What type of martial art do you teach?
I teach Tang Soo Doo, a Korean martial art. Most of the techniques help people defend themselves in an attack. We currently have about 160 students.
What happens during a typical class session?
We start with stretches and warm-up exercises. Then we do the basic hand and foot techniques. We then move into the Korean forms. We have a curriculum like any elementary school, high school or college. Success is not based on whether you can defeat a person, but on whether you’ve learned or can execute the techniques.
Classes last about 90 minutes. The maximum number of students in a class is about 25. Our youngest student is 5, and our oldest is in her mid-60s. We’ll take anyone.
Why do people take Tang Soo Doo classes?
Learning self-defense is just a side benefit. The main benefits are that you receive excellent physical conditioning, by studying a martial art. you increase your stamina and your mental discipline. You learn to respect authority. These are all important things about training in a martial art.
What is your educational background?
I have a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies and a master’s degree in education from Penn State University. Obviously, degrees like these aren’t required for martial-arts instructors. But I do use those degrees every day in the way I deal with my students.
How did you get into this field?
It’s not a field that I went to college for. When in college, I wanted another activity besides academics. I wasn’t good enough to be on Penn State’s football team but there was a karate school nearby. I met the instructor and signed up to take classes. After more than 12 years of taking classes, I learned so much I ended up being a teacher.
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After college I went to work for a school in Chicago. I was a counselor and case manager. Everyone experiences burnout in a job like that. It’s a very stressful job, and I started teaching martial arts in the evenings.
My karate classes grew to the point where it was becoming a full-time job. I had to choose. I chose this and I’m pretty happy.
It’s the most important job that a person can have. Every day I’m dealing with other people’s children. I’m a role model to them. I’m a teacher to them, and sometimes I’m even more. Sometimes I’m a counselor. The kids might come in with homework problems. We do a whole lot more than just martial arts here.
What is an average day like?
I come in the office at 10 a.m. I teach seven classes a day and go home at 9 p.m. I do that six days a week. My only day off is Sunday. On average, I work 66 to 70 hours a week. It’s a lot of work. But that’s the way it is when you own your own business. When something needs to be done, and there’s no one else around, who else is going to do it?
I might have one person show up at my door at 10 a.m. If I’m not there, he doesn’t understand why. If there are 25 kids who want a lesson and I’m not there, they don’t understand why. Like running any business, you either put up or shut up. If you don’t have the doors open, you won’t make any money.
What is the best thing about your job?
Being your own boss is very satisfying. Starting and building something on your own and seeing something materialize is very satisfying.
It’s also nice when you see the personalities of your students change. It’s not about their physical skill level. It’s about their personality, seeing them become more peaceful, more relaxed. It’s about seeing them learn to manage their own anger. That takes some time, usually about a year.
I love seeing how parents react after their kids have been taking classes here for a while. I’ll tell their child to sit down, and the child will do it immediately. The parents always laugh and say they wish their sons or daughters would do the same thing for them. After they’ve been here for a while, the children start doing that. You see it in their relationships with their parents and teachers; they develop more respect for everyone.
What qualities are essential to doing your job well?
You must have discipline. You must be willing to provide selfless service. Regardless of how you think, you have to be service-oriented. Finally, you must be honest. People know when you’re lying and they don’t accept it.
Where do you go from here?
We would like to expand. I’d like to open some more sites, maybe one on the North Side and one on the West Side. (The current location is 1742 E. 55th St.) If we one day end up with more studios than that, that’d be fine, too.
What advice would you give to others interested in this field?
Don’t expect to get rich. Do not get into this field because of the money. You don’t become rich by teaching martial arts or by owning your own school. [That would be] like going to school for acting and thinking you’re going to be the next Brad Pitt.
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