Charlie Carries the Torch
Gorino Tae Kwon-Do
by Grand Master Gorino
2w ago
2024 is a big year. The dojang will celebrate our 30th anniversary. And this month, our son Charlie will earn his Go-Ma; his child-level black belt.  If you ever played organized sports as a child, you know that there are few things worse than the coach’s kid. Can you picture them? Entitled. Untalented. Always getting special treatment. And they always seem to start the game, even though they consistently mail it in at practice.  Charlie was not given any extra benefits because he is my son. He followed the same path that every other student follows. He started out in the Tigers, and ..read more
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How Far Tae Kwon-Do Has Come
Gorino Tae Kwon-Do
by Grand Master Gorino
1M ago
It’s a bit cliché to talk about how things were “back in my day.” For me, that would be the 70’s and 80’s.  But I don’t consider it to be “my day” at all.  When I was first starting out, there was a different type of attitude in the martial arts world. People were coming to martial arts schools strictly to learn how to fight. Good martial arts fighters wanted to be better. “Street fighters” wanted a few new tricks. Law enforcement personnel wanted hand-to-hand combat techniques to help them with their jobs.  In general, though, most people coming to the dojang during those times ..read more
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Having a Black Belt vs. Being a Black Belt
Gorino Tae Kwon-Do
by Grand Master Gorino
1M ago
If you used to study martial arts, but gave up on it, I assure you that no matter what you tell yourself or other people, you have not “still got it.” When I meet new people and they find out who I am and what I do, they love to tell me how they took Tae Kwon-Do or some other martial art as a kid, but didn’t stick with it. Some of them even hung in there long enough to earn a black belt. They all seem to think that if they had to, they could use those black belt skills again. Even years and years later. It requires seemingly black belt-level training and discipline not to laugh in their faces ..read more
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When You Haven’t Tried True Tae Kwon-Do
Gorino Tae Kwon-Do
by Grand Master Gorino
2M ago
“But I tried Tae Kwon-Do…” If you haven’t studied Tae Kwon-Do with us, chances are, you haven’t studied Tae Kwon-Do at all.  When someone tells me about themselves or their child trying Tae Kwon-Do and not liking it, I typically respond by asking what style of Tae Kwon-Do they studied. They rarely know the answer. I ask about their school, which can usually give me an idea of what style they were taught.  All of this inevitably leads me to a regular speech of mine: they most likely studied a style of Tae Kwon-Do that is primarily for sport. Sport Tae Kwon-Do is not true Tae Kwon-Do ..read more
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Kick it Old School: Tae Kwon-Do and Technology
Gorino Tae Kwon-Do
by Grand Master Gorino
2M ago
Look, I’m a dinosaur.  Back in the day (a.k.a the 70’s & 80’s), we were all blown away by this cutting-edge technology that we saw in the movie “Best of the Best.” It was a pad that you could attach to a heavy bag. When you hit it, it would tell you how many pounds of force per square inch that you were hitting with. It was the most technologically advanced thing we had ever seen in Tae Kwon-Do.  These days, the technology that assists people in Tae Kwon-Do is more for the sports-based Tae Kwon-Do. Body monitoring, weight training machines, the things that you would normally thin ..read more
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Out of the Dark, Into the Light: Tae Kwon-Do’s Future
Gorino Tae Kwon-Do
by Grand Master Gorino
3M ago
Tae Kwon-Do used to be a lot like Fight Club.  It was violent. We trained in dark rooms. And those who participated in it didn’t talk much about it, even with other people who did Tae Kwon-Do.  I don’t condone fighting, regardless of how much we talk about it on this blog or in the dojang. I think most people are the same way. Some don’t even want to talk about fighting.  I hear all the time how folks won’t even entertain the thought of training with us because they simply don’t want to get in a fight. In the real world, it won’t always be up to them. Sometimes the fight finds y ..read more
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The Most Devastating Moves in a Black Belt’s Arsenal
Gorino Tae Kwon-Do
by Grand Master Gorino
4M ago
The most devastating move in my arsenal as a black belt and grand master? My smile. There are two kinds of smiles, of course. One is a genuine smile when I am happy. The other is meant solely to disarm you and to let you know, without lifting a finger, that you will never get the best of me. A grand master’s “arsenal of moves” would likely disappoint the average person. Most believe that to achieve the rank, I must have some go-to set of moves that I can pull from to absolutely dismantle a would-be attacker. Daniel-san from The Karate Kid had the crane kick. The Bride from Kill Bill had the Fi ..read more
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Kick Better…Speak Better
Gorino Tae Kwon-Do
by Grand Master Gorino
5M ago
Can Tae Kwon-Do help with public speaking? This is an easy one. Yes, it can. And it does. Time and time again, our students and instructors have been recognized for how well they can get up and perform on stage, speak publicly, present at work and school, read in church, the list goes on. Two examples immediately come to mind. Oddly enough, both with the same name. James is one of our instructors, and happens to have ADD/ADHD and is dyslexic. When he went to college, he took a public speaking course and a few business courses where he had to get up and do presentations. Despite his learning di ..read more
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Teaching Tigers: The Power of a Smile
Gorino Tae Kwon-Do
by Master Sharratt
5M ago
I have always had a soft spot for toddlers, even when I was barely out of that stage myself. Growing up, I was one of the older kids at daycare, so I was supposed to go with the older group on field trips and events. But most of the time, I would find myself wanting to stay back to help out with the younger kids, who were usually between two and six years old. I would play with them, help to set up their crafts, and do anything to ensure they were having a good time.  So when I was asked by Master Gorino to help teach the Tigers, our 3-5 year old students, I leapt at the opportunity. But ..read more
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What If I Don’t Want to Fight?
Gorino Tae Kwon-Do
by Grand Master Gorino
6M ago
Believe it or not, I hope I never get in another fight for the rest of my life.  But if I do ever find myself in one, I darn sure want to win.  And I don’t just want to win, I want to dominate. I don’t want the fight to be even remotely close, or even fair, for that matter. I love my family, and I want to always make sure that I return safely to them. I also want to make very sure that I can protect them. Of course, in Tae Kwon-Do, we teach you everything you will need to win a fight, if you ever find yourself in one. But that also includes the skills necessary to avoid the fight alt ..read more
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