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Senior Grand Master
9th Degree Black Belt
Joel Neely

joel neely, taekwondo

My Taekwondo Journey

I have studied Taekwondo and other Korean and Japanese martial arts for over 40 years and have been professionally teaching them for over 35 years. I began training in October 1981 in Gulfport, Mississippi under Master Don Swift. After earning my 1st Degree Black Belt in June of 1984 I began teaching in his school in Gulfport. In May of 1985 I moved to Baton Rouge and opened my own school. I have worked hard to develop a significant presence in the Baton Rouge area and have trained thousands of students in the art of Taekwondo. I have watched thousands of youngsters develop confidence and real leadership skills at my academy and throughout the Tiger Rock community. I have been rewarded by hundreds of adults who have lost weight, gained confidence and learned self-defense skills. I have enjoyed the success that comes from hard work and dedication to principles. I look forward to continuing my Taekwondo training and teaching for many years.

Football Program

Athletic skills camp and agility training.

The football training program was created in Baton Rouge in 1987. We worked with the LSU football team and were a part of their summer training routine periodically from 1987 to 2007. Due to the success of this program Mr. Neely was invited to train the NFL Minnesota Vikings and the program was used by Tiger Rock to work with the NFL Seattle SeaHawks. This program has also been used by many Tiger Rock Schools to work with their local high school football teams.

Board Break A Thon

Raising money for the community

Tiger Rock of Baton Rouge has participateed in many fund raising events for our community. One of the earliest and longest lasting of those events was our Board Break for heart fundraiser. This event ran several times from 1989 to 1997 and raised over $75,000 for heart disease research. Over the years we have collected food for our local food bank, stuffed backpacks with necessities to distribute to kids removed from abusive homes, and donated our time and money to many other charities and local events.

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