What Have I Done!?: The First Class
First Class It’s the Friday before my first class in our first building. The walls are freshly painted. The room has the perfect amount of echo. Everything is immaculate and ready to go for the following Monday morning. I’m so excited for what is to come that I decide to [...]Read more
Using Your Mind and Body in a New Way: Dr. Graham’s Story
Rolling around on the floor is something that children are used to, but that’s not usually the case for adults. Being A Student As someone who came to Tae Kwon-Do at a later age, my goals were centered around exploring methods that were entirely new to adult learning. I [...]Read more
Our First Building
Master Gorino’s Tae Kwon-Do Genesis Before I made the decision to open my own school, I both taught at another Tae Kwon-Do school and was a band instructor in the Buffalo Public School system(BPS). While I was at BPS, I actually tried to start a martial arts program there. [...]Read more
Kicking and Screaming: Tyler’s Story
Back when I first started teaching, Master Gorino would joke around with the parents and other students. “Hey, you see that kid out there?” he would say, pointing to me. “Guess how old he is.” People would always guess that I was older, and would be shocked to find out [...]Read more
A Good Teacher Needs to be a Good Student
A Good Teacher Needs to be a Good Student About 6 months ago, my instructor, Grandmaster Park, said that it was time for me to test for 8th dan. 8th dan is another way to say 8th degree black belt. I have never been one to seek out rank. I don’t really believe in training [...]Read more
Win or Learn
Win or Learn The mantra at our dojang is: “Pil-Sung.” It is a Korean phrase that we interpret to mean: “Certain victory through indomitable spirit and courage.” We yell it at the end of each class, and during handshakes. What this means to us is that with everything we do [...]Read more