K.H. Chong’s Martial Arts Academy

K.H. Chong’s Martial Arts Academy was created over twenty-four years ago by Master Kyle Chong. They hold Taekwondo and Hapkido classes for both children and adults. In addition to holding classes in the school, they are involved in various community activities: teaching Taekwondo in church programs and in community centers. Master Chong teaches there, but he also has old friends, family, and students who received black belts teach there.

We first interviewed Master Paul who helped Master Chong from the beginning. Master Paul explained that the neighborhood was the average middle class community, in which majority of the inhabitants were Asian. He believed that the school offered “classes for the children, actually for everybody…and it’s a way for people to make themselves better, offer them more exercise . This is a little bit different from a gym because this is a little bit more comprehensive. In a gym, you work out and do weights, with this you kind of do exercises to build muscle but also flexibility, coordination and timing.” According to Master Paul, the Academy was not just a ground where people could learn a foreign art- it was a place where people could develop a new lifestyle filled with strength, health, and skill.

We even asked Master Paul about the customers, specifically regulars. He revealed that often people stay an average of one to two years, however there are a few members who have been regulars for twenty years- regardless of the fact that getting a black belt generally takes three years. He mentioned that the workers and customers had a very close relationship and emphasized how integrated the school is into the community. Master Paul even stated “The neighborhood cares about having a Taekwondo school that cares for the students” and shows that not only does the business care about the customers, but the customers care about the business. This is an interesting thought because the school does not provide a service necessarily significant for living in the area (like a grocery store) but the workers have confidence in the customers to protect them.

A second interview with Master Chong had shown an interesting perspective on the demographic. He noted that over the twenty years he had spent running the school, a large number of his customers were Asian. Out of that population, a majority were Korean. However, as time went by it changed to Chinese- most likely because they were the group with the higher income. Master Chong also explain that they primarily teach in English with some Korean, but they sometimes use body language for students who don’t speak English. For their type of business, the body language seems to be easily replaceable for spoken and written language, unlike for a pharmacy such as MJ88. He also had stated that business does not really change based on the customers but instead the customers change for his business. In order to teach students, Master Chong has kept a consistent style and says that the students change in order to accommodate his style. With that idea in mind, K.H. Martial Arts Academy allows its customers to adapt by encouraging them to adjust.

Afterwards, we asked Master Chong in what ways he had collaborated with the community. He mentioned that all the members of the community look out for each other and help each other out. He spoke of fifteen years ago- the neighborhood hosted a block party in which Master Chong and his students voluntarily did demonstrations. He did these performances in order to attract more people to the neighborhood.

We also asked Master Chong what he faced when he just started the business. He mentioned that the first problem, for the first four or five years, when starting a business is generating customers. In addition, it is a struggle to stay above a certain income level that is necessary to support the business. Master Chong recalls having spent somewhere around ten thousand dollars on fliers and newspaper advertisements (on local newspapers). In the end, it is the students’ referrals that supplied him with a steady flow of customers. He also revealed that natural disasters, storms, and blackouts ruined business because customers wouldn’t come in for a week.

MJ88 Pharmacy

MJ88 is a four-year old family-run pharmacy started by, former police officer, Michael Lau. The name of the business comes from his son. The building is small and right across from a Rite Aid. However, they make it a point to accommodate all their customers. Since they offer services in English, Korean, and Chinese, MJ88 allows non-English speakers to have a reliable way to obtain medicine and instructions on how to take them. In addition, MJ88 also does deliveries. Lau had stated that when Rite Aid stopped doing deliveries, MJ88 had just opened and decided to do deliveries. Shortly after MJ88’s delivery services started, Rite Aid started doing deliveries again. Unlike K.H. Chong’s Martial Arts Academy, it seems that they must accommodate their customers by speaking in various languages and doing deliveries. However, it is necessary for them to do so to avoid making a mistake with the medicine.

Lau also believes that their business is easily replaceable it seems. Thus, MJ88 does not seem to feel as much support from their customers as K.H. Chong’s Martial Arts Academy. There are many different aspects between the two, but possibly the reasons for MJ88 not feeling the same support as K.H. Chong’s is the type of business they are and how long they have been there. K.H. Chong’s was started twenty four years ago but MJ88 started four years ago. In addition, K.H. Chong deals with young children that they can watch grow up but MJ88 deals with mostly adults and are aware of a number of customers who have passed away. Even so, both businesses are run by Asian men whose customers are mostly Asian and they make sure to give their services  to them no matter what language they speak.

The Area’s History

In order to see the evolution of the neighborhood throughout the years, we looked through statistics on Infoshare according to the zip code (11364). In 1980, the type of business that employed the largest number of people was retail with a total of 2591 people. The next category that employed the most people was finance, insurance, and real estate: 1768. The third most popular category was educational services, where 1759 people worked. 1396 people were employed in manufacturing non-durable goods and 888 worked to manufacture durable goods. Lastly, 563 inhabitants worked in the entertainment or recreation industry (Infoshare).

