tae Kwon Do Classes in Oakland

Here at Bakers Martial Arts we take our training seriously.  We have been teaching Tae Kwon Do classes in Oakland for both children and adults.    The benefits are what make this class the "creme of la creme"  among our competitors.

History of Tae Kwon Do

The origins of Tae Kwon Do, a Korean martial art, are controversial. Some authorities believe that this martial art style dates back hundreds or even thousands of years, and others believe that Tae Kwon Do became distinct from its Japanese roots relatively recently.

Regardless, the techniques and tenets of Tae Kwon Do have evolved over time, and Tae Kwon Do has emerged as one of the most popular and practiced martial arts in the world. Tae Kwon Do was first introduced in the United States in the middle of the last century. It enjoyed its premiere as an Olympic sport at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney.

Tae Kwon Do is often translated as the art of punching and kicking. Literally, Tae can be translated as foot, Kwon as hand or fist and Do as art or way of life.

History of Baker's Martial Arts

After receiving his Black Belt, Mr. Baker began teaching in 1973 at the Young Adult Project ("the YAP") in Berkeley CA, a Model Cities program for inner city youth. Classes were held 3 days each week, lasting from 4 to 8 PM and few excuses were accepted for missing a single class! The class members were mostly very healthy and athletically talented youth with an occasional younger child and older adult (who struggled along to keep up!) Mr. Baker taught at the YAP for seven years and by June 1980, had promoted 13 students to Black Belt. He opened his studio, Baker's Martial Arts in 1980 in a storefront in Berkeley. He quickly came to realize that classes should not be 4 hours long, that there are important reasons that students may miss classes, and that individuals have very different learning styles and different needs.

Baker's Martial Arts was a fixture in the Berkeley community for 18 years until it moved to this Oakland location in 1998.