YOUTH TAEKWONDO PROGRAM

At H.K. Lee Academy of Tae Kwon Do, our children's programs are second to none. We teach our students using a basic philosophy of positive reinforcement to build Self Esteem, Confidence, Discipline, Positive Attitude, and Values. At H.K. Lee TaeKwonDo, we realize that although the ability to defend oneself is important, there are many additional benefits to martial arts program. Our unique method of training is fun and is designed to:

• Instill a Positive Attitude
• Build Confidence & Self Esteem
• Teach the Importance of Strong
• Values & Good Character
• Promote the Desire to Learn
• Improve Effort & Motivation
• Improve Concentration
• Teach Self Discipline
• Instill Respect for Themselves & for Others

 By embodying these principles in our children's classes, the H.K. Lee Tae Kwon Do team has made a strong commitment to today's youth. Our carefully designed programs for children of all ages will improve your child's performance in other sports as well as improving study habits and increasing overall concentration. In addition to this, by building self confidence, self-respect, and self-discipline, we are helping young people to deal with the many problems they face growing up in today's world, including drugs, peer pressure and gangs.

Homework is an important part of a child's development. With our After School Program, we have a homework room designed to enhance children's learning. Under supervision, the children have access to the Internet through Pentium and Apple Computers to conduct research and to learn about things that help them manage their day to day world.

"Train the mind as well as the body?"(reprinted from American Health Magazine)

Many parents are enrolling kids in martial-arts classes hoping they will learn discipline and self-defense and get a healthy workout, but a new study suggests Western methods for teaching martial arts may make kids more aggressive than savvy. Reason: Many courses ignore the ancient philosophy and just teach body moves.  

At Texas A&M University, Dr. Michael Trulson divided 34 teens prone to delinquency (as determined by psychological tests) into three groups.  

For six months, group A spent one hour, three times a week learning the ancient Korean martial art, Tae Kwon Do. Along with self-defense, it emphasizes setting goals in life, respect for others, honesty, humility, responsibility and honor. Group B spent the time learning a short-cut modern version of Tae Kwon Do (no philosophy), while Group C got no training at all.  

Results: No change in Group C, but the kids in the two martial-arts groups responded in radically different ways. Those in Group A, who got the version emphasizing body and mind, got all the benefits: less anxiety, higher self-esteem, improved social skills, stronger values and, best of all, below-average levels of aggression. But kids in Group B (body only) got worse, and their aggression shot way up.  

Advice to parents: If you enroll kids in a martial-arts class, stick to tradition. Training the body without the mind may be a path to trouble.

As an educator it is clear to me that the benefits of Grandmaster H.K. Lee’s Tae Kwon Do to students are great. Self-confidence, concentration, cooperation, and patience are learned through the practice of TaeKwonDo. These abilities carry over to the classroom. Most importantly, Grandmaster Lee’s system increases the young person’s ability to peacefully resist negative peer pressure. I believe that this is crucial to the sound development of our citizens.  

(David G. Smith, Red Belt, Assistant Vice Principal, Fairfax County Public High School)