taekwondotimes.com / January 2018 35TKDT: How are life skills
taught in your schools?
GM Chong: I have a very strong belief that
character development needs to come from
experience and not from passive stories or
lectures. Personally, I believe the foundation
of character is teaching the habit of giving
one’s best eff ort to anything that they do.
Students needs to experience fi rsthand the
hard work necessary to achieve their goals.
Th erefore, in our curriculum, we gradually
increase the demands of our requirements and
the expectations for the level of performance.
At the intermediate and advanced levels, it is
not unusual for belt advancement to take four
to six months. Th e fi nal step to achieve a black
belt may take as much as a year. Th erefore,
students need to be focused, disciplined, and
persevere. Character development and confi dence
occur when accomplishments are earned.
I would also like to point out that the majority
of our classes have a very strong partner drill
component. Th is is true whether it is a class
for four- to fi ve-year-olds or advanced black
belts. It is my experience that training with
a partner leads to greater understanding
of respect, cooperation, and leadership.
TKDT: How is it possible to
give personal attention when
you have so many students?
GM Chong: It is challenging but not impossible.
I’ll quote Stephen Covey (author of Th e 7
Habits of Highly Eff ective People) who stated,
“Th e key to the many is the one.” To me, this
is a reminder that the only way we are able to
maintain a large number of students is by taking
care of each one of them as an individual. From
a practical point of view, we have a large staff ,
use several instructors at each class to keep a
low student/teacher ratio and our staff meet
daily to review student progress, challenges,
and questions. When students walk into our
school each day, the senior instructors not only
know everyone’s name, but they truly know
that student, their needs, and their individual
learning style. It is a very special relationship.
TKDT: What type of staff
training do you provide?
GM Chong: Consistent staff training is a
hallmark of our world-class system. Our full-
time staff meet for three hours each week
during which we review our business metrics,
plan for upcoming special events, and role play
teaching drills. Our part time staff meet for
one hour every week, during which they review
curriculum, discuss teaching tips, and role
play classroom scenarios. In addition, we are
constantly developing better teaching tools and
class planning materials for our staff. You can
only expect excellent results if you have given
your staff an excellent blueprint to work from.
I’m very proud of the fact that every year our
system and documentation gets upgraded.TKDT: How do you cultivate
teamwork between instructors from
the U.S and those from Korea?
GM Chong: Our shared meeting time is helpful
for them to get to know each other. We also
make it a habit to praise all employees for their
contribution, regardless of whether they work
primarily in the offi ce or on the teaching fl oor.
When staff understand the contribution and
importance of each other’s roles, it leads to
better cooperation and respect. I am honored
to have helped both American and Korean
staff to learn what it takes to become a school
owner. Our staff grew stronger as a result of
the necessity to learn each other’s cultures and