Oom Yung Doe - 8 Martial Arts - Kirkland Bellevue

Oom Yung Doe teaches eight martial arts as one system: Kong Su (karate and taekwondo), kung fu, aikido and hapkido, judo and jiu jitsu, Tai Chi Chung, bagua, Kom Doe (samurai sword) and Ship Pal Gae (18 traditional weapons). The styles are woven into a single practice, and the school also goes into Qi Gong and yoga movements. The school traces the style to Grandmaster “Iron” Kim, who brought it to the United States in the early 1970s, and describes a lineage going back more than 1,500 years. The Kirkland school is part of Oom Yung Doe USA, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, together with the Northgate school.

Regional Head Instructor Mike, who specializes in bagua and Ship Pal Gae, opened the Kirkland school in 2002. Every student has access to four tiers of instructors, Local, Regional, National and Master, and current adult students of the Kirkland and Northgate schools can join a free National Lesson during Master Level Training rounds.

Adult classes meet at 10:00 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and at 7:30 pm from Monday to Friday, an hour each. Two shorter adult programs run twice a week for 40 minutes: a low-intensity class of tai chi, Qi Gong and moving meditation, built for any age and condition, and a high-intensity class of full-body conditioning and practical self-defense. Each has times on Wednesday and Friday mornings and Tuesday and Thursday evenings. An invite-only demo team trains too. No long-term contract is needed to begin, and students who travel can pause their training at any time.

The first lesson is free and needs no uniform. For adults it's a semi-private lesson of about 20 minutes: the instructor asks about current or old injuries and your goals, then teaches a few foundational movements, and afterwards you're welcome to watch the adult class that usually starts shortly after. Anyone who'd rather go straight into a full class can call the school for an evaluation instead. Both Oom Yung Doe schools hold free women's self-defense seminars for the community twice a month, and the school also runs a six-week beginning women's self-defense course. Children from age 4 and juniors train in their own classes.