My girlfriend and I found this place just by chance through a one-month LivingSocial deal at the end of 2011, and started coming in January 2012. We had originally thought we would just do the one-month deal for the sake of trying it out - six months later, we're now green belts who are in love with this place, and can't stress enough how amazing it is. We highly recommend it to anyone who is remotely considering trying it out...you won't be disappointed!
To begin with, the school is very conveniently located, close enough to different subway and bus lines that many of the students commute from the outer boroughs, and a few even come in from New Jersey! You might wonder why so many people come in from so far away when there are any other schools out there? The answer is because the people who make up the school are awesome.
To get a sense of why this place is so great, you can just take a look at the people who run it, starting with Master Suk Jun Kim, the Grandmaster of the school. Master Kim is a 9th degree black belt, who is an internationally renowned martial arts practitioner - who actually learned Taekwondo from General Choi, the founder of the sport. With such a distinctive background, when I started at the school I assumed Master Kim merely lent his name to the school, and would be completely uninvolved in the day-to-day operations. Instead, Grandmaster Kim not only teaches many of the classes, but he makes class a real pleasure. While he challenges you to reach your potential, he also has a very calm, kind, grandfatherly way he goes about doing so.
The other Masters, Instructors, and Black Belts are equally impressive, kind, and caring. While having so many years of experience, and such impressive belt ranks, could theoretically lead some people to become impatient and condescending towards beginners, I have never experienced that in my time at the school - instead, everyone has showed a genuine enthusiasm for teaching, and a willingness to help people grow. Whether it's answering a quick question that comes up before class, taking the time to show you proper form during class, or staying later to give you pointers after class, everyone I've come across so far has seemed really happy to help out.
Everyone's passion for teaching and sharing knowledge is especially helpful if you're new to the martial arts. Growing up I was always physically active, but (1) I didn't know anything about Taekwondo coming in, and (2) in the past few years I had gotten out of shape. With that being said, I was nervous about two possible extremes when I started out: that it would be too hard and I wouldn't be able to keep up, or that it would be too easy, and I'd basically be paying to stretch and do a few kicks! Half a year in, I'm happy to say the school is challenging, but not overwhelming. Maybe at another school where people aren't so welcoming I would have felt discouraged or frustrated, but at S.J. Kim's I feel like I have been given the tools to get into shape, while having fun. I get a great workout and learn something new with almost every class.
I highly recommend S.J. Kim's Taekwondo - you will learn lots of interesting, new things, taught by people who genuinely care about your progress. I'm sure you can learn Taekwondo at many other schools, but I don't know if you can find the same sense of community that's present at S.J. Kim's. Everyone I've met at the school has been a real pleasure to know. read more
