Humble.

This is the word that comes to mind when talking with Central Coast Academy of Taekwondo President and Grand Master Glen Boyer. Executive director of the Paso Robles nonprofit martial arts school, Boyer holds a 7th Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido.

A quiet, simple man by all accounts, one only has to spend an hour at Boyer’s martial arts school to know there is a bit more to this humble man.

“We fell in love with Master Boyer from the very beginning,” Julie Wouters said.

Wouters and her family, husband, Justin and children Evie and Tristan, are all students at CCATKD. “He introduced our family to a whole new world.”

Wouters, a Taekwondo champion, is currently taking a break from training during pregnancy. She said Boyer is very tied in with presidents of various Taekwondo associations and he has introduced her family to most of them.

“We had never done martial arts before and my husband wanted to try it,” Wouters said. “It is something we can all do together as a family, and it is a good workout. It’s a wonderful environment — it’s something that pushes you mentally as well as physically.”

Organizations such as the World Tae Kwon Do Federation in Seoul, Korea, United States Olympic Committee, California Unified Tae Kwon Do Association and CCATKD’s parent organization, the South Western Association of Martial Arts and others too vast to mention also recognize the school and Master Boyer’s commitment to excellence.

In business on the north end of Paso Robles for the past three years, the Central Coast Academy of Taekwondo is recognized as one of the premiere schools of martial art not only in Paso Robles but across California and the entire nation as an outstanding college of martial arts, fitness and health. For the past two years, several CCATKD students have achieved California state championship status.

“Our job, our motto is to develop leaders and cultivate champions,” Boyer said. “It’s so easy to deflate an ego. We don’t want to do that here, we want to build up our students.”

• Medal winners

CCATKD recently competed in two California state Taekwondo tournaments. At the California State Championships North in Danville, Tristan Wouters, the youngest CCATKD competitor at just six years of age, took first place in both forms and fighting. Also bringing home first-place honors in fighting were Jeremy Fields and John Murphy. Instructor PJ Boreham took third in fighting.

Wouters took home two additional first place gold medals at the California State Championships South in Brea in forms and fighting, while Eunice Lim placed second in forms.

“Each of these champions brought great credit upon themselves, their families, our Taekwondo school and instructors, our city of Paso Robles and the county of San Luis Obispo,” Boyer said.

Following these competitions, Tristan Wouters is currently the undisputed Taekwondo Champion in all of California, holding this honor for the second straight year.

Wouters, Fields, Murphy, Boreham and Lim are now eligible to compete at the 2012 U.S. Junior Olympics and U.S. National Championships to be held in Dallas June 27 through July 4. All have been putting in extra hours at the school as they train for the upcoming event.

• Commitment to excellence

According to Boyer, at CCATKD the emphasis has always been placed upon excellence – excellence in personal discipline, physical achievements, academics and in martial art technique and fighting ability. In addition, students are held to standards for a high level of moral and personal attitude and achievement.

“Oftentimes, students who come in here for one reason end up doing different things,” Boyer said. “Their grades improve, B’s become A’s because they learn how to focus, they learn how to concentrate, they learn to stick with a topic. We connect mind, body and spirit. That spills over into school, work, other sports, even surfing — it works for everything. We work on agility and dexterity. It is hand-eye coordination down to its finest.”

Boyer grew up in San Diego, spent six years as an Air Force Military Policeman in Korea and Vandenberg, graduated college and worked as an IT Director before reconnecting with a military buddy who had moved to the Paso Robles area. In addition to Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido, he has also studied boxing and kickboxing, Shaolin Kenpo, Kendo, Judo, Jui-Jitsu, Muay Thai and Escrima, offers instruction in Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, kickboxing, fitness, health and nutrition.

“This is my full-time gig now,” Boyer said. “I had been doing this just for fun. I got my start as a kid at the old YMCA. I have friends who were on the U.S. Team and were Olympic champions. That’s where I was supposed to go, but I decided to go into the Air Force. It was not in my heart to compete; my heart was to do something for my country.”

PJ Boreham, Andia Lashlee, Jonathan Bluff and Justin Wouters currently assist Boyer in coaching students at the school. Many of the CCATKD students serve or have served in the United States Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force or Coast Guard.

CCATKD boasts success in the area of rehabilitation training and has been called upon to provide rehabilitation for individuals injured in accidents as well. In addition, patients from a variety of medical and clinical treatment programs, as well as individuals needing assistance with weight loss, nutrition alternatives, building confidence and personal self defense are among those who have benefited from the classes and personal attention offered through the school.

• Giving back

With a commitment to giving back to the community, students from CCATKD will present a demonstration in the downtown on June 2 in conjunction with Kids Day in the Park.

CCATKD is also involved with the Adopt-A-Highway program, cleaning up trash along the highway in an effort to make California a bit more beautiful.