Master Joe
Head Instructor & Owner
Teaching at Sidekick since 2013
About Sidekick
More than a dojo.A community for kids who need one.
Sidekick Martial Arts & Fitness has been serving Bergen County families since 2013. We're a small, family-run school built around one idea: every kid deserves a place where they're seen, challenged, and supported.
Our Story
Built for the kids who need more than a one-size-fits-all class.
Sidekick opened its doors in Hasbrouck Heights in 2013. The mission was simple: build a martial arts school where small class sizes and personal attention came first - and where kids who didn't thrive in large, impersonal programs could finally feel at home.
Over the years, that focus hasn't changed. What started as a single school with a handful of students has grown into a community of families across Bergen County - many of whom have been training with us for years. Some of our current assistant coaches started as students when they were younger than the kids they now help teach.
We're not the biggest martial arts school in the area. That's the point. We're the one where your kid gets known by name from day one.
What We Believe
Four things that guide everything we do.
Small classes, real attention
We cap class sizes on purpose. Every kid gets noticed, corrected, and encouraged - not lost in the back row.
Patience over pressure
Kids learn at different paces. We meet them where they are - whether they're shy, hyperactive, anxious, or somewhere in between.
Real skills, real progress
Belts aren't trophies at Sidekick. Every promotion is earned through real curriculum, real training, and real consistency.
A community, not a class
Kids who train here often stay for years - because Sidekick stops feeling like a class and starts feeling like a second home.
Meet Your Instructor
Master Joe was the kidwho got picked on.
Now he's the instructor parents trust with their own kids who feel exactly the same way.
How It Started
A small kid. A new town. And a Taekwondo demo that changed everything.
Master Joe grew up the youngest and smallest boy in his class. When his family moved from New York City out to suburban Fair Lawn, New Jersey, things didn't get easier - he got picked on at school, struggled with what we now call ADHD (which didn't even have a name in the early '90s), and by the time he was 12, the stress had given him a nervous twitch.
That same year, a new Taekwondo school opened in town and held a demo. Master Joe watched the head instructor put a bicycle spoke through both of his arms, hang buckets of water from them, and then - without flinching - let one of his students climb onto his shoulders.
Master Joe walked out of that demo and never looked back. He's been training for 37 years and teaching for 33 of them.
Why this matters for your kid
When a parent tells Master Joe their kid can't sit still, gets distracted easily, or feels invisible in a big classroom - he doesn't nod politely and pretend to relate. He actually does. He grew up as that kid.
That's why Sidekick classes are small. It's why instructors learn each child's name, personality, and how they tick. It's why kids with ADHD, anxiety, or who've been picked on at school often thrive here when other places didn't work for them.
The Background
37 years of training. 33 years of teaching. One mission.
6th Degree
Black Belt in Taekwondo
37 Years
Of personal training (since 1989)
33 Years
Teaching kids and adults (since 1993)
Master Joe founded Sidekick in 2013 to build the kind of school he wished had existed when he was growing up - small, personal, and built for kids who need more than a one-size-fits-all approach.
His Expertise
More than just Taekwondo.
Taekwondo is the foundation of Sidekick's curriculum and Master Joe's primary discipline. But over 37 years of training, he's studied and incorporated techniques from several martial arts - giving students a well-rounded skill set, not just one style.
Taekwondo
The foundation. Dynamic kicks, sparring, and self-defense along the 16-belt path to black belt. Master Joe holds a 6th Degree Black Belt.
Kali
Filipino weapon arts. Stick work, hand-to-hand application, and movement skills introduced starting at Orange belt.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Ground-based grappling. Techniques and concepts are introduced at intermediate belt levels to give students a complete defensive skill set - not just stand-up fighting.
Muay Thai
The 'art of eight limbs.' Striking techniques using fists, elbows, knees, and shins. Elements are integrated at advanced belts to add depth to striking and conditioning.
Kettlebell Strength Training
Real strength work for older students and adults. Built into the curriculum starting at Green belt.
Kickboxing
Conditioning, striking combinations, and self-defense applications for teens and adults.
"I don't expect every kid to walk in and love martial arts on day one. I expect them to walk in scared, distracted, shy, or unsure - and over time, find a version of themselves they didn't know existed. That's not magic. It's small classes, patience, and showing up week after week. The same things that worked for me when I was 12."
- Master Joe
Head Instructor & Owner, Sidekick Martial Arts
One More Thing
His son trains here too.
Master Joe's own son trains at Sidekick - and earned his Junior Black Belt two years ago. Same school, same curriculum, same instructors. Master Joe didn't build a separate program for his own kid. He just put him through what he believes in.
If that doesn't tell you everything you need to know about how he thinks about this school - nothing will.
The Sidekick Team
Our coaches grew up here.
Most of our assistant coaches started as students at Sidekick. They didn't just stay - they came back to teach the next generation.
Mr. Lally
8th Degree Grand Master
Master Joe's instructor - visits for special occasions
Come see what makes Sidekick different.
The best way to understand a school is to walk in and feel it. Your kid's first class is on us - no commitment, no pressure.
Based in Hasbrouck Heights • Welcoming families from across Bergen County