Our Story

20 years ago when Grand Master Douglas was, at a former school, a lead instructor to my 2 young daughters, he impressed me on many levels. Mainly, his professionalism and his mentorship. At the time, I didn’t know enough to know, he was also at an elite level as an instructor too!


13 years ago, when he and I discussed him branching out and us starting a new martial arts school, I was confident that these same traits of professionalism and mentorship would be integral to our culture. We agreed that we’d form a team of instructors and volunteers that would adhere to the highest standards of professionalism and integrity.


11 years ago, when we started to form our new company, he chose TRU as our name. ‘Trust’ and ‘Respect’ as the foundation of who we are. And ‘Understanding’ because open, healthy communications is critical for real growth. And he hand picked a team of instructors that would live out TRU’s values. We’ve known our instructors, mentored them and supported them for many years.

Today, we have the same values that we did 11, 13, 20 years ago; committed to making students, families and our communities better. We’ve set the bar high for ourselves because that’s what leaders do. Our goal will always be to live up to that high standard every moment of every day.

Philip Averett
TRU Taekwondo Center
Co-Owner