Camille McClaren
Camille McClaren is a psychology student at St. Francis College in New York City and a lifelong martial artist whose work bridges cognitive science, education, and sport performance. She began practicing taekwondo at age five and earned her Kukkiwon-certified 4th Dan black belt, eventually founding Pure Taekwondo NYC, a women-run, inclusive, and science-informed martial arts school. Her coaching approach emphasizes motor learning, embodied cognition, and adaptive teaching methods, developed through years of working with students of all ages, abilities, and learning needs. She is also involved in academic research exploring the relationship between movement, language, and learning, with interests in metacognition, cognitive science, and educational equity.
As an instructor and mentor, Camille has built a reputation for innovative, student-centered teaching that prioritizes understanding over rote technique. She has coached athletes to competitive success in sport poomsae at regional, national, and international levels, while also creating programs for beginner students, youth learners, and specialized populations. Her teaching philosophy integrates discipline, creativity, and autonomy, often introducing concepts like “concept stripping” to help students transfer knowledge across contexts and deepen comprehension. Through Pure Taekwondo NYC, she has also expanded access to martial arts training, originally serving Orthodox Jewish girls and now welcoming a broader, diverse community.
Beyond athletics, Camille is academically ambitious and actively engaged in research and leadership roles. She has contributed to interdisciplinary projects at Long Island University and works as a research intern in an Educational Technology AI Lab, focusing on how learning, movement, and cognition intersect. She is also an advocate for mental health awareness, disability equity, and inclusive education, and frequently uses her platform to discuss developmental psychology, learning systems, and youth empowerment. Across all of her work, she is driven by a commitment to help others build confidence, critical thinking skills, and ownership of both mind and body.
• Social-Behavioral-Educational Researchers and Students Working with Human Subjects
• 4th Dan Black Belt
• All Learner Groups - Responsible Conduct of Research
• St. Francis College - BA/MA 4+1, Behavioral Psychology - Present
• Long Island University - Bachelor of Arts - BA, PSYCHOLOGY
What do you attribute your success to?
When I was seven years old, I started doing Taekwondo when I was five, and when I was seven, I decided this is what I want to do with my life. I told my first Taekwondo master I want to be a Taekwondo master just like you and have my own school. He looked at me and laughed and said, you will never be a master, no one will ever bow to you, because you're a girl. That lit me on fire, and I started my school when I was a teenager, initially focusing on Orthodox Jewish girls who are very conservative religiously and need to be taught by a woman. I expanded it to include high-level young black belt athletes who competed nationally and internationally, and I coach them to medal stands in multiple levels of competition. As an adult, I mainly teach privately right now. I'm building my website this summer for private lessons, and it's really important that you understand that my school does things differently. It is woman-run, whereas most of the field is male-dominated, and it will be feminist-oriented, science-backed in all of the methodology that I use. I'm currently in college gathering more and more knowledge about how to shape my methodology so that it really follows cognitive science and motor learning information and everything, so that we're doing things differently. We're not just making up stuff. Right now I'm a college student, and I'm just gathering more information so I can shape my methodology correctly. I'm very academically driven, so I plan on earning degrees in psychology, cognitive science, and motor learning to help with my credibility to people who don't realize that Taekwondo Masters, the only qualification you really need is to know Taekwondo. I've been doing Taekwondo for 22 years. I'm looking to change the culture to a more feminist-oriented culture in my own Dojang.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Do what you're passionate about.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I like to read. I daydream about teaching Taekwondo very often. Mental health awareness and advocacy is very important to me and my business, as well as disability awareness and advocacy.
Locations
Pure Taekwondo NYC
New York, NY 11201