Shin's Tae Kwon Do

[DarkPhoenix]

I started studying at this dojang in September of 2008 after my son had been in it since April of 2008. I was impressed with the traditional aspect of the instruction, as well as the lack of large organisation affiliation. The Head Instructor of the school is Michael Donohue, and he holds a 5th Dan in CDK TDK under Grandmaster Shin, Hyun Ok. It has a few of the McDojang aspects, like younger black belts (poom ranks, not Dan ranks) and the typical things for the kids, like Li'L Dragons and after school programs, but the instruction is solid old school TKD.

Aliveness-5: I gave it a five because we do some sparring (light contact tappy tap with kids, beginners, and intermediate students, full contact with advanced belts, 3rd gup and higher). The main issue I have with it is it is typical Sport Karate with the sparring, no takedowns or sweeps and no groundwork. Hand techniques are allowed to the head, but they are light to no contact. The self-defence consists of the usual one steps and what-not, with compliant partners for the younger belts and when doing testing. He also incorporates SD with resistant opponents more often than not using Hapkido techniques.

Equipment-8: It's a pretty well equipped dojang with Wavemasters, Heavy bags, kicking shields, and focus pads. All of the equipment is brand new or less than 6 months old, and is swapped out pretty frequently if it shows any excessive wear and tear.

Gym Size-6: The dojang and training area are pretty average in size.

Instructor/Student Ratio-8: The classes are fairly small for the adult classes and average about 20 students for the kids classes. During the kids classes, there is normally 3 or 4 instructors or senior yudnaja on the floor at any one time. The adult classes there are 2 instructors as the class normally has less than 10 students.

Atmosphere/Attitude-9: The atmosphere of the dojang is what lead me to enroll my son in classes there. It is a very close knit group of people who are looking to see all students, including the instructors, excel in the martial arts. They are very open to cross training with other styles, and often hold seminars for additional instuction with other masters. Everyone there just has a very good attitude.

Striking Instruction-9: I love the way the striking is taught here. Sabumnim was a Kick boxer as well as a TKD fighter, and he incorporates more boxing style hand techniques than most other TMA schools I have trained at. Saturday classes focus on hand techniques and their application. He teaches the way the strikes should be used in a kata/form application and how they should really be used.

Grappling Instruction-2: Being as this is a TKD school, grappling and groundwork are pretty limited to self-defence using Hapkido. They teach mount and guard escapes and defences, but not for MMA, mostly for self-defence.

Weapons Instruction-5: They do teach weapons, but it isn't their main focus. The weapons that they teach are Bong (Sticks: Short batons and 6 foot staff) and nunchaku. He also holds a 2nd Dan in Haidong Gumdo, sparring, forms, and cutting, but only to adult black belts.

[the new fedor]

This sounds like a mcdojo then again i just hate TKD because it is like the most in affective self defense system ever but thats just me talking....or is it?

[Petter]

From the sticky, a striking rating of 9 means...well:

8-9: Pressure-tested, full range striking and proven success in limited restriction, top level competitions or high level self defense situations.

In other words, your rating of 9 suggests that your school has competitive strikers -- who do well in top level, full contact striking competitions; moreover, "full range" suggests the clinch range as well as punch and kicking ranges. Is this the case? If not, you might want to check the guidelines; the ratings should be fairly objective.