To track the changes in the neighborhood throughout the years, we also looked into the American Community Survey (2009-2013) on Infoshare. In this survey, the most popular industry during this time was educational services, in which 4002 people were employed. Then it was retail trade, in which 1976 people were employed. In contrast to 1980, the finance and insurance industry had an increase in the number of people, making a total of 1976. Since this survey did not include manufacturing nondurable/durable goods as separate categories so we looked at the category as a whole. The amount of people employed in manufacturing was 665. In addition, entertainment and recreation were not one of the categories in this survey, however the category, arts, hotels, and food services, was added. The number of people who worked in this industry were 1234 (fifth highest).

The Area Recently

From the data we found on Social Explorer, there seems to be a large population of Asians in the area (approximately 65% according to the 2015 U.S. Census from Social Explorer https://www.socialexplorer.com/). This possibly creates an advantage for Asian businesses. Immigrants that come may visit a business more often that gives them nostalgia and services similar to their

homeland. The majority of the customers that visit MJ88 and K.H. Chong’s Martial Arts Academy were noted to be Asian and the business owners are also Asian and can accommodate the population. The White population also makes up a majority of the area (around 40% according to the U.S. Census from Social Explorer https://www.socialexplorer.com/). Even so, one can tell that the other businesses in the area are mostly Asian and target the Asian population specifically. However, workers in both MJ88 and K.H. Chong’s Martial Arts Academy spoke clear English that could allow their services to extend to some of the White population.

The median income of the populations do not seem to vary that much. According to Social Explorer, the White population had the median income of  $44,438 whereas the Asian population had the median income of  $44,948 in 1999. Even though this data takes place several years before the interview, it shows how the Asian population possibly had the same levels of opportunity as the White population in the neighborhood and that Asians possibly had the same amount of influence and contribution to businesses as the White population. This may have then led to the rise of Asian businesses in the neighborhood.

Michael Lau emphasized the importance of speaking Korean and Chinese to MJ88 customers more than Master Chong had to his students. This raises the question on how often do they meet customers that do not speak English.

According to U.S. Census data, the Asian population in the neighborhood increased by approximately 3,000 from 8,905 to 12,212 in 2000 to 2015. 9,598 of the population (29.2%) in 2000 spoke an Asian or Pacific Island language at home. 14,365 of the population (43.4%) in 2015 spoke an Asian or Pacific Island language at home. Out of those speakers, 17.5% in 2000 and 24.4% in 2015 could not speak English “very

well”. This not only shows the dominance of Asian presence and language in the area, but also how as more Asian immigrants come, the percentage of them that understand English grows smaller. Thus, it creates a demand for businesses that can accommodate this growing  number of non-English speakers. This, however, also creates a loop. The Asian businesses profit from non-English speaking residents and the residents continue to visit the business if they are the only ones that can accommodate them in a country were the major language is English.

The Lesson Learned

Master Chong also provided advice for future business owners, in which he stressed passion. He said that it didn’t matter whether the business was easy or hard; success is only attainable when one has a passion for the business. He also stressed feedback from the customers, which he always received from his students. In addition, Master Chong thought it was important to be in the right location that would be optimal for the business. Overall, Master Chong believed his success came from his love for his business and the community’s acceptance and improvement of it.

Mr. Lau also emphasized his passion for his business. He started the business with his own finances and found that he was losing more money than gaining in the beginning of MJ88. He stated “When you start a business, you have to really want it 110% or don’t bother with it.” and has expressed how much love he has put in for his business and the people he helped. In fact, his main reasoning for starting the delivery service was to help the senior citizens that are unable to walk to his store. Even now Mr. Lau keeps giving what he has to keep the store running. There have been moments where the store has been fined for litter found on the curb, even though they have not been at fault. Still, Mr. Lau will pay for it to defend his store. He mentioned that if he were to close his store, another pharmacy would probably open. This revealed that MJ88 is easily replaceable but keeps on going because of Mr. Lau’s care and passion for the business.

Both Mr. Lau and Master Chong mentioned the importance of the community. They listen to their customers, their feedback, and serve them the best way that they could. The fact that a majority of the population is Asian may have helped these businesses thrive in an effort to help assimilate to America and still have aspects that remain in their home country. Mr. Lau and Master Chong are both Asian and provide cultural aspects to Asian customers that draw them in. Mr. Lau offers his services in Chinese and Korean which greatly help the growing population of Asian immigrants who don’t understand English. Master Chong teaches classes where a spoken language is not necessary and a Korean martial art. K.H. Chong’s Martial Arts Academy and MJ88, thus, helped Asian immigrants in American life through the use of language and cultural aspects. What we have found studying these two businesses has revealed possible reasons for success in other Asian businesses in the neighborhood. Even so, every business is unique in its own way. Other establishments might have certain advantages and disadvantages that long-running businesses like the academy and pharmacy don’t. Even so, the inclusion of Asian culture in businesses for a large population of Asian customers  might have allowed the stores to become connected to the community and grow.

References

Infoshare. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2017, from http://www.infoshare.org/main/public.aspx

Social Explorer. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2017, from http://www.socialexplorer.com/

U.S.Census Bureau. (2000). Region of Birth of Foreign Born, Language Spoken at Home. Retrieved from https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF

U.S.Census Bureau. (2015). World Region of Birth of Foreign Born, Language Spoken at Home. Retrieved from https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF