About the school

His name on the door.

Swaby’s Tae Kwon Do Academy is Master Carlos Swaby’s school: a Taekwondo dojang on Neponset Avenue in Dorchester where kids from age 3, teens and adults train on the same red and blue mats, with one team of instructors.

Book a free class Meet the instructors

Dorchester, Boston Ages 3 to adult WMAF tournaments

Swaby's students, families and instructors gathered with a row of trophies in front of the World Martial Arts Federation backdrop

Team Swaby’s

Inside Swaby's: red and blue mats, kicking bags and a wall of trophies

The room

Built for
training.

Walk through the door at 172 Neponset Avenue and there’s no mistaking what happens here.

Red and blue mats, wall to wall
A row of heavy kicking bags
Shelves crowded with trophies
Doboks and belts hanging on the wall

Ages 3 to 6Junior TaekwondoBalance, stances, kicks on the pads, and taking turns. Ages 7 to 12Kids TaekwondoKicks, blocks, forms and sparring in full gear. Ages 13+Teen & AdultA real workout and a real martial art. Beginners welcome.

Instructors

Five instructors.
One floor.

Master Carlos Swaby leads the school, with four instructors teaching beside him. Their titles come from across the martial arts world, and they teach your family on the same mats.

Master

Carlos Swaby

The school carries his name. Carlos leads Swaby’s Tae Kwon Do Academy, and he’s who new families talk to first.

Master

Julio Valdes

Sensei

Jerome Harris

Sifu

Abner Gerome

Sabumnim

Sofia Cespedes

Master: A title for an instructor of high rank and long experience.
Sensei: Japanese for teacher, used across the martial arts.
Sifu: The Chinese martial arts word for teacher.
Sabumnim: Korean for instructor, the title Taekwondo itself uses.

Community

A family school.

Look at any photo from a Swaby’s tournament day and you’ll see it: parents, instructors and students crowded around the trophies.

Swaby’s teaches every age, from three year olds to adults, so a family can grow up at one school. Little ones start in Junior Taekwondo, move up to Kids, and the parents who’ve been watching from the side can step onto the mat themselves.

A young student in a white dobok with his trophy and a proud adult at a tournament

A young student in a white dobok with a tall trophy, flanked by two smiling adults at a tournament

Tournaments

On the floor
at the WMAF.

Swaby’s students compete at World Martial Arts Federation tournaments, in white doboks for forms and in helmets and chest protectors for sparring. And they come home with trophies.

WMAF eventsWhere Swaby’s students take their forms and sparring.

Start with a free class