My name is Norman Wrigley, and I am currently a 5th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

I first began training in the summer/spring of 1993, where I had earned my first colored belt. Several months later our instructor, Mr. Darrel Waldren, had to stop teaching due to work obligations. I tried a few other local schools after that but never found anything that felt right or held the same value.

In the spring of 1995, I found a school in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, owned and instructed by Mr. Dan Zarbo, who had earned his first-degree black belt in 1972. After he explained how his classes operated and what was expected of students, I signed up immediately. He was an “old school” instructor. There was no “no student left behind” mentality. You worked hard. You learned your material. You tested in front of a board. If you passed, you earned your rank. If you didn’t, you didn’t. Standards mattered.

I trained with Mr. Zarbo for three and a half years until his retirement in 1998. Within a few months, I began assisting with the children' s classes and eventually started instructing adult classes, always under his supervision. In those three and a half years, he missed only two classes. He was always there and that level of dedication made a lasting impression on me.

When Mr. Zarbo retired, Mr. Bobby Delveccio and I opened a school in one of Mr. Zarbo’s former locations. Amazingly, it still had the same carpet and outdated paneled walls from the 1980s. I trained and instructed there for about 18 months. Due to work schedule challenges and my co-owner’s future plans to relocate, I began training under Mr. David Arundel in 1999.

Mr. Arundel earned his black belt under Mr. Zarbo in 1975 and is currently a 7th degree in Tae Kwon-Do and a 7th degree in Nick Cereo’s Kenpo. I began taking private lessons with him and soon started instructing regular evening classes alongside Mrs. Angela Arundel. Under his guidance, I earned my 1st and 2nd degree black belt ranks.

Training with Mr. Arundel expanded my experience into Kenpo, Judo, and American Karate. During this time, I also attended seminars and received some training in Aikido, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Krav Maga. Just before moving to Iowa in 2008, I attended a Jiu-Jitsu police officer self-defense tactics course through Mr. Inman.

After relocating to Iowa, my wife connected with Mr. Ed Brown of Bondurant, a 5th degree black belt. He helped me prepare for and earn my 3rd degree during my next trip back to Rhode Island.

In late summer of 2010, I began teaching my first student in my garage. In September, I gained another student. By October, two more had joined. In January 2011, East Coast Tae Kwon-Do officially became a school. From 2011 to 2014, classes were held at Clay Elementary School. As word spread, our classes grew in size from 4 to 6 students to 25 to 30.

In mid-2014, we moved into our first dedicated space through a local business partnership. We continued to grow, maintained strong retention, and expanded from two classes to three to meet demand.

In early 2018, we moved into our current location on 8th Street in Altoona. This was our first space entirely our own, and we tripled our training area. Being more centrally located allowed us to grow our class sizes, invest in better equipment, and offer more to our students and the community.

Over the years, we have done our best to support our community by contributing to local food banks during the holidays, sponsoring youth sports teams like baseball, football, soccer, and softball, dance, theater, and band programs, offering self-defense classes, and hosting an all-inclusive special needs program.

For many years, our school has proudly been a part of the United States of America Martial Arts (USAMA) and the United Taekwondo Alliance (UTA). Through these organizations, we have built incredible friendships and meaningful mentorships that have shaped both our instructors and our students.

They have provided outstanding training opportunities with Masters and Grand Masters from several countries, allowing us to continually grow in knowledge, skill, and tradition. Through this mentorship, I was also blessed with the opportunity to take my first training trip to South Korea — an experience that deeply enriched my understanding of the art and its roots.

These friendships and professional foundations have opened countless doors for our school and our students, strengthening not only our technical abilities but also our sense of community, leadership, and lifelong learning.

In 2025, through our partnership with the UTA we started our own chapter for women called ‘The Girls Initiative”. Our leaders have created several outings for our female members and friends and they hosted a self-defense seminar for another women's organization as well as high school girls.

None of this would have been possible without the support of my wife, my boys, and the countless volunteer hours from our students’ parents.

East Coast Tae Kwon-Do is not just a school — it is our family!