Hamsat is a holder of a Black Belt Second Dan of the World Taekwondo Federation. With many medals won and experiences acquired, she launched Hamssykim Taekwondo Academy in 2016 using the platform to groom Nigeria’s next Taekwondo Olympic champions
- Hamsat with her medals
By Eberechi Obinagwam
Hamsat Ibrahim, a 2009 graduate of Mass Communication from Kaduna Polytechnic, became a Taekwondo protege at age five. It was not long before she started featuring in several tournaments including those hosted by Lagos Country Club, Mouka Foam, Ma Bok Ha, Korean Ambassador Cup, National Sports Festivals, Nigerian Polytechnic Games, West African Polytechnic Games, and many other championships.
Hamsat is a holder of a Black Belt Second Dan of the World Taekwondo Federation. With many medals won and experiences acquired, she launched Hamssykim Taekwondo Academy in 2016 using the platform to groom Nigeria’s next Taekwondo Olympic champions, a feat achieved by Chika Chukwumerije, who in the 2008 Summer Olympics won a bronze medal in the Men’s +80 Kg event for Nigeria, and Elizabeth Oluchi Anyanacho who qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics Games at age of 21.
About Taekwondo
Taekwondo is for Koreans what Kung Fu is for Chinese, and Karate for Japanese. According to the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF), which is the international governing body for the sport, Taekwondo is one of the most systematic and scientific Korean traditional martial arts which teaches more than physical fighting skills. It is a discipline that shows ways of training the body and mind.
Taekwondo is a global sport recognised as an official event in the Olympics, with numerous benefits including self-defence, improved stamina, more confidence, greater flexibility, higher concentration, being prepared to disarm an attacker and the ability to handle stress.
How it began
A Korean, Moo Chum Kim was the martial arts trainer for the Nigerian Army in the 1990s. He had groomed soldiers in the Ikeja Cantonment and also their children who showed interest in the sport. The proteges of Moo Chum Kim were later known as the ‘Student Kim Taekwondo Brigade.’ This Taekwondo group later produced many National Champions, including the late president of the Nigerian Taekwondo Federation Alhaji Abdullahi Saidu. Hamsat is also an alumnus of this Academy.
- Master Moo Chum Kim, the Korean Martial Arts trainer for the Nigerian Army in the 1990s
She told TheNiche: “It started initially as one of those children’s fancies in Ikeja Cantonment. I just wanted to play. I didn’t even know it was a competitive sport then. I was just having fun learning various fighting stances, kicks, punches and postures without knowing they would eventually become part of me,” she said.
Participation in championships
Hamsat has competed in many Taekwondo championships, including those sponsored by Lagos Country Club in Lagos, Dr. Adamu Ahmed Mu’azu National Open Taekwondo Championship in Bauch, Lagos State Taekwondo inter-club and State Open Championship, Korean Ambassador’s Cup, The Agoma Open in Delta, National Sports Festivals, Nigerian Polytechnic Games, and West African Polytechnic Games.
In 2008, she was among the Nigerian contingents at the West African Polytechnic Games, which was held in Yamoussoukro, a city of Côte d’Ivoire. She won laurels at the Taekwondo event.
Hamssykim Academy
After her National Youth Service Corps in 2011, Hamsat worked briefly as a class teacher. She later left teaching for coaching kids Taekwondo. But coaching kids Taekwondo requires some learning first. She said: “Teaching kids taekwondo is beyond being a taekwondo athlete. It involves a lot. Taekwondo is also dynamic. It is not a static sport, so the training helps you to evolve.”
- Hamsat with coaches during a grading
In 2013, Hamsat joined a veteran in the sport, Master Edward Ogbiji in anchoring the training of taekwondo to kids of Corona School, Chrisland School, Greenwood House School, Lagos Preparatory School, Ikoyi Nursery, and Lagoon Girls. In 2016, she started her Academy, immediately extending her services to Nigeria Turkish International College in Ogun State. Other schools also signed up to her Taekwondo Academy including Great ‘A’ Genesis Academy in Ishashi, Ogun State, Greater Height School in Ajuwon, Ogun State, Creative Heart School in Akute, Ogun State, Malvin Meadow School in Maryland, Lagos State, among others.
- Hamsat and her admirers
Feats
On May 10, 2025, Hamssykim Taekwondo students from Great ‘A’ Genesis Academy came blazing with laurels at the third Tolubabami Open Championship which was held at the National Stadium in Lagos where they clinched three gold, eight silver and eight bronze medals. She said her students from other schools would also be registered in other championships where she is confident they would bring glory to their schools.
Does Taekwondo encourage violence?
Hamsat said children who practice Taekwondo are less violent because they learn discipline and respect as a core doctrine of the sport. She said: “I have been involved in training children taekwondo for more than 10 years, and I tell parents that we don’t have cases of our athletes being violent or engaging in street fights just to demonstrate their fighting skill. Never. The training removes that kind of tendency in them.
“Before we start every taekwondo class, we recite the Taekwondo pledge which is a commitment to promote a more peaceful world by being a champion of freedom and justice. A trained taekwondo athlete does not abuse his or her fighting skill,” she said.
Hamsat recalled how in 2017, eight boarding students of Nigeria Turkish International College and some teachers were kidnapped. She said when the kidnappers stormed the students’ dormitory, they were grabbing the students randomly, but one of her taekwondo athletes broke loose from the grip of her abductor using her fighting skills. “When I got to the school after the kidnap incident to see my students, one of them told me how she wrestled out of the grip of one of the kidnappers using a kicking technique. That is what we focus our training on, which is justice and freedom, not violence,” she said.
Japa
Hamsat said she is not contemplating japa unless it is for sightseeing. She said: “I love it in Nigeria. I have been to some countries in Africa – Ghana, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire. There is no place like Nigeria. But if it is for leisure travel, especially going to Europe and America, I will welcome that.”
