Author of the article: Steph Crosier
Publishing date: Mar 16, 2021 • 4 days ago • 3 minute read
In a time before COVID-19, officers train scenarios on each other during the Gracie Survival Tactics course hosted at the Hayabusa Academy in Kingston on June 7, 2019. Photo by Steph Crosier /The Whig-Standard
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Any other year, the owners of four martial arts clubs in Kingston would be competing for clients, offering discounts, specials and incentives. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, the owners instead decided to support each other while they weather the storm of public health restrictions.
“I needed to feel like I wasn’t in this alone, because it was incredibly scary,” said Chris Wellstood, owner of the Hayabusa Academy, who first reached out to his fellow gym owners. “I wanted to reach out to know that whatever I was going to have to do, as in close the doors, it wasn’t just going to be me. …