Our History. Our Resurgence.
Our history begins in the early 1980s, when a man began teaching karate classes after his own instructor retired from the program.
Mr. Steve Yukich taught classes of around a dozen students for several years in Buhl, Minnesota, first in the school gymnasium and later upstairs in the Buhl Village Hall. His students included his own children and several others from surrounding communities—including a young Justin Koivisto from Chisholm.
On June 1, 1989, Mr. Yukich officially opened Range Martial Arts in a small location on Lake Street in Chisholm, Minnesota.
Over the next fourteen years, the school grew steadily. Many students from communities across the Iron Range came through its doors, trained, learned, and eventually moved on to new chapters in their lives. Of those early students, only a few are still actively training somewhere today:
- Master Ian Larson — WTSDA
- Master Ramona Wickstrom — WKG, Resurgence
- Justin Koivisto — WTSDA, Resurgence
- Scot Bennett — WTSDA, Orion
In 2003, Mr. Yukich and his family moved to Texas. Mr. Bryan Fagerstrom took over the school and charted a new course focused on growth and service to the community.
The school moved across the street and a few hundred feet down the avenue into a larger building. Enrollment continued to grow, eventually reaching a peak of around 45 students. From the ranks of students at this location came instructors who remain active in martial arts today, including:
- Dorothy Sandness — WTDSA, Resurgence
- Ryan Bennett — WTSDA, Orion
On October 10, 2016, another chapter began.
Justin Koivisto, along with two other instructors, opened Range Martial Arts East in Virginia, Minnesota. The goal was to grow the school, reach new communities, and introduce more people across the eastern Iron Range to the benefits of martial arts.
The school opened in the Thunderbird Mall—later renamed Uptown Virginia—and continued to grow while serving students and families throughout the area.
Then came 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the events leading up to it hit the school hard. A back injury suffered by the head instructor, government-ordered shutdowns, precautions taken to protect the health of students and instructors, ineligibility for disaster relief grants, and the loss of students and jobs throughout the region eventually led to the permanent closing of Range Martial Arts in Chisholm.
On June 1, 2020—exactly 31 years to the day after it first opened—Range Martial Arts in Chisholm closed its doors.
But the story was not over.
Range Martial Arts East quickly adapted to the challenges of the pandemic. Like everyone else, we made mistakes along the way, but we continued working to provide our students with training, engagement, connection, and camaraderie.
Classes over the following months were held through Zoom video conferencing, outdoors in Olcott Park in Virginia, outdoors in a park in Chisholm, and even back inside the school itself whenever state restrictions allowed.
Through setbacks, uncertainty, and the support of Uptown Virginia and Range Martial Arts, the Virginia location survived.
Then, in late December 2020, came the announcement that the school would be changing its name at the end of the current curriculum season.
Justin Koivisto took over the business, and a new chapter began.
Resurgence Martial Arts was born.
The name represented more than simply a change in ownership or identity. It represented perseverance. It represented overcoming adversity. It represented finding the strength to rise again and move forward.
And this is where we are now.
More than four decades after those early karate classes in Buhl.
More than 37 years after Range Martial Arts first opened its doors in Chisholm.
After generations of students, instructors, challenges, successes, setbacks, and new beginnings.
Our story continues.
We invite you to join us for this next chapter in our school's long history.
Come take on the future with new energy.
Come surge forward with us.
Come find your resurgence at Resurgence Martial Arts.