Owner Biography
Master L. Steve Madrid is a 5 th Degree Black Belt certified by the Kukkiwon in South
Korea and recognized as a Master in Canada. Master Madrid’s fascination with martial
arts started when he was only 8 years old after watching Bruce Lee in “Game of Death”
with his father. In September of 1991 at 13 years old, he along with his older brother
joined a Taekwondo program at Grand Master Ken Cheung’s Taekwondo Toronto West
location in Annette Recreation Centre under the instruction of Master Dean R. Iacobucci
and a lifetime love for martial arts began.
In the summer of 1993 Master Madrid would train with Master Tam at Toronto’s former
Army Base located on Keele Street north of Lawrence (now Downsview Park) and
learned Kung Fu, from that day forward Master Madrid trained Kung Fu on his own time
and Master Tam was now considered his second instructor. In 1995 Master Madrid, now
a red belt, began assisting in teaching classes as part of his responsibilities as a senior
rank, from that moment until his 1 st Degree Black Belt he assisted teaching more
frequently and decided to choose the instructor path.
Throughout his Taekwondo training Master Madrid attended local and some regional
tournaments from 1992-2006 including Cheung’s Taekwondo Innerclub tournaments on
a yearly basis, he has many trophies and medals amongst his accomplishments. Master
Madrid attending his last tournament at Cheung’s Taekwondo Innerclub in May of 2006
hosted at George Brown College Casa Loma Campus, he earned 1 st place in patterns and
after fighting in three (3) matches he earned 2 nd place in sparring to finally hang up his
sparring gear for good retiring from competition at 28 years old.
Master Madrid also attending a National Coaching Certificate Program (N.C.C.P.) in
August 1997 and earned his Level 1 certification, that same year in December he tested
and earned his 1 st Degree Black Belt recognized by the Kukkiwon in Seoul, South Korea.
Master Madrid continued his training after his instructor officially opened Iacobucci’s
Taekwondo Academy (now MuDo Academy Inc.) where he started teaching as an
assistant instructor, then in June of 2007 he started teaching consistently at Armour
Heights Community Centre in Toronto as Head Instructor where he learned how to teach
and attained his experience through trial and error until resigning in August 2017. Master
Madrid’s dream has been to open up his own school since 1998 and he saw this
opportunity as the stepping-stone to achieving his dream.
Master Madrid was also part of the renovation team at MuDo Academy Inc. from January
to July 2015, he also assisted in the early stages with driving for the after school program
and was able to help out as a back up driver throughout the 2015/2016 and 2016/2017
school years.
Master Madrid continued to teach and train in order to keep up to date with his material
as well as kept testing and moving up with his Black Belt Degrees, as his main goal was
to be 4 th Degree Black Belt Master. In August 2015 he tested for his 4 th Degree and
successfully passed earning his Master Black Belt recognized in Ontario, his next goal is
to earn his 6 th Degree Black Belt recognizing him as a Master World Wide.
Over 33 years, Master Madrid pursued his knowledge and credentials through
progressive belts, multiple martial arts disciplines, instructor roles, competition and
tournaments. Along Taekwondo expertise, he has continued with Kung Fu and Muy Thai
training on his own alongside Brazilian Jiujitsu classes. His open mind and pursuit of
learning has given him the unique ability to utilize many martial arts skills being
incorporated into his teaching methods.
Finally in November of 2017 after three (3) months of not teaching his former students
from Armour Heights Community Centre, the parents felt that the students needed to be
under Master Madrid’s instruction with Taekwondo and decided to follow him. Madrid
Taekwondo Institute was established January 11, 2018 and became an official
Taekwondo school through Taekwondo Ontario Formerly Ontario Taekwondo
Association (OTA) on March 18, 2018; his dream of owning and operating his own
school had finally come true after 20 years.
Also a very involved father, Master Madrid’s son Nathaniel has been training in
Taekwondo since 2013 when he was just 6 years old and is just one of the many things
they share. Nathaniel earned his Assistant Instructor role September 2020 after 18
months of hard work and determination; Nathaniel also tested for his 3 rd Degree Black
Belt on December 6, 2024 and passed successfully recognized now as the highest rank in
the school.
Master Madrid teaches in Brampton downtown across from the bus terminal and will be
opening up soon in Mississauga. Master Madrid has clients whom he has taught both
private one on one Self Defence classes and Group Self Defence classes, he has also
conducted Women’s Group Self Defence classes.