From South Korea to Cottonwood, instructor brings fitness, discipline to Cottonwood

MASTER KIM:
Seong-Tae Kim with his student, Jayden Eagen. Kim was schooled in Tae Kwon Do for 20 years. Today he lives in Cottonwood and teaches at Redding Tae Kwon Do.

Seong-Tae Kim, otherwise known as Master Kim, was born and raised in South Korea. After moving to America, struggling and eventually finding his niche, Kim now calls Cottonwood his home.

As a young man, Kim dreamed of moving to America.

“I came out on a one-way airplane ticket, and told my mother I’m not coming back unless I make something out of this.” Kim said.

“I came out to go to college. Of course, like a lot of exchange students, I had no money. And of course, I run out of money after three months.”

At one point, Kim considered going back to South Korea — until he discovered he could make a living by teaching Tae Kwon Do, a craft that helped him get through his own personal struggles.

“I knew that Tae Kwon Do would serve a good purpose,” Kim said.

Kims’ students range from age three, to sixty-seven.

“He can teach a young, strapping 18-year-old and he can teach a 70-year-old, and nobody would be left out.” Said Kim’s student, and Anderson resident Gary Royal.

Royal has studied Tae Kwon Do for most of his life. Over the years, Royal said he’s had very good instructors, but Kim is his favorite.

“I’ve heard from so many people, he’s one of the best teachers they’ve ever had the opportunity to study under, for anything. He’s really an effective communicator,” Royal said.

Royal said Kim has taught him to become more humble in his everyday life, because his instructor doesn’t gloat about his many Tae Kwon Do accomplishments. Kim has a fifth degree black belt, he was a Tae Kwon Do Korean Military trainer, and he recently won the outstanding master instructor award at the University of California Berkeley Open.

Kim strives to teach his students more than just the physical aspects of Tae Kwon Do. He says Tae Kwon Do is a way of life. It promotes a strong mind, strong body and strong spirit.

“It teaches me a lot too, teaching students these values,” Kim said.

“Sometimes I get tired. Moving to a new place and starting a new business can be tough. But whenever things get tough, I can hear my students shouting ‘Perseverance: Sticking to your goals even when the going gets tough,’” and other tenets of Tae Kwon Do.

“How can I teach my students when I’m not practicing this discipline?” Kim said.

The best part about teaching Tae Kwon Do is being able to make a difference in students’ lives, Kim said.

For children, a big part of Tae Kwon Do is learning discipline. A parent might come in and say their child has a problem paying attention, or has bad grades. But a few months later, Kim said the parent will come to him and say ‘What did you do with my kid? She has better grades – she got all A’s, she listens to me, she focuses.”

“That’s the really big reward teaching children,” Kim said.

For adults, Kim said it’s about making them feel good both physically and mentally. He said he has a student who started with him when he was 18, and has lost about 80 pounds in less than two years.

“He came here and he started enjoying it. It made him feel better about himself and he felt he could do more. So he started getting more active. He started doing regular exercise and learning discipline. He did it in a very healthy way.” Kim said.

Amanda Kim met her husband in Tennessee in the late 90s, when he first came to America to study.

“I’m not objective, but I think he is a fabulous teacher. He’s very motivational and has a magnetic personality,” she said.

“That’s what first attracted me to him. People absolutely love him … and just like any man, he can be stubborn,” Amanda laughed. “We have been married 10 years.”

The couple planned to move to Cottonwood for almost four years, while living in L.A. “It was a place we could see ourselves raising a family,” Amanda said.

Master Kim said some Redding residents wonder why he would drive from Cottonwood to work in Redding everyday.

“People say, ‘Wow, you live far out there.’ Well, its a 10 minute drive with no traffic with a Mount Lassen view and a Mount Shasta view,” Kim said. “I will do that the rest of my life. No complaints.”