Instructors

Grand Master Young Woo Kim

* 8th Degree Black Belt
* Native of Korea and trained in the traditional ways of the Art.
* Coach to state, national and Olympic competitors.
* 1981 P.K.A. full contact Colorado State Welter Weight Champion.
* 1976-1978 Instructor of the Korean Army.
* Former President of Utah State TaeKwonDo Association.
* Over 36 years of teaching experience, both children and adults.

Master Jack Markman

5th Degree Black Belt
Master Instructor

Master Jack Markman’s formal training is in Chung Do Kwon Tae Kwon Do (TKD) under the mentorship of Master J.B. Chung of Madison, Wisconsin. He has won a number of medals and trophies in forms and sparring throughout the Midwest during his training. Over the years, Master Markman has taught and/or managed TKD schools in Madison, WI., New York, NY. and Philadelphia, PA. When he moved to Sandy, Utah, 17 years ago, he became regional manager of all 4 Kim’s Academy TKD schools. Two years later, he devoted all of his energy to opening his present school, Kim’s Academy of Sandy. The rest, as they say, is history! With the help of his devoted staff of 11 highly-skilled instructors (two of which are his son and daughter), myriads of supportive parents over the years and the endless energy and devotion of his business partner and close friend, Mr. Den Dutson, Master Markman is proud to be a source of motivation and inspiration for the lives that he has touched and helped to guide.

Master Den Dutson

4th Degree Black Belt
Master Instructor

Master Dutson is the Owner of Kim’s Academy of Sandy and Denda Academy of Martial Arts. He is not only a master martial arts instructor, but a father of two students at the Academy as well. This gives him a unique perspective on how martial arts can help children develop both physically but most importantly mentally. He teaches students to be confident and assertive people with high self-esteem, and how to overcome and persevere when faced with the difficult tasks we have in our daily lives. Master Dutson is a Gold Medalist in Olympic Sparring and a Bronze Medalist in Traditional Forms at the 2005 World Martial Arts Championships. He is a 3 time Utah State Champion in Traditional forms and Olympic Sparring. He was the coach of the State of Utah Taekwondo Team that participated in the 2007 World Hanmadang Taekwondo Championships in Korea. He is a board member of Utah Gyeonggido Sports Counsel. Mr. Dutson has a Bachelor Degree in Korean Studies & Business from Brigham Young University in 1996. He is a 1992 Graduate of Seoul National University’s Korean Language Research Dept. in Seoul, Korea. Master Dutson has studied and worked in Korea for 7 years. He has also been the translator for the Korean Olympic Speed Skating teams for the past 12 years, during the Olympics, World Championships, and World Cup competitions. He has trained the Korean Olympic Speed Skating team in Taekwondo and developed a speed skating technique using Taekwondo that has helped their athletes win several World Championships, World Cup Championships and Olympic Gold Medals.

Master Hillary Wilkins Israelsen

5th Degree Black Belt
Master Instructor

Master Hillary Wilkins started Taekwondo in 1996 at the age of 14 at Kim’s Academy of Taekwondo, Centerville under Grandmaster Kim. In June 2012 she passed her test and earned her 5th Dan black belt and the title of Master. She continues to train to make herself strong both mind and body, both inside the studio and out. She has competed in multiple competitions including the U.S. Open Taekwondo Championship 2012 and received a gold medal at the Utah State Championship, qualifing for the U.S. National Championship. She has taught at Kim’s Academy of Taekwondo, Centerville for 8 years and the last couple were spent as head instructor. She loves working with students and helping them to do their best and succeed at all do both in Taekwondo and in their life. Master Wilkins received her 4th Dan Kukkiwon certification in 2009. She also trains in the Korean sword art and is a 1st Dan black belt in Haidong Gumdo. In 2004 she competed in the World Haidong Gumdo Championship. She earned her B.S. Degree from the University of Utah in Exercise and Sport Science and her Masters degree in Sports Psychology.

