Kuk Sool Won of Millbrae

I’ve been a student of Kuk Sool Won Millbrae since day 1. What started as nothing more than me trying to find a new workout that was different from my daily gym time became much more then I could have ever imagine. It became something I am passionate about.
The martial arts studio is called a Dojang. It has ample floor space, a climbing rope, inclined monkey bars, a heavy punching bag, and boxes to climb and do parkour activities. They have padded mats to practice acrobatics. I myself have learned to do a front handspring! There is a whole lot of room to practice, to become stronger and more agile. It’s definitely not your average Martial Arts Studio.
SBN Dong, instructor and owner, has definitely been a great inspiration and motivation in my life. His uplifting spirit, enthusiasm and electrifying personality has a way of making the whole room light up.
The kids love him! Some of the little ones (ages 3 – 6) sometimes have a more difficult time leaving their parents side and taking their first steps into the Dojang. Even sometimes their own parents can’t get them to budge. With just a few words from SBN Dong they’re off running onto the floor and ready to join the other kids! He’s like the kid whisperer! Don’t be surprise if you find your child not wanting to leave!
SBN Dong diversifies his lessons so that they apply both to Kuk Sool and to our everyday lives. He wants to see his students grow both inside and out of the Dojang. I’ve seen him on many occasion talking to his students about what their aspirations in life are, including myself. He was the reason why I wrote a personal statement and it was more emotional for me then I thought it would be. He always encourages us to reach down deeper and find a better understanding of ourselves.
One of the most important things SBN teaches his students is to never say, «Can’t.» «Can’t» shouldn’t exist in our vocabulary. Instead of can’t, he wants us to ask ourselves «How do I get there?» «What steps are necessary to achieve the goal at hand?» If you don’t know where to begin, he’s always there to help guide us in the right direction. The initial push some of us need. Never does a day go by that he doesn’t challenge his students to be better. That no matter how good they think they are at something there is always room for improvement!
Being a student since the school has open, I have had the pleasure of seeing how much the school and its students have grown. The amount of students has greatly increased. The adults pushing themselves to the limit everyday to reach the goals they have set for themselves. The younger kids are more eager to learn and take on leadership roles. Parents on many occasions have talked about how disciplined, attentive, respectful and confident their child has become since starting.
Our first tournament was definitely a great highlight for our school. Bringing about 25 students, we placed top 4 in California when we were just hoping for top 10. 3^rd to 1^st place brought 80 – 100 students. Showing us that the quality of our teaching was greater then we know.
Another great thing about KSWMillbrae is that everyone tied to the school is Family. The constant support and encouragement that I have received has kept me motivated and gives me the drive to work hard, whether it be in my training or my daily life outside. It has definitely become my home away from home.
So if you’re looking to improve yourself mentally and physically or just self, look no further! You might get more than what you were expecting!

From going to the gym on a regular basis, I started to get tired of the same routine, even with new workouts here and there. I decided to try something new to throw into the mix.
Kuk Sool Won is a Traditional Korean Martial Art. It covers an extensive variety of techniques including hand techniques, leg techniques, throwing/​grappling, joint lock/​pressure points, falling/​acrobatics, weapons, meditation/​breathing, and more. The school was built around the idea of all of this. You won’t be able to find a school that provides such a fun and exciting playground-​like environment. You can find incline monkey bars, climbing rope, punching bag, padded walls and boxes to climb and do acrobatics, ample floor space to practice and more.
In addition to all the physical attributes of the school, the students and assisting instructors to Head Instructor, SBN Dong, are all a testimonial of how much impact he has been for everyone. I have been a student here for just over a year now and I have seen how much even the young children have changed. They’ve become much more disciplined, attentive, respectful, and confident. Like martial arts should be, everyone has their own personal style, and SBN Dong understands this. He has so much interest and patience with people, that he just naturally understands how to teach and talk to everyone. So there is no need to be worried for your child or yourself in picking up something new.
From knowing SBN Dong in the past to the present, I’ve come to learn about his personal aspirations in life. Even with his extensive resume, just knowing what drives him in life has allowed me to feel confident that he will provide a great school and facility for young and old alike, to grow physically and mentally.
So whatever goals your children or you may have, be it physical, mental, building confidence, leadership, change in routine, or something you’ve always wanted to try (mine is to land a front flip and backflip). This is truly a place to train hard and improve yourself while everyone here also makes you feel like family. They even host children birthday parties! There are always deals going on so drop by for a trial!

I wanted to add that SBN Dong is an awsome instructor who always is a positive influence on me and my life goals. He always says that we don’t say if… we say when. We don’t say «can’t» we say we «have not done it yet!» Always elevated! I am loosing weight and getting fit at Kuk Sool Won. Most importantly I’m improving my outlook on life and am enjoying supporting my classmates in all of their Kuk Sool Won successes. I am progressing at my own pace but look forward to pushing myself this summer to loose 60 lbs by November 2015. Kuk Sool Won can help anyone achieve personal goals of fitness and beyond.

This place is awesome. I love bringing my son here. Doesn’t matter that we’re already family

When I started training with SBN Dong last August, I was quite overweight and in incredibly bad shape. He was very understanding of this, was always positive, and got me to push myself further then I thought I could go… but not further then my body was actually capable of. His classes are always enjoyable, and despite having never really enjoyed any other form of physical exercise in the past, I found myself enjoying the classes so much that I switched from going twice a week to 3 times and am still loving it.
I would fully recommend SBN Dong’s classes to anyone, no matter their current physical fitness level or whether they’ve done martial arts before.

