cjgotti

I agree with this tack. If this doesn't work out for you, then perhaps you may choose to put both of these schools behind you, and find one that is totally neutral to this whole situation. Politics in the MA sucks, but it is a part of the MAs. I don't really feel as bad about it as I did before. I know my first instructor may be a little upset, but the fact is I paid for everything I received from him. Never did I get anything for free, and to be quite honest my parents were upset about the certificate being a fake. I'm going to do what I want to do regardless of the old school's opinion simply becauase I've been out of the loop there for 2 years now, so I'm not really going to do any harm to the man's business.

I've been there. Ever since I switched schools a while ago, I've gone from the top of the class to the bottom of the class. It's a weird feeling isn't it? Very weir but it's motivated me I'll tell you that.

He actually told me that it was an easy class compared to others, and that he made it easier just because there were new people in the class. I'll wait and see what happens.

My old instructor has found out about my actions. He was very hurt from what I understand and feels as if I betrayed him. I know the whole rules involving taekwondo as far as being loyal to your dojang. In the past I was very serious about that. Would that be considered the case here? I have now learned that the current dojang I attend and my former one are both VERY huge rivals. The two instructors hate each other. Apparently the one I currently have does enjoy talking down on my former instructor. I don't know what to think. My former school did more NASKA oriented martial arts, involving taekwondo. The instructor even spoke about switching his curriculum to XMA. My current instructor said he would even go to the WTF and report my former one for giving out false certificates that had the WTF symbol on them. My former instructor is also a 3rd Dan. My current one is a 5th Dan, and now to be honest I feel I'm inside of a huge mess. Apparently there has been a big rivalry between the two dojangs for years. I have only heard once about something with a previous owner, but in no way did I intend to have something like this happen. I e-mailed my current instructor and asked him to not take any action against my former one, as I said he was a friend of mine, and while I disagree with how I was taught, I don't want any of my actions to get him into any sort of trouble. The instructor responded and compared my former instructor to a person in ny that sells knock off products. I didn't appreciate that. Now I feel like I've dug myself into a hole I can't get out of. I signed a 6 month contract with this guy, and now to be honest I don't know if I want to do this anymore. All I wanted to do was change the way I studied to a more traditional form. I was raised by traditions in my Italian roots. But this??? I don't appreciate this at all...this is all unfair. Did I really do something so bad?

Okay, I just got back into taking Tae Kwon Do classes at a new school. I havent practiced in over a year, and I am starting to stretch quite a bit I've been doing it twice a day everyday. My ham strings have been pretty sore, and I'm just curious if I should lay off or keep at it? Am I over doing it or not doing it the right way? Thanks.

Depends how often you go a week? I might have missed that in your post. My current master has allowed me to do a 6 month contract (their minimum time) for 108 a month...once a week. I'm not crazy about it but I knoe I can afford it. Unfortunately the classes aren't that long, but we get quite the work out during then (I've only been to one so far)

I enjoyed Koryo and a couple of the color belt forms such as Taegeuk Oh Jang and Pawlge Pal Jang

July 2nd

To Bushido: It's a WTF Taekwondo style school...I've heard negative things about it in the past, but I can't kick as well as half of the people in there...and everyone in the class was like 10x more flexible than me lol. To Sam: It felt great after going through the workout they gave me. The old school never did nearly as many stretches and didn't really work us as much from what I remember. With the other instructor who stayed he was kind of a trick martial arts guy and slacked off in a lot of lessons.

I had my first class at the new dojang tonight...wow I was shocked at the quality it was there. The amount of exercise done there greatly out did what was done at my old school. It's been too long since I've done it, but I felt terrible compared to other students to be honest. I definitely have a lot to do.

I third that statement. I fourth it. Whoever she is she doesn't deserve to wear it. She obviously has no sense of respect. All of my instructors I have had in the past encouraged me to come after them in sparring. Did I do well? No, they always tore me up. They always encouraged it. She must be in the wrong place if she thinks that you shouldn't hit her just because of her belt color....lol maybe you should go back and hit her again just for laughs...then tell her to keep her hands up.

