Sidekicks Martial Arts Academy
Sidekicks Martial Arts Academy, 2939 Alta View Drive #Q, Suite Q, San Diego, CA 92139
About
Sidekicks Martial Arts Academy offers martial arts classes that include Taekwondo, Karate, and balance drills. Students practice within a structured martial arts setting that uses the school tenets and the Sidekicks Orange School Emblem as part of the training environment.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: Class options Monday–Friday between 4:30 PM and 7:30 PM
• Price: Sidekicks Martial Arts Academy offers new students free classes for one week.
Sidekicks Martial Arts Academy is led by Grandmaster Maurice Orange, also referred to as Grandmaster Orange, GMO, Master Orange, or Sabum Orange, who is the founder of Sidekicks Martial Arts Academy. The academy is home to Grandmaster Orange and dozens of black belt students, and students are trained in the principles of Martial Arts Excellence. The program upholds and works on developing the tenets of Courtesy, Integrity, Self Control, Indomitable Spirit, and, with Perseverance, the result will be Victory, and emphasizes academic excellence, family responsibility, and personal protection for children. Parents are encouraged and insisted upon to be present and pay attention to the class, making the martial arts class a family learning experience.
GMO opened his first Taekwondo school in 1980 and founded Sidekicks Martial Arts in 1989. He opened his first independent martial arts school, National City Taekwondo Center, in 1983, and Sidekicks Jamaica was started in 1985 in Kingston, Jamaica with Mr. Delroy McDowell serving for many years as senior instructor. GMO has been teaching Taekwondo for over 45 years, and 2020 marked his 40th year in the martial arts business. San Diego Sidekicks is described as one of Southern California’s longest running, same location martial arts schools and as having the same mission since 1991. It is noted that it is not often that a martial arts academy has a Grandmaster teaching classes, especially in San Diego.
The academy’s mission statement is “Teaching children and their families to live with honor, respect and discipline by developing and sustaining a lifelong practice of martial arts.” The Sidekicks Orange School Emblem represents the six belt colors, with the color orange symbolic of the Orange family name; the six leaves on the palm trees represent that GMO is the sixth born child in his family, and the American and Korean flags are represented on either side of the ocean.
Community involvement includes Grandmaster Orange and his wife returning to Sharp Memorial Hospital to thank the healthcare workers who saved his life after a motorcycle accident. GMO has a profile on the US Veteran Owned Business website, teaches other martial arts businesses how they can be successful, sometimes sends a group of moms to get their nails done at a nearby mani pedi place while their kids are in class, and has taken a class of students to purchase flower bouquets for their grandmothers or mothers.
Testimonials describe Sidekicks Martial Arts Academy as a place where discipline is mixed with fun, individualism is mixed with teamwork, and confidence and strength building are part of the experience, all within a unique art form led by a Grandmaster who “thinks outside of the box.” Parents and former students state that Grandmaster Orange is passionate about his work, treats his students like his own kids, is strict about proper form, and is described as a strict yet wonderful mentor. One parent notes that their son’s confidence level has increased within two weeks and that kids are taught good values and to work hard, and another comment states that Sidekicks instructors and junior instructors expect a lot from the students and that it is not a place to go if a family is not serious about committing to coming to class.
Last updated March 14, 2026.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: Class options Monday–Friday between 4:30 PM and 7:30 PM
• Price: Sidekicks Martial Arts Academy offers new students free classes for one week.
Sidekicks Martial Arts Academy is led by Grandmaster Maurice Orange, also referred to as Grandmaster Orange, GMO, Master Orange, or Sabum Orange, who is the founder of Sidekicks Martial Arts Academy. The academy is home to Grandmaster Orange and dozens of black belt students, and students are trained in the principles of Martial Arts Excellence. The program upholds and works on developing the tenets of Courtesy, Integrity, Self Control, Indomitable Spirit, and, with Perseverance, the result will be Victory, and emphasizes academic excellence, family responsibility, and personal protection for children. Parents are encouraged and insisted upon to be present and pay attention to the class, making the martial arts class a family learning experience.
GMO opened his first Taekwondo school in 1980 and founded Sidekicks Martial Arts in 1989. He opened his first independent martial arts school, National City Taekwondo Center, in 1983, and Sidekicks Jamaica was started in 1985 in Kingston, Jamaica with Mr. Delroy McDowell serving for many years as senior instructor. GMO has been teaching Taekwondo for over 45 years, and 2020 marked his 40th year in the martial arts business. San Diego Sidekicks is described as one of Southern California’s longest running, same location martial arts schools and as having the same mission since 1991. It is noted that it is not often that a martial arts academy has a Grandmaster teaching classes, especially in San Diego.
The academy’s mission statement is “Teaching children and their families to live with honor, respect and discipline by developing and sustaining a lifelong practice of martial arts.” The Sidekicks Orange School Emblem represents the six belt colors, with the color orange symbolic of the Orange family name; the six leaves on the palm trees represent that GMO is the sixth born child in his family, and the American and Korean flags are represented on either side of the ocean.
Community involvement includes Grandmaster Orange and his wife returning to Sharp Memorial Hospital to thank the healthcare workers who saved his life after a motorcycle accident. GMO has a profile on the US Veteran Owned Business website, teaches other martial arts businesses how they can be successful, sometimes sends a group of moms to get their nails done at a nearby mani pedi place while their kids are in class, and has taken a class of students to purchase flower bouquets for their grandmothers or mothers.
Testimonials describe Sidekicks Martial Arts Academy as a place where discipline is mixed with fun, individualism is mixed with teamwork, and confidence and strength building are part of the experience, all within a unique art form led by a Grandmaster who “thinks outside of the box.” Parents and former students state that Grandmaster Orange is passionate about his work, treats his students like his own kids, is strict about proper form, and is described as a strict yet wonderful mentor. One parent notes that their son’s confidence level has increased within two weeks and that kids are taught good values and to work hard, and another comment states that Sidekicks instructors and junior instructors expect a lot from the students and that it is not a place to go if a family is not serious about committing to coming to class.
Last updated March 14, 2026.
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