Taekwando school keeps kicking, moves class outside during Chapel Hills Mall fire

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) --  While most stores shut down after a fire in the trash compactor of Dick's Sporting Goods at the Chapel Hills Mall Tuesday, one business kept on kicking during the evacuation.

Just 30 minutes before class was scheduled to start at Academy of Life and Leadership Taekwondo, Chapel Hills Mall security let them know they needed to evacuate.

“How do I take a tough situation and turn it into something better?” said Barbara Kunkel, owner of the martial arts school.

Instead of cancelling class, Kunkel turned the mall parking lot into a taekwondo studio.

“We’re martial artists that don’t give up at the slightest," Kunkel said. "We always try to think of solutions.”

Kunkel said it was a team effort getting the word out, stationing people at entrances around the mall to gather the students for this special outdoor class. A crowd of mall evacuees watched in on the action as the students practiced some of their self-defense skills.

“The self-defense for the real stuff is not going to happen in [the studio]. We train them for out there," Kunkel said.

What started as a pretty chaotic situation turned into a valuable teaching lesson for Kunkel’s students, ranging from age 4 to 74.

“Whether it’s something that happens in your own home or something that happens at a mall or something that happens to you, challenges will happen," Kunkel said. "It’s not if, but when. It’s what we do with those challenges that are going to make a difference.”

Academy of Life and Leadership Taekwondo operates a second location next to Dick’s Sporting Goods where they host summer camps and other events, but it was not occupied during the fire.

The Colorado Springs Fire Department said the fire was under control at 8:10 p.m. on August 18.

Officials said the cause of the fire is still under investigation. Dick's Sporting Goods at Chapel Hills Mall remains closed, and there is no estimate for when the store will reopen.

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