SIDEKICKS
Grand Masters

Brief History:
(by Mr. McDowell, Sidekicks Taekwondo, Jamaica)
Grand Master Maurice Orange was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on the 18th of April, 1955. He had his first martial arts experience at the age of 12 years. Unfortunately, his experience in the martial arts was one of disgust because the instructor beat him up. Subsequently, he told his mother he would never do martial arts. He was most upset with how the instructor treated him, but he was quite impressed by how skilled the instructor was. He moved to California in 1973, joined the United States Navy, and became trained in the study of speech and hearing. He was stationed at a naval hospital in San Diego until December 1976, after which he was transferred to Guam, in the Marianas, for the remainder of his active tour of duty. He started Martial Arts seriously under an instructor named John Rossette. Mr. Rossette was an instructor of Wing Chun Kung Fu. He trained with Mr. Rossette for two years. One day, he took up a Black Belt magazine. On the cover, he saw someone doing a very spectacular kick. He took the magazine to Mr. Rossette to have him teach him kicks of that nature. Mr. Rossette told him that these kick techniques are unique to Taekwondo, and he should seek a Taekwondo instructor. On Mr. Rossette’s recommendation, he started under his first Taekwondo instructor, Mr. Chuck Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins was a student of Pat Burleson and Alen Steen. Their instructor was Grand Master Jhoon Rhee.
Thirteen months after starting Taekwondo, he attained the rank of first-degree black belt. He taught Taekwondo while in Guam to civilian and military personnel abroad. He was discharged from the military in 1979, after which he tested for the rank of 2nd degree and began entering tournaments. He broke into the U.S.A. He topped Ten as a result of tournament participation and later moved up into the top 3. This was about the time he was due for 3rd-degree testing. He tested and won 1st place in Pattern and Free Fighting in the U.S. Grand Nationals in the year. He was notified later that he had gotten no change in his testing. This was one of the most disappointing moments in his Taekwondo career. He could not understand how he could have performed so well physically and received no change on the test. Later, he discovered it was his attitude, being too cocky. His superiors thought his attitude needed to be adjusted before he could be promoted. He got his 3rd degree on the second test.
Grand Master Orange’s first school was opened in National City, California. This has been a love affair since. He currently has over 300 active students. He opened two other schools, one in Spring Valley and the other in Chula Vista, both in California. Later, he sold both locations to two A.T.A. Junior instructors who wished to follow in his path. He now concentrates all his efforts on the school in National City and his branch here in Kingston, Jamaica. He has 150 Black Belts under his portfolio that are active in training. Grand Master Orange offers his life according to his Taekwondo philosophy. He visited Korea on many occasions. He went to the A.T.A./S.T.F. Leadership Training Camp held in Korea at the Hae-in-sa Temple. 196 certified Black Belt instructors attended the camp headed by Master H.U. Lee, president and founder of the American Taekwondo Association / Songahm Taekwondo Federation. This was the largest contingency of Black Belts ever visiting Korea from the U.S.A.
In 1990, Mr. Orange resigned from the American Taekwondo Association. He founded the SideKickS Martial Arts Academy and continues to teach regular Taekwondo classes. He visits Jamaica at least once per year to give Mr. Delroy McDowell (senior instructor of the local Sidekicks Taekwondo Association) support with the association to see that good techniques and organizational procedures are maintained. Grand Master Orange currently holds the rank of 9th-degree black belt, and he lives in San Diego, California.