About us · Morris Plains, New Jersey
Cho’s Legacy TKD.
The people behind
the progress.
Led by Master Akil Acevedo, our school brings personal attention, purposeful training and a community of people who help each other grow.
New uniform included · Children, teens & adults
01 / Meet Master Akil Acevedo
The technique matters.
So does the person
learning it.
A student can hear a direction without quite knowing how to put it into practice. For Akil, that is a reason to connect, explain differently and keep working with them. His approach starts with getting to know the student: what comes naturally, what feels difficult and what helps them take the next step.
As head instructor and a 6th-degree black belt, Akil brings the discipline of taekwondo into a relationship-led school. The aim is not just a better kick. It is a place to practice attention, patience, respect and belief in your own effort.
That combination matters to a parent watching from the sidelines. Your child should have room to be a beginner, ask questions and work through something challenging, with an instructor invested in helping them learn.
02 / A life shaped by training
From a corporate career
to a school
with purpose.
Akil’s path to leading Cho’s Legacy was not a straight line from training to running a school. In a 2022 interview, he described an engineering education, six years in the corporate world and then taking over his grandmaster’s academy in 2014. He had already spent more than thirty years training in taekwondo when that interview was recorded.
Since 2014, Cho’s Legacy has served students and families in Morris Plains. Today, the school’s story is carried forward in its everyday teaching: instructors who care about their craft, students learning to persevere and relationships built through showing up together.
For a new family, that history is a starting point, not a substitute for meeting us. What matters is how your child feels here, how an instructor connects with them and whether the training is something they want to keep exploring.
Listen to Akil’s 2022 interview03 / Our approach
High expectations.
Human encouragement.
Know the student.
A quiet child and an outgoing child may need different kinds of encouragement. Our instructors work to connect with the person in front of them, not simply deliver the same correction to everyone.
Make effort matter.
Learning a technique takes patience. We encourage students to listen, work through a correction and give the next attempt their attention. Confidence has something real to grow from: the work they put in.
Grow alongside others.
Training partners are part of the experience. Students practice supporting a classmate, receiving help and showing respect, while building relationships that make coming back meaningful.
04 / The culture of Cho’s Legacy
Work hard.
Find your people.
Keep growing.
Master Akil describes the school’s relationships as central to its culture. Friends train together. Some families do, too. In the upper-level classes, he describes students who support one another during training and beyond it.
Belonging does not mean the work is easy. It means a challenging class can happen alongside people who care about your effort. An older student helping a younger one, a training partner offering encouragement, a familiar greeting when you walk in: these are small moments that give a school its character.
We want students to learn how to receive help and how to offer it. Leadership begins there, in the way you treat the person beside you.
05 / Beyond the mat
Respect is more
than a bow.
It can be looking someone in the eye, greeting them, listening to a direction or responding when a parent asks for help. These ordinary habits need practice, just like a technique does.
From the first lesson, our instructors encourage children to carry that practice home: pick up their toys, help with a task and take responsibility for small things. We are not replacing a parent’s role. We are supporting the values families are already working to teach.
Technology has its place. So do movement and face-to-face connection. Training makes space for both physical effort and the interpersonal skills that come from doing something with other people.
06 / Our hometown
Part of
Morris Plains.
Our school is rooted in the community around it. In 2025, the Morris Plains Municipal Alliance named Akil to lead a family taekwondo session as part of its community fitness event. It is a fitting connection for a school that values shared activity and families spending time together.
Read the community announcement
07 / Come meet us
Start training.
Build your own legacy.
Tell us what brought you here. Perhaps your child needs a place to practice confidence. Perhaps you want a new challenge for yourself. We will talk about the appropriate program and arrange your introductory appointment.
Then give the school a try: 3 classes for $30, with a new uniform included. Meet the people, experience the teaching and decide whether Cho’s Legacy feels like your next place to grow.
736 Speedwell Avenue, Suite 4, Morris Plains, NJ 07950
(973) 267-1288