Editor: Dominique Beaumont
Design: MODE Studio
(Available on Amazon: Miami Movers & Shakers 2022 Edition: Multi-Cover Collector’s Edition)
Master Sang (Sang Koo Kang) is the founder of Master Sang’s TNT Academy, a specialist martial arts school based on the principles of Tae Kwon Do and Muay Thai. Over the years, Master Sang has trained thousands of students from young children to people in their 80s and beyond, and has also had a steady clientele of celebrities and captains of industry. His normal classes are mostly based at his studios in South Florida, mainly Miami, but he has private clients throughout the unites States that request his services. For these private clients he develops individual programs to help them achieve their health, strength, and flexibility and mobility goals. He is so much in demand that, in order to meet the tight schedules, one of his clients would send a helicopter to pick him up for their weekly training sessions.
Master Sang has applied his formidable martial arts skills to a career as an actor. He has appeared in multiple Hollywood feature films including the “Rush Hour” movies where he fought alongside Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. Other movies include “Shootfighter- Fight to the Death” and “Hercules”.
After having achieved great success with his martial arts academy, Master Sang created a course program where he would travel to different cities and train other martial arts Masters on how to more profitably run their schools and how to design programs and attract private clients. The program was a great success and Master Sang is planning to restart it in 2023 because of continued demand.
As part of a “Giving Back to The Community” program, Master Sang has devoted a lot of time and resources to providing free training, self-defense, and confidence building classes to children in schools in South Florida and especially in Miami. His charitable work is also international, and last year he travelled to Santa Domingo – Dominican Republic, to provide his services to the children of a Haitian refugee camp.
MODE: How do you manage to juggle between seeing your private clients and running the schools?
Sang: I have been doing this for many years so I plan my schedules very carefully so that I have time to be present for the classes at the academy, and be able to allocate available time to my private clients. I also open up my schedule for Saturdays to train those that are only available on the weekends. Additionally, I have very capable Masters that run the classes with me at the Academy so every student gets quality training and care.
MODE: Running martial arts schools must be both physically taxing and well as mentally challenging. How do you ensure your own health and manage stress levels whist running a successful business?
Sang: Yes, the life of a martial arts instructor is a very physical one, so I make sure that I set aside time for my regular stretching and training routines. I’m continuously working on adding new elements to my own training too, and train with other experts around the globe.
MODE: You have classes for young children and all the way to those in their 80s and older. Do you have to make changes in training for age range?
Sang: We have classes in groups based on age range. However, the principles in training are the same.
MODE: With being so busy as you are, why have you decided to restart the Master’s Training Program for other martial arts studios and owners?
Sang: Running a martial arts school profitably is not an easy job, so I get a lot of requests from other masters. I am very happy to share my knowledge to help other masters and their business better succeed and provide better results for their clients.
MODE: We see that in your classes you spend quite a bit of time saying positive affirmation statements to the students. How important is this as part of their training routine?
Sang: At Master Sang’s TNT Academy we take care of the student’s physical development and coordination. We feel that taking care of their emotional confidence and stability is just as important because you cannot separate the body from the mind. Physical development improves the mind, and mental development improves the body. It’s all connected.
MODE: What is the ideal number of times a week students should train to get maximum benefit?
Sang: Most students do very well with training twice a week. However, we have classes from morning to evening in the weekdays and also classes on Saturdays so some students choose to train more than twice a week for faster results.
MODE: What future plans do you have for your Master Sang’s TNT Academy?
Sang: My goal is to continue delivering the high quality of service we have always delivered and to expand to other locations and reach more students. In fact, we just acquired a lovely space in Doral, Miami, and I’m very excited about the programs we will teaching there.
Read more on Master Sang and other features in this edition of Mode Lifestyle Magazine.
(Available on Amazon: Miami Movers & Shakers 2022 Edition: Multi-Cover Collector’s Edition)
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