The tournaments I have actually competed in were NASKA tournaments, and I remember when I was a brown belt I was competing against a girl in forms and I ended up beating her by a 10th of a point (we tied twice) except she was sponsored etc, so they actually made her the winner so it wouldn't ruin her whole competition career. So I ended up getting 2nd place. That was the Maryland Open in 2004, and then in 2006 I was in another one and I was paired up in sparring...I'm only 125lbs, and 5'7 but I went up against a kid who was 6'5...the reach kinda sucked there, and I didn't do as well, plus my flexibility isn't exactly my strong point either. Apparently I was throwing my kicks first he just had the reach which angered me, but I'm going to definitely get taught more form this school and get more serious about it. I never trained heavily before and have been very motivated.

If I was in your shoes I wouldn't teach him. If the guy wanted to learn those forms then he should've been respectful to your sensei and should have stayed at your dojo. If he wants to learn them, then he should come back and start training again and work his way up.

I saw people actually make...two knots? I don't know how to describe it. It was the weirdest thing, and personally I thought it looked stupid.

I received my black belt when I was 17...I'm 19 now but turn 20 in July. Now I've only been in 3 tournaments. Would you recommend competing at this age? My older instructor kind of shunned me away from it mainly saying everyone else in my division was too advanced, and that I'd basically get slaughtered (which I probably would) but my newer school has actually asked me if I was interested in competing and prefered it if I did from their stand point.

I haven't personally seen any horror stories with how they are embroidered...but I've seen odd ways as to how they are tied.

1. getting my black belt 2. watching jhoon rhee speak at two tournaments

I appreciate the advice...flexibility was never my strong side. I think it might be a genetic issue also because my father has had bad flexibility (my knees pop up when I stretch)..however I told my current instructor and he told me the best thing to do is stretch 2 times a day 15 minutes each time once in the morning and once at night...regarding my flexibility he told me to go down as far as I could until my knee was about to pop up, and basically hold it there and that will do the best job at giving me flexibility.

Okay, I'm 19 years old, have been practicing Taekwondo since I was 12. Unfortunately I think my school has been cursed with Mcdojang style isntructors. Before I was 12 I practiced WTF style TKD and only went to yellow belt. Afterwards, I started back up at 12 with my yellow belt. The instructor let me keep my yellow belt but simply work my way up. I made it to green under him, before he ended up seeling the school. He got into legal trouble as well...sexual harrasment etc. It's an embarrassment to have to train under someone like that. He claimed to be a 5th Dan...but we weren't even involved in WTF style sparring. We were more of a NASKA oriented school but did a mix of Taeguk and Palwge forms. After he left, two newer instructors took over who were not only younger but better in my opinion at teaching. One was a 3rd Dan, the other 4th Dan. They tried to revitalize the school. The 4th Dan was able to teach us more self defense...he was a gold medalist in the Korean Olympics in grappling from what I understand. But he was very good at what he taught. Eventually, the 4th Dan left the school, leaving us with the 3rd Dan who was a competitor in a number of NASKA tournaments. We never used chest protectors, only gloves, foot gear and head gear but were told to watch our control. Under him I received my 1st Dan at the age of 17. However, he focused on certain students who were interested in competing. Personally I'd like to compete but it feels like the age I started I was too old. Now I stopped practicing there when I was 18 and then just a couple of weeks ago I saw a WTF style dojang nearby that was known in the past to have bad blood with my old dojang. I went there and told them my story. I wanted to do traditional taekwondo style martial arts not the type that was done at my old school. They told me my old instructo (the 3rd Dan) did not practice what he preached. They even made me show them my certificate, which they claim is a fake because it was only signed by my instructor and asst instructor as opposed to their certificates which were signed by the president of the kukkiwon. It was a big blow to me, because I feel like I don't know who's real and who isn't. I signed up with these guys, because I have seen their names on numerous national tournaments on the usataekwondo website and I think they would be very good at teaching. They told me I'd still be able to compete regardless of my age. Personally I have only competed 3 times, which is nothing. They told me they would let me keep my black belt, but they wanted to get me back in shape first and then work on their curriculum that way I can get up to speed and officially be recognized as a black belt. Am I doing the right thing here? I felt like a traitor in a sense to my old dojang because the instructor was very friendly and was a friend. I was always welcome at his school. Is it worth it for me to get into it again? It was kind of a blow to my morale because after the testing for my 1st dan (which was no walk in the park by any means) I feel like I did it all for nothing.

Hey everyone, this is my first post...I'm new to this forum but I thought I'd share this with my fellow TKD practitioners...it's a funny ad that was made during the Sydney Olympics. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LdRiKbEWKvE