About Us · Urbandale, Iowa
Forty Years,
One Family.
Traditional Tae Kwon Do has been taught on this floor since 1970. Tim and Joan Jacobs bought the academy in 1986 and have run it as a family school every year since. Not a franchise. Not a chain. One building, one family, one set of standards.
Our Story
Forty Years On The Same Mat
The school opened in 1970 as Kim's Academy — first-generation Korean instruction that arrived in central Iowa long before martial arts were on every strip mall corner.
In 1986, Tim Jacobs bought the academy from Grand Master Im Mook Kim — it was the headquarters school of the American Chung Do Kwan Association at the time. He and Joan have run it as a family operation for the forty years since, which means the lineage here didn't get handed off to a franchise. It got handed to a student.
Nothing about that lineage has been watered down. Students still bow in, still earn every stripe, and still meet the same standard at every certification. What has changed is how it's taught to children: the kids' curriculum was rebuilt with input from child psychologists so that discipline, focus, and self-control are taught in language a six-year-old can actually use.
The result is a school where a parent who trained here as a kid can bring their own child through the same door and recognize the class.
40 Years
Family owned since 1986
8th Dan
Head instructor rank
3–Adult
Ages on the floor
How We Train
A Family School, Literally
Our basic program runs ages six through adult in the same class. Parents aren't sent to a separate night — they line up on the same floor, work the curriculum for their own rank, and certify alongside their kids.
That's why most of our adult students arrived through their children. They came to watch, got tired of the folding chair, and stepped on the mat. Adults are welcome to start on their own too — plenty do, with no martial arts background at all.
What We Teach
Discipline. Respect. Confidence.
Discipline
Class starts on time, in line, with a bow. The structure never changes — that's exactly why it works on a five-year-old and a forty-five-year-old.
Respect
Sir and ma'am. Senior belts look after junior belts. Respect gets rehearsed here every single class instead of being lectured about.
Confidence
Earned, not handed out. Every stripe and belt has a requirement, and nobody can do the repetitions for you.
Who Runs The School
Tim & Joan Jacobs
The school is owned and run by Tim and Joan Jacobs. He is on the floor teaching, she is up front with the families, and between them they know every student by name.
They met on the mat — both started training at the University of Louisville in the late seventies, and Joan became the first woman to earn her black belt in that program. They married in 1979, moved the family to Iowa, and raised two kids who started at age three and earned third-degree black belts before college.
That is the difference between a family-owned school and a franchise. There is no rotating staff and no corporate script. The same two people who have run this place for four decades greet you when you walk in.
Rank & Record
Fifty Years Of Tae Kwon Do, In One Building
Plenty of schools call their instructor "Master." Here is the actual record behind the title — national appointments, tournament directorships, and rank earned the long way.
Master Tim Jacobs
8th Degree Black Belt, Tae Kwon Do
Master Tim Jacobs has been training Tae Kwon Do for 50 years, starting at the University of Louisville and running that program as head instructor by 1982. In 1986 he bought the American Chung Do Kwan Association headquarters academy from Grand Master Im Mook Kim, and he and his wife Joan have run it as a family school for 40 years since. He holds an 8th degree black belt, served as an AAU Junior Olympics Tae Kwon Do liaison, and was National Chairman of Tae Kwon Do for the USSSA — but he still teaches nearly every class himself and knows every student by name.
- Mid-1970sBegan Tae Kwon Do at the University of Louisville
- 1982Head Instructor, University of Louisville Tae Kwon Do program
- 1986Purchased the ACTA Headquarters academy from Grand Master Im Mook Kim
- 1988Appointed Midwest Regional Director, American Chung Do Kwan Association
- 1995Appointed AAU Junior Olympics Tae Kwon Do Liaison and Region 7 Director
- 2004National Chairman of Tae Kwon Do, USSSA
- 2005USSSA Director of the Year Award
- Today8th Degree Black Belt, teaching on the floor in Urbandale
Joan Jacobs
6th Degree Black Belt, Tae Kwon Do
Joan Jacobs started Tae Kwon Do at the University of Louisville in 1979 and became the first woman to earn her black belt in that program. She has taught self-defense seminars for schools, businesses, and associations across the Midwest, served as Iowa State Chairman for AAU Tae Kwon Do, and was National Secretary for USSSA Tae Kwon Do. She is the one who greets your family at the front desk.
- 1979Began Tae Kwon Do at the University of Louisville
- 1980sFirst woman to earn a black belt in the University of Louisville program
- —Self-defense instructor for schools, businesses, and associations
- —Iowa State Chairman, AAU Tae Kwon Do
- 2002AAU Most Outstanding Association Volunteer Award
- 2005National Secretary, USSSA Tae Kwon Do · USSSA Director of the Year
- Today6th Degree Black Belt and co-owner of the school
By appointment — limited slots each week
Come Watch A Class Before You Decide Anything.
The easiest way to understand this school is to stand in it for an hour. Book an intro or just call — someone here will pick up.
3710 Dennis Dr, Urbandale, IA 50322