What's Moving Into the Demolished Building off Five Forks?

A vacant doctor's office was recently demolished at 4068 Five Forks Trickum Road, across from the Publix in Lilburn. 

It's now an empty dirt lot, but construction will start soon for a tae kwon do school. 

Major Tae Kwon Do, a 17-year-old business that's currently located in the Publix shopping center, has purchased the parcel and plans to rebuild its studio there. 

The foundation should be laid down in the next few weeks depending on weather, said Program Director Valorie Ruffin. The owner, Grand Master Seong Ji, has been working with a construction company since last October to develop the new site.

Everything's set in place, and the new facility should be finished and operating by the end of the year. 

So why the move? Ruffin said most martial arts schools in the beginning don't have a choice but to rent a location. Major Tae Kwon Do not only owns the new space, but it can customize it.
  
"This is actually fulfilling a lifelong dream of Master Ji's, so it's pretty exciting," she said. "The beauty of having your own building is that you can provide a better training facility in a lot of ways. It's going to be a building that is specifically designed to meet the needs for all of our students and their families in this community." 

Aside from the traditional open floor space of a martial arts studio, Major Tae Kwon Do will have a classroom with desks and a whiteboard for an afterschool program it's starting this fall. With it's slogan, "Tae kwon do is education," the school teaches students the character development skills of respect, confidence, self-esteem and courtesy.

The new facility also will allow them to continue its community service projects and allow for outdoor training. 

Major Tae Kwon Do serves 200 students, ranging from 3 years old to the late 60s. It accepts students from many backgrounds and physical disabilities, with some of its current students having autism. 

"Watching the difference it makes in anybody's life, regardless of age, over the first three months, not to mention the three years it takes to get a black belt on average, is really, really something to see," Ruffin said. 

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