Blackbelt tae kwon do instructor Mike Schmidt rehearses a “pattern” with his beginning students. Schmidt opened a tae kwon doe business in Valley City in June. (Jay Stephenson/VCTR) 

Mike Schmidt doesn’t teach tae kwon do as your typical martial arts class.
“We’re more like a family,” Schmidt says. “My students are not at the bars drinking, they’re doing something with their lives.”
Last June, Schmidt began teaching tae kwon do classes after a career as a corrections officer at the Barnes County jail.  Schmidt says his experiences with inmates inspired him to “serve the community” in a different way than he was doing before.
“I believe that I can do more good teaching people how to stay out of the system,” Schmidt said. “I knew we had a need for it from my experiences working in law enforcement.”
That’s one reason Schmidt has a zero tolerance policy for his students getting in trouble outside of class, and he says having connections with law enforcement gives him easy access to information  to certain student’s culpable behavior.
“One kid that attended one class I found out stole a car stereo, and he’s not welcome to come back to the class,” said Schmidt.  “If they need money they can come talk to me if it’s something important because I’ll get it for them.”
Schmidt teaches his classes above Movieland video on Central Avenue in Valley City. Shouts of repeated “yes sirs” can be heard repeatedly when walking up the stairs and, once at the entrance, lines of shoes can be seen laid out before the carpet line - there’s a rule of no shoes during class time. Once inside, everyone is addressed by courtesy titles: Mr. or Ms. before their first name.  
Schmidt attributes his rules to the importance of discipline, which plays an integral role in tae kwon do teachings.  
“It’s about respect,” Schmidt says.  “Everyone here starts out with an A, but they can lose that A depending on how they act in class.”
The rules enforced are often overshadowed by some of the fun the students seem to have. During stretching exercises, the students can often be heard discussing the latest movie they saw, or what they did for fun the night previous. But once the exercises began, usually  “yes, sir” and “Mr. Mike” are about the only words spoken, or shouted. And Schmidt, or Mr. Mike, doesn’t need rules against talking during class - for the most part, the students are working too hard to hold a conversation.
The 33-year-old Schmidt began tae kwon do at the age of eight, and he has experience teaching on military bases around the country - an opportunity he took advantage of  when his wife joined the Army.Schmidt says he currently has 15 to 20 students, which exceeded his original goals when he started the classes in June.  The first class he teaches is mainly for young children working at the beginning level; the second class is mixed with adults and older children taught at different levels.“My goal is to be as good as my first instructor,” said Schmidt.  “I’m not doing this to make money, I do it because I love to teach.”