Mr. Michael Forster is the Head Instructor of the Yeti TaeKwon-Do club in Yorkton. As a small boy his interest in the martial arts started him in TaeKwon-Do at age 9 as a member of the ITF in Regina. After a year of doing the same things over and over, he decided that TaeKwon-Do wasn’t like what he’d seen in magazines and the movies and quit. On the advice of a friend he restarted his training again in 1992 at the YMCA in Regina under Mr. Robert Carman and Mr. Adriano Tubello and the Global TaeKwon-Do Federation. After four years and a split from the GTF, Mr. Forster tested and received his 1st degree black belt. During college, Mr. Forster continued his training between Moose Jaw at Roy’s TaeKwon-Do Club and the Unified TaeKwon-Do International headquarters in Saskatoon with Grand Master Kopperud. After only 15 more months he tested and received his 2nd degree black belt.

    In the fall of 1998 Mr. Forster attended the 4th World Inter-Associated TaeKwon-Do Championships in Birmingham, England. Travelling with the Unified TaeKwon-Do International Canadian Team, he took part in many demonstrations and seminars helping teach the curriculum of Unified TaeKwon-Do ending the UK tour with the World Tournament.

    In the last semester of college, Mr. Forster taught his first club in Moose Jaw until the spring of 1999. He has trained in many different martial arts including Flying Eagle Hapkido in Saskatoon, Aikido at the Regina dojo and Shiho Karano Jiu-Jutsu which he incorporates into the TaeKwon-Do classes he teaches today.

    In September 2000, Mr. Forster moved to Yorkton, SK to further his career as a Drafting Tech. for SaskPower. He joined the local Kee’s TaeKwon-Do club giving him a chance to train in the WTF style and to learn the patterns and curriculum. On June 2nd, 2001, Mike tested and received his 3rd degree black belt under 8th degree, Grand Master Kopperud. After training for a year and a half and advancing from white to red belt at Kee’s, Mr. Forster decided to further his martial arts career by starting his own club in March of 2002 “Yeti TaeKwon-Do” under Grand Master Kopperud and the Unified TaeKwon-Do curriculum.

    In 2002, Mr. Forster once again traveled with UTI Team Canada to the World Championships this time held in Miami, Florida, USA. Unfortunately, Mr. Forster did not make it to the podium but placed 6th in musical patterns and 16th in his middle weight sparring division.

    Mr. Forster enjoyed competitions very much and he attended as many as possible each year. The competition season of 2004 was his last, moving forward and concentrating his efforts into coaching his students. In his entire martial arts career of 54 tournaments, Mr. Forster won 36-gold/1st place, 32-silver/2nd place, and 30-bronze/3rd place awards! He has been a grand champion of forms once and sparring five times and has held 1st place in the Continental Open Martial Arts Association’s Men’s Black Belt Sparring. Mr. Forster ended his competition career on a high note, contributing to the winning team in Team Sparring at UTI's Canadian National Championships! He also went on to achieve the status of Canadian Heavy Weight Men's Sparring Champion!

    Mr. Forster successfully achieved the rank of 4th Dan Black Belt in TaeKwon-D0 on October 30th, 2004. Along with 3 other senior instructors - Todd Godwin (Wainwright, AB), Cara Hetlinger (Wetaskwin, AB) and Dan Blush (Edmonton, AB) examined by 8th dan Grand Master S.L. Kopperud and witnessed by many black belts and instructors ranging from 1st to 5th dan. Contact Mr. Forster for a video or DVD copy of this spectacular event!OR Click Here to view some pictures from the exam.

Mr. Forster is now training and teaching the arts of Haidong Gumdo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

    Outside of class, Mr. Forster contributes his time to community organizations such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Yorkton. He enjoys playing tennis, golf and soccer and loves camping. He and his wife Carla go camping for at least a week every year. They can't wait to get outdoors to utilize the short Saskatchewan summers and look forward each year to UTI's annual Black Belt camp.