After hearing good things about Kuk Sool Won of Millbrae from a coworker, I decided to give it a try. The instructor, SBN Dong shows great patience and enthusiasm. Whether you’re looking for weight loss, stress relief, or self-​defense techniques, I highly recommend checking out Kuk Sool Won of Millbrae.

I’ve been taking classes here with SBN Dong since January. I’m not especially athletic and was apprehensive at first but from day one SBN as well as the other students made me feel welcomed. I’m not going to lie and say going to class is all fun and games because it IS challenging but it’s also physically and mentally rewarding.
I never thought I’d be «into martial arts» but what started as «some exercise» has turned into something I see myself dedicating time and effort into for years to come.
If you’re feeling intimidated, don’t be! First trial class is free and there are always promotions you can sign up for.

This is the first time we are trying a martial arts school for my 4 year old son. I can’t say enough, he loves it. His teacher knows the right mix of discipline and fun. We considered this class because our son has a hard time concentrating and listening to directions. If you watch him in class you would not even know he has those issues.
I would recommend this class to anyone.

Yes, this is a great place as posted by others. I ditto all the positive remarks. My grandson, Devin, loves this place. I give it 5 stars! Hi Dong :)

I’ve trained with SBN Dong for more than a year and have known him for almost a decade. I love his enthusiasm for life and his ability to lift everyone around him. I’ve found that his philosophy in teaching is what makes Kuk Sool Won of Millbrae great! He has the ability to relate Kuk Sool Won with life learning skills, such as balance, patience, and consistency which is the reason he has so many dedicated students. I’ve seen him transform many kids (who can be a bit energetic at times), to attentive, disciplined, and focused Kuk Sool Won students with simple teaching skills which he has the natural ability to do. I’ve heard from parents that their kids are better listeners and thoughtful after being enrolled in his classes.
The facility is great with not just floor mats, but climbing ropes, padded boxes and bars to practice many acrobatic moves as well as challenge your mind to things you believed you could not do! I would recommend anyone looking into any kind of Martial Arts discipline to check out KSW of Millbrae and take a free class!

Coach Dong is a great teacher, professional, patient, and full of insights. He knows how to teach, not only the martial arts, but also the mentality.
My son is five year old and he has been here for 2 month. My son is very energetic all the time. He is an independent thinker, so sometimes (actually most of the times) he does not listen to me or his mother. After about one month/​eight classes, he improved so much in listening! And discipline, too!
My son does not speak English because we recently came to usa. And this is not an obstacle at all, just like Coach Dong (as native English speaker) said when I signed up this classes for my son. As a matter of fact, my son learned more English here from Dong than anywhere else!
Coach Dong is an amazing coach, and I will continue the classes for my son as long as possible! And my son loves this practice very much!

Korean Martial Arts, I have to say Kuk Sool Won is a pretty well rounded style of martial arts. From flexibility training to learning how to fall properly, kicking, punching, throwing, and self-​defense.
Most of the self-​defense techniques involves escape against clothing grabs, head lock escapes, knife defense, finger breaks, neck breaks, as well as getting out of and up from a ground situation.
Like most Korean arts, board breaking is always fun. («Boards don’t hit back» but hey, so does the boxing bag…)
There is also an *optional* annual competition that one can enter, it is VERY friendly but still competitive. It is a good chance to make new friends and mangle with those that train in the same system. If you are looking for a fight, then this competition is not for you. Everyone brings a smile.
The head instructor of this location, Dong, is a pretty well known international champion in the Kuk Sool community. He gives a good workout, very experienced in handling students of all backgrounds. Some people go to him to lose weight, some for conditioning training, some for self-​defense. You really need a well rounded instructor to lead a good class. Dong is my choice for the job.
Try it out~

Got a chance to see the grand opening and it was a real treat.
For a guy who takes an interest in various disciplines of Martial Arts Kuk Sool Won was interesting to see and learn about.
What I really liked was that they had ropes that you could climb to the ceiling and elevated platforms you can mount. The incline monkey bars hanging off the top of the ceiling was definitely something that caught my eye and you never see them in an everyday traditional martial arts gym.
The lead instructor, Dong, is a pretty cool guy, if you talk to him you get to see his philosophy about life and how Kuk Sool Won comes to apply to it. What I got from the presentation is that Kuk Sool Won is a martial arts system that stresses physical and mental strength and discipline which establishes a foundation to apply towards moving forward in life. That and it looks pretty and has some pretty bad ass kicks incorporated into it. From the pamphlet I read it incorporates joint locks, pressure points, and grappling defense too, too bad I didn’t get to see that come into play. Kuk Sool Won is supposed to be a wide spectrum practice of all forms of traditional korean martial arts, so there is definitely a lot to be learned from it.
There are a lot Americans nowadays are either overweight and/​or unhealthy/​unfit.
This place is the perfect prescription for that, I definitely recommend checking it out.

Just wrote this on Google… might as well write it here too! I’ve trained with SBN Dong previously in the South Bay and I’m ecstatic that he has a location of his own now! Beyond the physical progression, strength, and agility I developed, I was impressed how he motivated me to have better self discipline, control, and overall just mentally improving and optimizing my best «self.» Highly recommend and can’t thank him enough. I still find it crazy that he can still do backflips!

I trained with SBN Dong in Mountain View for years before he opened his own school in Millbrae. He’s an inspiring instructor because his form is so impressive that we see what a martial artist can be through skill and dedication, and he’s never short on advice to help us improve. We all miss him and hope he’ll continue to visit MV now and then.