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We went to United States Tae Kwon Do Institute, USTI, under Master McDonald. It's in Durham by Southpoint mall. Website is http://www.ustimartialarts.com/
I don't know how traditional it is, but my daughter goes to World Champion Tae Kwon Do in Wake Forest - they just opened a new facility that is awesome. They just brought in a Korean Demo team, and they have a trip planned to take some of the students to Korea soon, too.
I have also heard great things about Black Belt World, as mentioned by a pp.
I don't know how traditional it is, but my daughter goes to World Champion Tae Kwon Do in Wake Forest - they just opened a new facility that is awesome. They just brought in a Korean Demo team, and they have a trip planned to take some of the students to Korea soon, too.
I have also heard great things about Black Belt World, as mentioned by a pp.
So they moved from around the old Win Dixie?
BB World does a Korea trip every year as well. I think most of them do to be honest.
I will update this thread, since I am still getting reps for it so apparently people are still reading it...
I've heard from one of the previous instructors that USTI in Durham is closed now, though their website still works so I'm not sure. If they are open, they've moved, because there is a different studio in their space near Southpoint mall.
We are now going to the similarly named, but not affiliated, US Tae Kwon Do Center, which runs out of both the Orange County Parks and Rec (in Hillsborough) and the Chapel Hill Parks and Rec. It is pretty inexpensive compared to some of the other TKD schools we've gone to, because it is a Parks and Rec program. It is also no contract and runs in either 6 week sessions (in Hillsborough) or 12 week sessions (in Chapel Hill) in the Parks and Rec model. Master Kim teaches and is a Korean master teaching Kukkiwon style by the book. He also teaches TKD to public school students in Durham and Wake county in their PE program.
I've been going there for 9 months now and I like it and think Master Kim is a good teacher. This is the 3rd TKD studio that I've gone to now, and I find that they are all a bit different in how they do things. Master Kim has been able to significantly improve my technique in areas where I never even realized what I was doing wrong before. He does have much less focus on poomse and one-step self-defenses than the other schools I've been to, with more focus on general kicking technique and sparring.
Don't know the status of Nicolas McDonald's USTI, but it dates back to the days when H. K. Lee and his family, including Jun Lee and K. S. Lee, set up shop in the Triangle. See About the Lee Brothers | Raleigh Taekwondo & Martial Arts School . Adam Schainblatt's school also arose from the Lee operation.
I didn't know that Master McDonald was affiliated with Lee Brothers at all. When I was there, we did not do Tae Geuk poomse, we did Gekkisai and Pinan forms instead. At the time, I didn't know this was unusual as it was my first TKD school. We also did stances somewhat untraditionally, with feet turned in at an angle instead of straight. I've been told that this is more of a karate style than TKD style. It seems that Master McDonald had decided to do certain things differently from "traditional" style because he thought that was an improvement, but as a student I was not aware that what we were learning was any different until I changed schools. I did like that we learned Arnis sticks for weapons, which I prefer over nunchucks or bo staff which seem more popular at other schools.
I haven't gone to a Lee Brothers school, but I have met the one who is master at the Burlington school and he seemed super nice. I visited the Mebane school, which is closest to me, and did not like the woman who was running that branch at all. She was not friendly to me or my kid, and I did not go back. That's unfortunate, because the school would be very convenient for me, location-wise. We also have Champions Martial Arts near me, but they are not "traditional" TKD either. So that's why we drive further away. I looked for a traditional TKD school in Hillsborough, but didn't find much. Master Neall teaches a class at the dance studio there, but he does ITF style and I was looking more for WTF style. But the Parks and Rec program is working fine for me now.
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