Floyd Soo’s (Tang Soo Do) Korean Karate Club presently trains in the beautiful facilities of the Great Lakes Athletic Club.  This 80,000 sq. ft. facility is a complete fitness center with indoor and outdoor pools, a restaurant, spa, physical therapy center, golf training, rock climbing, racquetball, basketball, volleyball, cardio, weights, running track, steam room, sauna, etc.  We are privileged to be able to call such a gorgeous facility home.  The GLAC is located in the Lake Orion, Clarkston, Pontiac, Waterford, Oxford area in northern suburbs of Detroit, MI.  We are located 3800 Baldwin Rd., one mile north of I-75 (and the Great Lakes Crossing Mall) in Orion Twp.  Please stop by for a visit as visitors to our Tang Soo Do classes are welcome; just check in at the reception desk and our friendly staff will direct you to the proper studio where we are training.  You do not have to be a member of the GLAC to join Floyd Soo’s Korean Karate club, though there is a discount if you do.

Master Soo also holds seminars in Self Defense, Women’s Self Defense, Tournament Free Fighting, Weapons and Tang Soo Do Forms at different times during the year.  Please contact Master Soo for more details (see the “Contact us” page in this web site).

Floyd Soo’s Korean Karate is one of the few organizations that takes a traditional, classic martial art Tang Soo Do and incorporates up-to-date teaching/learning methods within its classes and seminars.  Training in a traditional martial art is a commitment of time and energy.  It can be very challenging and most certainly rewarding.

We actually teach our Assistant Instructors and Instructors HOW to teach!  This may sound obvious, but most martial arts schools do not train their instructors on how to teach.  Once students reach a certain rank (many times it is Black Belt), it is assumed that the student magically becomes an instructor.  Those who are experts in the fields of education, coaching and training know that there is art and science in how to efficiently and effectively teach someone how do something.  Teaching and coaching is something that must be taught and practiced (just like any other skill).

The instructors and trainers on staff at Floyd Soo’s Korean Karate understand that people have different “learning styles” and that the student/instructor relationship requires that the instructor selects the appropriate “teaching style” that will most effectively get the point across to that student.  An extreme example would be a student who may be partially (or totally) blind.  Demonstrating or “showing” this student what to do would be ineffective.  The instructor would have to understand that this student would have to be taught by some method other than visual.  Some of these other options could be auditory means (having someone explain the skill), or kinesthetic means (feeling the skill) or some combination of the two.  It is said that those who lack one of the body’s senses, have heightened awareness of some of the others.  Making use of this heightened awareness can certainly make the teaching/learning more effective.

There are other “new school” options for teaching skills that have been proven very effective in helping a student acquire a new skill.  One of these new school methods is known as Neurolinguistic Programming (“NLP”).  NLP is a very complex means of teaching students how to get to a high level of skill in a relatively short period of time.  In some of our seminars and specialized training classes, we utilize the basics of NLP to more efficiently teach skills.  If you would like to learn more about NLP, visit our page on the subject for a thumbnail sketch.  For more details, there are numerous books and web sites that cover this subject.

Our Instructors also understand the “Skills Development Cycle.”  The human body goes through certain steps as it is learning a new skill.   If we understand this cycle and the time it takes to get through this cycle, students and instructors alike, will have a better understanding of what it takes for the body to acquire a new skill and be competent at it.  There is also a page on this subject that will explain the different phases of the cycle.

Last, but certainly not least is our philosophy and our belief that proper attitude is one of the most important aspects of a martial artist.  What separates a martial artist from a street fighter is attitude and the philosophy by which that person lives by.  Some see that Karate, Kung-fu, Aikido, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, and the like, are nothing more than fighting or brawling.  Practitioners who have devoted much of their lives to “ the Arts” know there is nothing further from the truth.  The Warrior’s Code and the Warrior’s Mindset teach us about honor, truth, justice, peace, discipline, respect, etc.  These time proven teachings on how to live a full and honorable life have been passed down through generations for thousands of years in Asian Martial Arts.  They are as true today as they were then.  We still abide by these teachings because they make us better human beings and they help us get through life’s challenges.  Take a look at our page on the “Warrior’s Mindset” to get a brief discription of our philosophy of life and the martial arts.