwondo but what he did know was, he could never be thrown around like a rag doll ever again. It was Grand Master Cho at Cho's Taekwondo that answered the phone, and on that day, at age 22 yrs old, Master McKeown's journey began.

Master McKeown received his 1st Degree Kukkiwon Black Belt Certificate in March of 1986 in New Zealand under his instructor Master Joon Nam Lee, vice President of the New Zealand Taekwondo Federation. In 1997 Master McKeown started Westside Taekwondo in Lakewood Colorado; 4 years later sold that school and started Sidekicks Taekwondo, and has been teaching ever since.

Sidekicks Taekwondo was born with the philosophy of; lets not just have a Taekwondo building in a shopping center somewhere waiting for the people to flood in through the front door (which they did not); but instead, lets "Take The Taekwondo To The People" and that's just what he did. After visiting 14 daycare centers on the westside of town in one afternoon and presenting the benefits of; Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self Control and the Indomitable Spirit to the Directors, for their 100+ hyperactive students getting off the school bus at 4pm every afternoon, and not leaving the daycare center until their parents could pick them up around 6pm, they thought the concept of relieving themselves of these little darlings for an hour was a gift from God. So 12 of the 14 daycare centers called back with a definite "Yes!" when can you start this "After School Taekwondo Program?" That summer the program drew in over 100 new students, that would begin learning traditional Taekwondo right there in their daycare center from 4-5pm once a week. This allowed Master McKeown to visit a different center every day.

22 years later Master McKeown has sold all 10 locations, and now pursues his career in marketing physician grade supplements with NFL Denver Bronco assistant strength and conditioning coach, Coach Greg. However you'll find him still teaching to smaller private groups, in shorter sessions, on location. So today, he is still "Taking The Taekwondo To The People."

Mr McKeown has been teaching Taekwondo since 1987, influenced thousands of students and hundreds of families all around the world, from New Zealand to the United States. His wife is a first degree black belt, his son is a 3rd degree black belt and his daughter a first degree black belt. That's where Mr McKeown coined the phrase, "The family that kicks together, sticks together." We look forward to meeting your family and sharing with you the benefits of Taekwondo.