Chief Instructor & Head of Ori-MAUL

Wendi Bacon is a 4th Dan Black-belt in both World Taekwondo (WT) and International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) styles. As a kid, she trained in ITF Taekwondo with her father, 4th Dan Duane Bacon. He created a free Taekwondo program for under-privileged youths at the Boys & Girls Club of Lawrenceville, Georgia.

After training there, Wendi continued the legacy by creating and, for four years, running a free Taekwondo program at the Geneva Boys & Girls Club in New York. There she also met and trained under 7th Dan Master Tina Felice in WTF and ITF Taekwondo, eventually assisting with classes and grading in the WTF style. She eventually moved to Cambridge, UK, to pursue a PhD and, ultimately, to found MAUL. She co-ran MiNi-MAUL with Instructor Layla until the first MiNi-MAULers achieved their blackbelts. She then largely stepped back to expand the MAUL consortium and support her students-turned-blackbelts in their development as instructors and club heads.

In 2016 she tore her ACL training in Jiu Jitsu, and after knee reconstructive surgery returned to martial arts to earn her 3rd Dan black-belt in 2017 with Master Tina. The fun continued in 2019 when, due to some bony defects during development, Wendi underwent hip surgeries and took medical leave for a few months. She graded for her 4th Dan in October of 2020.