Mr. Ian Staley

3rd Degree Black Belt
Instructor

Mr. Staley is currently a 3rd Degree Black Belt and wants to continue his journey to become a Master someday. He has been studying martial arts for 15 years and teaching students for 8. Growing up a tragic accident took his mother away at an early age and Taekwondo helped him develop self-confidence, discipline, and internal strength that he has passed on as a teacher to students for years. “I have always recommended martial arts as a method of learning or enhancing fundamental character traits that are valuable to every man, woman, and especially child. I will continue to recommend the instruction and growth that comes from studying a martial art and the amazing changes it can bring to a life.”   He has studied numerous other martial arts and competed in many Taekwondo tournaments. He is a Gold Medalsit in Olympic Sparring and a Bronze Medalist in Traditional Forms at the 2005 World Martial Arts Championships. He also was an Olympic Sparring Gold Medalist in the 2010 Rocky Mountain Regional Championships and 3 time Utah State Champion in Olympic Sparring and Traditional Forms. Mr. Staley has always been a strong foundation to Kim’s Academy and loves teaching. Currently Mr. Staley is studying Athletic Training and Sports Medicine at the University of Utah and enrolled in the Army Reserve Officer Training Program (ROTC) where he is studying Military Science. In 2013 after he graduates he will commission as a Lieutenant in the United States Army.

Mr. Andy Boquet

3rd Degree Black Belt
Instructor

Mr. Boquet is 22 years old and has been studying martial arts for 9 years. Hailing from Vista,California his life started out anything but easy when in 1994 at the age of four, he was taken in by his grandparents from a less than suitable home life. He is the oldest of three having both a sister and a brother, the latter having been diagnosed with down syndrome and autism. Having been a bully early on in life he changed his ways over time with the help of Tae-Kwon-Do. These experiences give him a unique outlook on his students and help him to be an overall better instructor. He knows all too well how important it is to be strong, both physically and mentally and prides himself on both. He is a sparring enthusiast. To name some of his accomplishments he is the 5 time Utah State Heavyweight sparring champion, 2005 World Martial Arts Champion in both forms and sparring, Beehive Invitational Champion, Wasatch Open Champion, and competed on the Utah State Tae-Kwon-Do team at the 2007 AAU National Championships in Florida. In 2008 at the age of 18 he began studding MMA or Mixed Martial Arts under world renown fighter Jeremy Horn. MMA is one of his biggest passions and he constantly strives to be the most complete Martial Artist he can be by studying a multitude of other arts including Boxing, Muay-Thai, Wrestling, Ju-Jitsu, Kick Boxing and Judo to name a few. He is currently sponsored for MMA by Velocity Sports Performance, a high level training facility whose athletes include NFL, MLB, and MLS players. Martial Arts are his true passion in life and he has devoted himself to them.

Mr. Robert McCutchen

3rd Degree Black Belt
Instructor

  • 3rd Degree Black Belt (KUKKIWON Certified)
  • TKD instructor 10+ years. Trained and taught primarily in CA under GrandMaster Pyoung Koo, 8th Degree Black Belt.
  • Affiliated with and coached in USAT, CUTA, and NCTA with Letters of Commendation from KUKKIWON.
  • Personally coached a team to 12 gold medals and 20+ silver medals in 2008 World Hammadang Championships.
  • Coached a team of 7 gold medal qualifiers for USA National Championships & Junior Olympics in Austin, Texas 2009.
  • Former U.S. Marine Recon Team Member and Force Recon Marine Instructor.
  • Married 13 years with 4 children, 2 of which hold Black Belts, and 1 colored belt.

Miss Hanna Larsen

2nd Degree Black Belt
Instructor

Hanna has been doing Tae Kwon Do for 9 years. She attends the Academy for Math, Engineering, & Science (AMES), an early college high school. She is an active member of the AMES Student Council. Hanna won 2nd place in Olympic Sparring at the 2009 USAT Utah State Championships. Outside of Taekwondo she enjoys music, fashion design, and humanitarian work and plans on studying medicine or communications in college.  During the summer of 2011, Hanna visited Bautista Grande, Chiapas, Mexico with a group of about 30 high school and college students for a humanitarian mission with the non-profit organization, Youthlinc. While down there, the team built a kitchen for the local primary school so that the Mexican government could provide each student at least 1 meal a day. During that time, they also distributed medical & dental kits to a local orphanage and taught English classes at the primary school.

