KLANG: At 71, Leong Yong Wah still spends plenty of time on the mat. The veteran taekwondo coach continues to teach at his academy in Bandar Bukit Tinggi here, working alongside his wife, Yeap Swee Bee, and showing little interest in treating age as a reason to slow down.
For Leong, taekwondo has always been about more than fitness. Over the years, it has become a way to teach discipline, respect and confidence, while creating a space where people from different backgrounds train together.
A Kukkiwon 8th Dan black belt holder, Leong began teaching the martial art in 1970 and has now spent more than five decades as a coach.
“I started teaching taekwondo when I was just 20 years old. The first school I coached at was SMJK (C) Kwang Hwa, with just six students,” he told Bernama.
Leong would go on to teach at more than 10 schools across Selangor. Then, in 2010, he established the Power Sport Taekwondo Club to cater to students who wanted additional competition training.
The club later expanded its programmes to the wider public. Over the course of Leong’s coaching career, around 20,000 individuals have trained under his guidance.
Though he has seen plenty of sporting success over the years, Leong says medals are not what matter most to him. His greatest satisfaction comes from seeing former students do well in life, and continue carrying the discipline and values they picked up through taekwondo.
Those values, he believes, extend beyond individual achievement: “Malay, Chinese and Indian students train together in harmony, developing bonds that resemble those of a large family,” he said.
“During tournaments, they support one another from morning to night. There is no racial divide as everyone shares the same goal: to learn and become better people.”
His wife, meanwhile, is no passive observer. Yeap, 66, is also a taekwondo coach who won a silver medal at the 2024 World Poomsae Championships in Hong Kong, giving the couple a shared life built around training, competition and teaching.
Together, they have helped develop several notable athletes, including Vasugi Maruthamuthu, who brought home bronze in the taekwondo demonstration event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Leong believes staying active in later life can help people remain healthier, more independent and socially connected, while giving younger generations something to look up to.
“When senior citizens remain active, they prove that a passion for life, unity and lifelong learning knows no age,” he concluded.
Learn more about Power Sport Taekwondo Club here.
