About Us

We are a WT Olympic style Taekwondo school with locations in Esquimalt and Sooke on beautiful Vancouver Island. Proudly female owned by Master Michelle Carpenter, Mijo Taekwondo has a robust and inclusive community of students, Black Belts, and Instructors.

We are a BC Taekwondo Federation, Taekwondo Canada, and World Taekwondo sanctioned school.

Our Beginnings

Mijo Taekwondo was founded by sister and brother team, Michelle and Jonathan Carpenter, as teenagers in the mid 1990's. The pair began teaching classes in Comox, under Grand Master Woo Kim in 1993 and by 1998 formed Mijo Sport. Mijo, a combination of their two first names, grew and expanded to the Greater Victoria area in 2001 and included not only Taekwondo but high performance fitness and education.

Today, Master Michelle runs the school on her own (Master Jonathan moved on to his next adventure in life in 2020) with an incredible team of Instructors, under the guidance of Master Harry Sese (Sese's Taekwondo).

Meet Master Michelle

Master Michelle began practicing Taekwondo in 1989 at the age of 9. Achieving her Black Belt by age 13, Master Michelle quickly found an affinity for sparring competition and began competing provincially, nationally and eventually internationally for Team Canada.

Master Michelle trained and competed throughout her 20's while pursuing her BSc at UVic, competing at such international competitions as the World University Games and the Pan Am Championships.

After retiring from competition in 2009, Master Michelle settled in Sooke and now has two children.

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Meet our Team

  • Master Stasia

    Master Stasia is a 4th Dan and teaches at our Esquimalt location.

  • Senior Instructor Tina

    Instructor Tina is a 3rd Dan and teaches at our Esquimalt location.

  • Senior Instructor Georgia

    Instructor Georgia is a 3rd Dan and teachings at our Esquimalt location.

  • Lead Instructor Nathan

    Instructor Nathan is a 2nd Dan and teaches at our Esquimalt location.

  • Lead Instructor Erica

    Instructor Erica is a 2nd Dan and teaches at our Esquimalt location.

  • Lead Instructor Lena

    Instructor Lena is a 2nd Dan and teaches at our Sooke location.