Biography

Nicole Swanson began her journey in 1988, training in Taekwondo while in high school. In 2003, she added Combat Hapkido and Philippine Combatives to her repertoire.

Currently, Nicole holds the rank of 6th Dan in Taekwondo, 4th Dan in Combat Hapkido, and 3rd Dan in Philippine Combatives. She credits the start of her martial arts journey to her desire to spend more time with her now husband, who was already training in Taekwondo.

Nicole’s favorite part about teaching martial arts is when a student feels proud of their achievement after struggling with a technique or concept. She is also committed to helping her students grow not just as martial artists, but as people, and loves to see how the lessons they learn in class can be applied to other areas of their lives.

In addition to her impressive martial arts background, Nicole also has a unique physical characteristic – a set of webbed toes on each foot!

One of Nicole’s favorite stories about teaching involves a student who learned about sharing and teamwork. We talk about and give out life skills badges each month. We had a student tell a story that connected to a badge we were working on that month. It was about having her sister and her share a bedroom. At first, she didn’t want to do it and was not happy to share space. But after a while, she said it was a good thing because she got to know her sister more and it brought them closer together. It’s great to see kids not only grow as martial artists but grow as humans and see how the knowledge they are getting in taekwondo can connect to home and school or work.