Mr. Danny Simmons

1st Degree Black Belt
Assistant Instructor

Danny has dedicated himself to the discipline of Tae Kwon Do since 1982, and has benefited from the teachings of three different Korean Grand Masters.  He has competed in several tournament competitions, winning the gold medal in the Southern California Tae Kwon Do championships, as well as participated as an official referee.  Danny is a self-motivated small business owner and is also a personal life leadership training graduate.  A dedicated father of four grown children and now a grandfather, he is proud to tell his grandkids he is a black belt, and hopes to one day watch his grand children achieve their goals in martial arts!  In his spare time, Dan loves to write about himself in the third person ;)

 

Mr. Arjan Jahromi

1st Degree  Black Belt
Instructor

Arjan Jahromi is 22 years old and has been doing TaeKwonDo since the age of 6 years old. He is Currently a student at Salt Lake Community College and planning on getting his Masters Degree in Social Work (LCSW) at the University of Utah. He has competed and placed bronze or higher in over 12 TaeKwonDo Olympic style sparing tournaments and was the Utah State champion in his division with the AAU in 2005, 2006,the USAT Utah State champion in 2009, and took home the bronze in the World TaeKwonDo Championships in Las Vegas.

Mr. Eric Robinson

3rd Degree Black Belt
Assistant Instructor

Erik has been doing Tae Kwon Do for about eight years, and has taught for about six years since he got his black belt at age 13. He has also enjoyed TKD with his father, Spencer, who has trained for about six years. One of Erik’s strengths is in forms, which has helped him to be a two-time AAU state champion. One of his other hobbies is artwork, specifically drawing with pencil or colored pencil, or just anything he can create a lot of detail with. His artwork has won awards and has been displayed in the Springville Art Museum. He is currently a student at BYU  and has considered minoring in art. He recently returned from serving an LDS mission in the Belgium Brussels/Netherlands speaking Dutch.

Mr. Spencer Robinson

2nd Degree Black Belt
Assistant Instructor

* 2006 AAU State Championships Bronze Medal in Forms.
* 2006 AAU National Championships Bronze Medal in Forms.
* 2007 AAU State Championships Gold Medal in Forms.
* His greatest joy as an instructor is seeing a student’ s hard work result in mastery of a form, onestep sparring, or breaking technique.
*In his life away from KATKD, Mr. Robinson is a
husband, father of three wonderful children, and an attorney in private practice.

Mr. Daiden Dutson

2nd Degree Black Belt
Assistant Instructor

Daiden is 13 years old and started Martial Arts at the age of 4.

- World Martial Arts Championships Gold Medalist in Traditional Forms, Gold Medalist in Olympic Style Sparring.

- 2 time Utah Beehive Open Gold Medallist in Forms, Breaking, and Olympic Sparring

- 3 time Utah State Champion in Traditional forms and Olympic Style Sparring.

He loves basketball, mixed martial arts, grappling and many other sports.

 

 

 

 

Mr. Brian Luu

1st Degree Black Belt
Assistant Instructor

 

Miss Olivia Dale

1st Degree Black Belt
Assistant Instructor

Olivia Dale has been practicing Tae Kwon Do since age 9. She and her little brother both earned their Black Belts in February 2012. She is now an assistant instructor working towards her Second Degree Black Belt. Olivia is passionate about teaching. In school, she is a straight A student, an avid reader and writer, and studies Chinese. Running for her school’s cross country, skiing powder, cooking, and cheering for the Ute’s are a few other hobbies. Olivia loves the experience of Tae Kwon Do and wants to pass it on.

 

Mr. Michael Wrigley

1st Degree Black Belt
Assistant Instructor

Michael is 15 years old and has been doing Taekwondo for about 3 years. When he grows up he wants to be a police officer with the Sandy Police Department. He is currently finishing up his middle school experience as a ninth grader at Eastmont Middle School. After which, he will be attending Jordan High. Outside of Taekwondo, Michael enjoys playing basketball (aspiring to be on the Jordan basketball team), playing guitar, running, playing air soft, and pushing his boundaries. He is also a member of the Sandy City Law Enforcement Explorere Post. He wants to teach martial arts because he feels that it is his responsibility to pass on the things he loves.