330 Junction Road  |  5003 University Avenue  |  (608)827-KICK

An Accredited Program Based on Tradition, Values and Science
Paik’s Traditional Martial Arts Centers teach students of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience in a wide range of traditional martial arts. Unlike most “American Style” Karate programs popular today, careful attention is given to preserving the integrity of the art. Traditional concepts, values, and virtues guide the program’s progressive and scientific teaching methods to produce one of the only programs in the area that is accredited by an international governing body. This approach fosters an environment of excellence where students of all ages improve their esteem, confidence, inner strength, and self control.

Celebrating 37 Years in Madison
The year 2008 marks Paik’s 37th year serving the Madison community. Originally started by Grandmaster Sang Kee Paik, the program is based on the flowing, circular, and absorbing motions of Chuan Fa blended with Taekwondo style kicking and the linear, direct style of Karate—all of which Grandmaster Sang Kee Paik mastered in Korea. In 1996, Grandmaster Sang Kee Paik’s son, Master Peter Paik assumed full time operation of the program. Since then the program has produced over 30 national champions in Karate and Taekwondo.
 

History/Lineage of Paik's Martial Arts System
In 1971, Sang Kee Paik, a pathologist who immigrated to the US from S. Korea in 1969 began teaching the Chuan Fa system he had learned in Korea during the 1940s. Dr Paik started his training in 1945 at the Sung Kyun Kwan University under a Shudokan Karate master, Ki Whang Kim. Having studied Shudokan Karate at the Nihon University in Tokyo, Japan under Toyama Kanken, Kim had accomplished a 3rd degree blackbelt in the Shudokan system.

As an employee of the University, Master Kim had started the Karate club but there were times due to scheduling that Master Kim could not teach his karate classes. In such a case, he recommended that his students attend the Chosun YunMukwan and train with his senior and close friend, Byung In Yoon who had trained in the same hall with Master Kim and received the 4th degree in Shudokan.

Master Yoon, a skillful Shudokan blackbelt was first a Chuan Fa master having been born and raised in the Northernmost province of Korea, he frequented Manchuria and learned Chuan Fa from an original Chinese master. Master Yoon had set up the Kwon Bup section of the Chosun YunMuKwan. YunMukwan was a training center of martial arts in Seoul, Korea, Kwon Bup is Korean for Chuan Fa. In training with (Grand)master Yoon, Sang Kee Paik learned a flowing, waterlike martial art which was considered SOFT system. (Grand)master Kim had already set a solid Karate foundation.
In 1947, After several years of training, the young Dr. Paik became the first of the Kim/Yoon pupils to receive the blackbelt.

Soon thereafter, Korean War broke out and Grandmaster Yoon disappeared, and after the war, Ki Whang Kim taught in the Seoul area where Dr. Paik pursued his passion. When Grandmaster Kim left for the US, in 1959, Dr. Paik sought out his friend and training mate at the old dojang, Grandmaster Chull Hee Park, who had founded the "Kang Duk Won Kwon Bup Bu" in 1956 and had been training many future grandmasters. Throughout the 60s, the 2 friends trained.

In 1969, the Paik family moved to the US. The Paik family had grown to 4 with son Peter and daughter Myung.

Originally named "Paik's Oriental Martial Arts Institute", Dr. Paik started to teach the system he learned and researched in Korea. The system resembled the Chuan Fa he had learned from Yoon and the movements were flowing, circular, and absorbing, much like water. Named after the elements of life, Dr. Paik had a unique system he called "Sa-Sang". Many of the concepts and techniques are based on the philosophy of the 4 elements, air, earth, fire, and water. Added to this his knowledge of Taekwondo style kicking, and the linear, direct attack style of Karate he had mastered from his days in Korea training under the Kim/Yoon tutelege, Dr. Paik had a unique, devastating system.

In the mid 1970s, Dr. Paik had surgery on both his knees, which had been bothering him for a while. To help instruct and manage his school, he brought on a young, dynamic Taekwondo Champion from Korea, Il Sik Kim to instruct for him. Master Kim introduced the Paik's school to the competitive aspect of Taekwondo.

After Master Kim moved on to open his own schools in Indiana and Illinois, Paik's school, now named Paik's Academy of Martial Arts began to dominate the tournament scene. Always open to new ideas and systems, Dr. Paik instructed his son Peter and daughter Myung to attend all different styles of competitions, to pit their skills against the best other schools and systems had to offer.

Led by the younger Paik's, particularly Peter, Paik's academy enjoyed much success in the tournament arena. In the 1980s, the martial arts boom separated the martial arts industry into either a traditional school based on the philosophy and the traditions as passed on by the ancient masters, or the more modern school which taught a more trendy, "Americanized" version of martial arts.

Preferring to stay with a more traditional version of the martial arts, Dr Paik stayed closely with the Taekwondo movement and was instrumental in helping Taekwondo become an Olympic sport. Also well aware of the bounds that tradition can put on progress, he developed Taekwondo's creative side as he introduced the creative form competition in the 1990 United States Taekwondo Union National Championships which he was asked to host at the Dane County Coliseum in Madison, WI.

Mr. Peter Paik, using the skills and the techniques he learned through his father, made a name for himself as a competitor in the Taekwondo and the Karate circuits through the late 70s and the early 80s. He took advantage of his competitive experience to learned about Okinawan weapons, Chinese KungFu, and even American Kickboxing as he competed and trained with some of the best known martial artists of that time. John Longstreet, Ray McCallum, Dan Anderson, Keith Vitali, Steve Anderson, Freddie Letuli, Harold Burrage, Gerard Robbins, David Deaton, Mike Genova, Joe Corley, Jeff Smith, John Worley, Kareem Ali Jabbar, Greg Fears, Tony Blanchard, John Chung, George Chung, Ernie Reyes Sr, and Jr, Arlene Limas, Linda Denley, John Sharkey, Cynthia Rothrock, and Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee were all legendary in the American martial arts scene and helped in Mr. Paik's development as a martial artist thus helping to shape him as a competitor, a technician, and a champion.

In the late 80s, Mr. Paik moved to Florida to pursue a Movie connection he had made through his travels and settled in Orlando, FL. At the request of his father, he opened a Taekwondo school and actively supported many Taekwondo events all over Florida, Georgia, and Alabama and received his 6th degree blackbelt. With a little guidance from another ex-Ki Whang Kim blackbelt, Grandmaster Jang Yeol Park, Mr. Paik found a niche in the Florida Taekwondo scene. He also befriended an established Taekwondo and Ju jitsu master Angel Gonzalez, who inspired him to improve his schools and reach new heights.

In 1996, his father, Grandmaster Sang Kee Paik was ailing in health and summoned his son back to Madison, WI. 1997, he made a move back to Madison and 1998, took over the operations full time. Since then, He has received his 8th degree blackbelt and in 2007, produced more than 30 National Champions in Karate and Taekwondo. People drive from other states to train with Master Paik.