Instructor Timothy P. Marmo

Instructor Marmo begain training in Taekwondo under the tutelage of Master Lesly as an undergraduate at NYU. In addition to taking the white belt traditional classes, he also joined the NYU Sport Taekwondo Club, where he fell in love with modern sport fighting, which supplemented his traditional training. During his matriculation at NYU, he competed in numerous INCTL sanctioned tournaments and open competitions, medaling in both forms and sparring competition. In his senior year, he received the Outstanding Service Award for his efforts on the NYU Taekwondo team.

Upon graduation from NYU, Instructor Marmo continued to train with Master Lesly at NYJDK, which at that time was located at Peridance Center. As he rose through the color belts, he continuted sparring at the local, state and national level, winning Gold at the New York State Championship (Men's Heavy Weight Green Belt), Silver at the Collegiate National Championship (Men's Heavy Weight Blue Belt) in Fall of 2000, and Silver at NY States (Men's Heavy Weight Red Belt) in Spring 2001. In May 2001, he received his first degree black belt through Master Lesly and his master, Grandmaster Dong Keun Park. The following spring, he won gold at the Connecticut State Championship (Men's Heavy Weight Black Belt) and went on to compete at the US Open National Championship that summer in Detroit. In fall 2002, he entered the PhD in Biology program at Columbia University and joined the Columbia University Taekwondo team.

Although injuries and a busy schedule have kept Instructor Marmo from sport fighting and competition on a regular basis, he has continued to train in traditional Taekwondo, earning his 2nd Dan black belt in 2003 and his 3rd Dan black belt in August 2005. In addition, he has focused his attention on teaching and spreading taekwondo and its culture. In spring 2003, he began teaching Taekwondo classes at NYU, becoming the head instructor when Master Lesly moved to New Jersey. In January 2005, he and Master Lee reopened New York Jidokwan Taekwondo Center at the Rod Rodgers Dance Center. Shortly after, Instructor Marmo also began teaching self defense classes at Pace University's Manhattan campus. He remains a competitor on the roster of the Columbia University Taekwondo team, and was also promoted to Assistant Coach of the NYU Sport Taekwondo team in the fall of 2006.