Kim's United TaeKwon Do School Kim's United TaeKwon Do SchoolKim's Tae Kwon Do at Hawaii is an official part of Kim's United Tae Kwon Do Federation, which is the largest Tae Kwon Do federation in the North Western United States. The head instructor of the Hawaii branch is Mr Mason Nakadomari who is a 3rd degree black belt. There are three schools under the Hawaii Branch located in University of Hawaii at Manoa and Ewa beach.
Kim's Tae Kwon Do was founded by Grand Master Hong Sik Kim in the early 1970s. Kim's Tae Kwon Do is taught in the traditional point style or "non-contact" format. Training is considered "traditional" insofar as it emphasizes rigid stances, hand techniques, kicks, and (usually the hallmark of Tae Kwon Do) jumping kicks. It is also considered "traditional" because our forms were created by General Choi Hong Hi, the founder of modernTae Kwon Do and the International Tae Kwon Do Federation (ITF).
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GRANDMASTER
Hong Sik Kim  |
Grandmaster Hong Sik Kim is the president of our Taekwon Do organization. He guides the instructors who teach in more than 40 Taekwon Do studios in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California, and Hawaii. Grandmaster Kim has guided and inspired over 30,000 students since beginning his career as a Taekwon Do instructor over 35 years ago. He began taking Taekwon Do lessons when he was 13, attending a very strict school and learning that hard work and many hours of practice are essential. He says of that time, “I learned the art of negotiation and avoidance of conflict. The only time in my life I have ever engaged in real fighting was when I was 12 years old, before I began studying Taekwon Do.” |
Students gain numerous benefits from the study of Taekwon Do. They improve their balance, coordination, and overall physical and mental fitness. They also learn to have patience and respect for others and, more importantly, toward themselves. Finally, Taekwon Do students learn how to effectively defend themselves from potential harm.
All Kim’s Taekwon Do schools teach strictly non-contact Taekwon Do. This allows men and women, adults and children to work out together, and thus learn from each other, without fear of injury. Non-contact training has the additional benefit of saving students money, since they do not need to invest in expensive protective gear in order to participate in class. Below are brief responses to two concerns that are commonly expressed about non-contact training. For a fuller discussion of the issue, please feel free to contact us. We are always happy to answer questions.
If you don’t actually hit people, how do you know if your techniques are effective?
This is a legitimate concern, and one that any non-contact school must address. At Kim’s Taekwon Do, the effectiveness of our kicks and strikes is tested by board-breaking. All intermediate and advanced students above 15 years old are required to break boards as part of their promotion tests. The test for first-degree black belt, for instance, requires a kick through four pine boards. (Each board is one inch thick, and there are no spacers between the boards.) The ability to break multiple boards with one punch or kick provides strong evidence not only that the technique used is effective, but also that the student knows how to execute it properly.
If you train to pull away at the last minute, that’s what you’ll do in a fight.
The response to this concern is twofold. First, it must be reiterated that at Kim’s Taekwon Do we do not claim to teach people how to fight. We teach people how to be healthier people, living better lives; it just so happens that extensive training in the self-defense skills that Taekwon Do consists of is a particularly effective way of accomplishing that teaching.
The distinction between self-defense and fighting notwithstanding, the concern that a non-contact student will pull his or her techniques if forced to use them in a real-life situation does not hold up under critical reflection. Stopping is a more difficult than is following through; it follows that one who has the ability to stop also has the ability not to stop, should they so choose. If you saw a person swing a golf club at full speed, but stop within a quarter of an inch of the ball, would you conclude that he or she lacked the ability to swing the rest of the way through the golf ball? Similarly, a person who has developed the ability to pull a full-speed kick when it is within a quarter-inch of the target has the ability to penetrate through the target when it matters. Again, board-breaking provides confirmation. It is difficult, if not impossible, to watch a person break four, five, or even six boards with a single kick or punch and continue to believe that she is incapable of extending her strikes through a target.
Kim’s Taekwon Do
Dedicated to Progress, Peace, and Love
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