Jae H Kim Tae Kwon Do Institute

i have been going here for about a year and i am more than impressed. they know more than i could ever remember about tae kwon do they are world experts. they are very professional and always respectful. they offer a crazy amount of classes which is a upside. it is a very traditional martial arts school i went to more of a mma style of school before and i loved that and this is deferentially more methodical. over all i would give it an A.

By far one of my best experiences growing up. Started TKD in 7^th grade and went all throughout high school until I had to move away for college. The instructors were all great, personable yet disciplined. I went to the kids classes for middle school and then moved up to the adult classes. Met some of the nicest most genuine individuals while I attended TKD. Even during college I came back to visit Mr. Hwang and some friends! Although I haven’t visited recently since moving out of MA, I know the school is just as great!

I started here in late May of 2014 and stayed for almost a year before relocating to another city for a new job. I’d always wanted to learn martial arts since I was a kid, and after coming in to observe one of the All Levels classes, I decided to sign up for membership.
I absolutely loved my time at this school. Mr. Hwang is a wonderful instructor. He is friendly and at the same time sets a disciplined tone to the school. He is also very patient when explaining techniques, and pays a lot of attention to little details to help each student improve. I attended several classes led by Alex and Sean, who are also both extremely patient and knowledgeable instructors. Watching the two of them spar each other was always eye-​opening and fun.
I would recommend this school to anyone interested in Taekwondo, self-​discipline or opportunities to get a good workout. If I had time to commute in to Cambridge every afternoon to attend class I would!

Mr. Hwang is an amazing instructor and person, many martial arts schools have «teachers» who seldom teach, but Mr. Hwang creates a friendly yet serious vibe. Great workout.

I started coming here in mid-​July 2010. It was completely on a whim; I’d actually been looking at the aikido place in the same building, but realized that their class schedule wouldn’t work for me.
The school was running a summer sign-​up special, which included only a two month commitment to start, so I figured I might as well give it a try. (In general, when you sign up, I believe the contract will be for longer. I re-​upped after the initial two months for a six month contract, and now I’m on a one year.)
When you first start, you’ll be given three or possibly four private or semi-​private lessons – semi-​private lessons will be with other beginners – with one of the black belt instructors. They’ll teach the basic commands and etiquette (bowing, turning around, etc.), basic stances, basic blocks, basic kicks, and how to correctly throw a punch. (And, no, I really did *not* know how to throw a proper punch going in.) If you’re like me, all of this will feel horribly awkward and off-​balance for awhile; it’s really re-​learning how to move and balance.
I was pretty scared before my first regular all-​levels class that I was going to make a huge ass of myself. The nice thing about this school is that both the instructors and the other students are genuinely friendly and encouraging, which really helped me feel less anxious about how bad I was for the first few months, and makes me feel less self-​conscious about messing up whenever I learn new things now.
Even in the larger classes, you will get a good amount of individual attention; the instructors will go around correcting your form and posture, and helping you with moves you’re having particular difficultly with. (This includes demonstrating the move and sometimes helping you physically move correctly while performing the motion; I’ve been getting a lot of help lately making my turning sidekick better.)
There’s a good amount of variety in class, even though you’ll be practicing the same moves a lot. A class may have intense conditioning work, or you may be working on coordination and speed, or flexibility, or kicking combinations.
I enjoy going here infinitely more than I ever did going to a gym, and I’m actually in better shape doing this. Great cardio, and great for toning muscle.

I’d been meaning to learn taekwon-​do for a few years after doing my homework on various forms of marital arts and finding it to be the most balanced. I signed up here completely on a whim after I moved to the area — just because I lived nearby — but it’s been such a blast that I ended up staying long enough to get a black belt. It’s somehow become such a core part of my life that I’ve only looked at apartments in the neighborhood ever since.
The head instructor at the Cambridge branch, Mr. Hwang, is like every good coach I ever had doing sports in school: stern, intense, authoritative, but fair and sympathetic. Whatever your ability, he’ll expect that much from you and just a little bit more, so that you improve steadily over time. He’s a former Korean national champion and when he demonstrates techniques, you know they’re being done the right way. Couldn’t ask for a better teacher.
Mr. Kim, the head of the school, also comes out to Cambridge to teach every few weeks. He started the school in the 1970s — you do the math — but man… that guy still has the stuff. The first time he asked me to help him demonstrate a technique by holding his arms, I did it gently. He’s a skinny old guy and I’m a beefy young athlete, right? But he told me not to. And then he shook me off like I was a leaf! He’s also very intellectual, and often lectures about the «why» behind things.
I think the Cambridge school has the largest proportion of adult students of any of the branches in the area. Which is good, because adult TKD and kid TKD are vastly different animals. And the people who take classes here are also great folks: friendly, smart, funny. In addition to getting in the best shape of my life, I’ve made some good friends too.

I was only a student at this school for a couple of months (my own scheduling conflicts), but I found the space and all of the teachers to be fantastic. Each teacher definitely has their different styles – some were really good at verbally explaining a particular technique, while others taught best through physical instruction. Apparently, the man who started this school, Jae H Kim, studied with the best tae kwon do master of this century (I’ve been told Kim’s mentor created this particular martial art, but it’s been around, in some form, for hundreds of years, so…)
My fellow classmates were helpful and I never felt I was being judged if I hadn’t fully learned a move. The manager of the school, Mr Wong, is the sort of teacher every student (child or adult) loves to have: he’s relaxed and compassionate, but still gets you to do the work! You learn discipline here, but don’t feel like anyone will get out the rod if you mess up.
And…it’s a true community. It’s not quite as tight as the capoeira group I studied with, but still a definite collective. You’ll have to sign up for a 6-​month commitment when you join, which I think is good, since the whole reason I joined was to gain more discipline. And they’ll hook you up with a uniform and make you feel at home. So go try it out!