South Australian taekwondo instructor Louis Dimow will be inducted into the Australian Asian Martial Arts Hall of Fame in August.
Based in Port Pirie, 223km north of Adelaide, Ms Dimow has been training for nearly 43 years and took over the school, which she renamed Full Impact ITF Taekwondo, after the previous coach retired in 2018.
He has now been inducted into the Hall of Fame with the Category 3 Continuing Excellence and Contribution to the Australian Martial Arts Community Award in recognition of his contribution to martial arts.
“It's an honor to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and it's a testament to the hard work I've put in over the years for myself and for the many years I've shared my knowledge with all my students and everyone in the community,” Dimow said. Neo Cosmos.
“It is a great honor to receive such an award in the diverse martial arts field, and I am very emotional.”
One of the highest feats that can be achieved in the martial arts of this region.
An internationally certified 3rd degree black belt, Greek-Australian, his parents emigrated from Rhodes and Spatovuni (near Corinth) in the early 60s and he played football as a child.
He became interested in taekwondo because his uncle practiced it in Port Pirie.
However, since he was still a young boy at the time and lived outside the city, he was not able to start his business until his father sold the farm and market and moved to the city.
“One day, I happened to be at my uncle's house and we were watching a martial arts movie,” Dimow says.
“Watching that martial arts movie, I enjoyed what I saw. I loved the kicking and punching scenes.
He recalls watching movies featuring martial arts actors such as Bruce Lee and David Carradine in the past.
From there he decided to attend the local school where his uncle had trained and nearly 43 years later he is still enjoying his job there.
“Still learning, still helping the community, still helping people and seeing them become bigger, stronger people, mentally and physically,” he said.
Dimow is an active member of Port Pirie's Greek community, the oldest Greek club in South Australia and the second oldest in the country.
Dimou is no different to his Greek colleagues, but is now working under new master Spiridon Kaliotis, who is based in Melbourne.
Mr Kaliotis is also originally from the Whyalla region of South Australia but moved as a child and is a World Taekwondo Hall of Fame inductee.
Now Dimow is himself a Hall of Fame inductee, the only South African in his class and the first from a regional South African background.
Mr Dimow and the rest of this year's class will be inducted at the Grand Chancellor Hotel in Adelaide over the weekend of August 16-18.
