Chapel Hill/Carboro Tae Kwon Do, Inc Reviews

Great foundation of my child s development after moving to Chapel Hill 12 months ago.

UTA allowed my child to make new friends prior to school starting and keep friends even during another period of school transfer. UTA values and mentors members to grow stronger physically/morally, not just develop Tae Kwon Do techniques. Every part of their staff (management, office admin, after school, Tae Kwon Do) is actively teaching members the core values of UTA. In order for you to progress the belt system, members needs to improve their Tae Kwon Do skills and receive positive behavior comments from parents and school teachers. My child was also in UTA's After School program prior to COVID. My child even had her first birthday party in Chapel Hill at UTA.

For parents, working with the UTA staff is always a pleasure. The staff is always professional, knowledgeable and quick to respond to phone calls or emails. Their facility is top notch and well maintained. When new to Chapel Hill, we were able to get a lot of help on schools/residential information from the staff and other parents of UTA members.

UTA has done an amazing job in expecting the best from both of my children. Both kids started at a young age and have been self motivated to attend classes and better themselves. We have also participated in the after school program which has been a life saver. They are professional and help children when doing their homework or working through a problem. I highly recommend UTA to families TKD training and after school.

We absolutely love UTA! It's been transformational for our family. The instructors are fantastic at their craft, which is much more than just physical skills -- they build key components of character. Hoping to enroll our third family member soon...

Simply the best! Wonderful, caring and knowledgeable instructors that have a true passion for teaching not only physical skills but also values and respect. A great and safe place to learn about martial arts that genuinely cares about the family as a whole, the adults and the kids. The mixture of young and adult students is refreshing and makes it feel like we all belong to the same family, the UTA family!

We love our UTA at Chapel Hill family! We ve been part of it for almost 5 years now and it is an absolute honor that my son has been trained by this highly professional team. Master Partridge has an enormous knowledge that he shares so generously but what truly impresses me every time I see him is his ability to recognize the missing element in everyone s technic so precisely and to the smallest detail that the advice he gives is truly what your child needs in order to learn and improve how true Taekwondo is done. Go UTA!!

United Tae Kwon Do Academy is the greatest! They care about every student, and they put in the work to help every student individually. During the pandemic, they have been super accommodating to offer small in person classes (with masks/cleaning) as well as online classes. The instructors are amazing, the administration is organized, and all around it is a super welcoming place! I couldn't recommend United Tae Kwon Do any more!

I can't say enough good things about this Tae Kwon Do school. My son had previous experiences with another in town that we were unhappy with so we were hesitant to have him enroll in a new one. But I'm so glad we did. Our son came to them as a fairly unfocused, unmotivated kid with little persistence or desire to work hard. Within a year he gained incredible focus, persistence, and motivation to succeed that began two translate to other areas of his life at school and at home. Three years later he is now working toward his second degree black belt (something we never imagined he'd ever aspire to), and demonstrates a level of maturity, patience in working hard toward goals, and helping out at home that I truly believe was a direct result of the stuff they teach here at this school. It isn't just an amazing physical activity, it's a way to grow as a person. And now he looks forward to helping younger kids and help out in other ways there.

A little about their COVID precautions. In the beginning (early 2020), I was skeptical and concerned. But they weren't the only group struggling to figure out how to stay in business and also keep things safe. The thing that made all the difference is that they listened and followed up. I shared with them, just like I shared with my daughter's gymnastics academy what I was not comfortable with, what I needed to feel okay with my kids going to these respective places. My daughter's place didn't listen and changed very few of their practices. Definitely not enough to make me comfortable, so eventually had to pull her out. However, United TKD listened. They continued to pivot, adjust, adapt, learn from what worked and didn't, until they perfected he plan. They went to Zoom trainings for a while, then slowly started bringing people back in. I came to watch and see how hey handled it all. They followed up with kids who didn't adhere to the guidelines and were clear about expectations. As a result I felt safe having my son continue with them and relieved he could continue.

In all, I really trust them to care for my child and have his best interest in mind, and to push him to become a better version of himself.

When we signed up our older child for a trial session of Taekwondo at United TKD Academy in 2018, I suspected that he would enjoy it, and that the quality of the instructors would match the expectation we had, based on the recommendation of a number of our neighbors and friends whose kids had spent any time there. I want to highlight the experience we've had with the administration in particular. The consistency of communication from the office, in particular the office manager Ms. Marci, has been so helpful to us in navigating the transition to online classes since March, gathering equipment to train at home, making sure our child is on track to meet his goals, and keeping him enthusiastic and motivated. I frequently suggest UTA when someone is looking for a well-run activity or after-school program with high expectations for both the kids and the staff as well as a great rapport with families. It is clear that Grandmaster Partridge and his staff are building a community at UTA, as much as running a small business. The growth in confidence and maturity I've seen in my own children, as well as leadership skills in the older kids that I am so glad my children want to emulate, keep us firmly committed to UTA.

I'm surprised many rate this academy 5/5 stars. I was actually disappointed the first day of my daughter's 5-day, $40 trail (which included the uniform). After 3 days, I had seen enough, enrolled her elsewhere. My daughter was a transfer student, had taken TKD for 6 months previously. She was experienced, although every school's curriculum is different. The owner, upon making her acquaintance, immediately thought it was appropriate to assign her a yellow belt (although my daughter was an orange belt). How exactly did her determine this if he didn't take the time to evaluate her technique one-on-one? He simply stated at the conclusion of her third class (in the middle of the facility's chaos rather than in an office-setting, revealing lack of genuine interest and professionalism), "I've been observing her.. she has a good foundation." Not only did I believe he wasn't being truthful, but he didn't bother to ask how she felt dropping back down to a yellow belt, a ranking typically achieved after 2-3 months of TKD training. "It's of equivalent ranking." No, sir. A genuinely concerned instructor does more than assume! Please, refer to the review I wrote about Master Mercer (Dong's MA School in Wilson, NC), an instructor who took the time to carefully evaluate my child when she transferred to his school.
Furthermore, it was truly an unorganized set-up, that which occurred on the mat. All belt ranks were allowed to participate during the same time-slot; there was too much going on in this facility at once, too many students for the couple of instructors and not enough mat space (Why else do you think one instructor became frustrated when another instructor's students invaded his class's mat space? He immediately requested they never interrupt his class again).
COVID precautions here? A joke. They were not seriously being established. Although everyone's temperature was seemingly being taken when entering the building (I managed to enter once without being checked as no one's actually guarding the door), there's no social-distancing occurring (obviously because there were too many individuals in the academy), students are engaging in activity requiring physical contact (as during a lesson in which one is taught to escape his/her attacker), plastic face shields are literally found on the floor when not in-use, which would minutes later be employed by a student (I actually saw a toddler playing with it moments earlier. Isn't this how germs are spread?), and even parents/relatives are welcomed to stay and watch! Isn't there an established capacity during this pandemic?
I would like to acknowledge the younger, enthusiastic instructors who are passionate about teaching TKD (unlike the owner and his wife who I perceived to be money-hungry).

We absolutely love UTA and highly recommend this wonderful program! Our children (boy 12yrs, girl 10yrs) have been attending UTA for 5 years and also attended the After-School program for 4 years. Our children have graduated all the way from Tiny Kickers up to 2nd degree black belts and we couldn't be more proud of their accomplishments and their physical and mental growth. Master Partridge and the instructors and staff are great with the kids all around. They are caring and nurturing, and provide a very structured and informative learning environment for everyone involved.