MichiganTKD

Started in 1983 when I was 14. Wish I had started earlier, but 14 is a good age.

I wanted to practice martial arts because (1) I was tired of being other peoples' punching at school and (2) I was fascinated by martial arts from a young age. I remember when I was a kid reading every book about karate I could find and dreaming I could practice. I knew absolutely nothing about the differences, I just wanted to practice. My parents finally relented when I was 14 and let me join the TKD class at the local YMCA. From the first class I knew I made the right decision. I have been with it ever since (I'm 35 now). Same organization too. Never considered changing organization or styles.

From the sounds of it, Jhoon Rhee was teaching was Choi decided was karate. Jhoon Rhee originally learned under Won Kuk Lee. Apparently, this was not "Tae Kwon Do" enough for Choi. Oddly enough, according to sources I have read, the term "Tae Kwon Do" originated within the Chung Do Kwan. Gen. Choi claims he invented it. Other Instructors dispute that.

I don't know. Different women have different attitudes toward sparring. One of my Black Belts hates sparring and only does it because she has to. On the hand, one of my red belts loves to spar. I think, first and foremost, the skills and technique must be there. They must understand basic kicking and steps before they can apply them in class. I can't tell you how many people I've seen who can't even kick right or do steps to start with, and they expect their technique to be effective? I think after they practice sparring with different classmates, it becvomes a question of finding their strengths and working on their weaknesses. Shorter students are probably going to have more success with middle kicks and lateral movement. Then practice powerful middle kicks until your middle side and roundhouse is something to be feared. The BB mentioned before is working on her back sidekick in a way that she can contact at the same time her opponent attacks, so that she doesn't have to back up and give him room. I've seen her almost break the ribs of bigger males this way.

Spookey, Yes I do charge money to teach and for gear. However, many if not most Instructors do. That is not the problem. The problem is when money becomes the reason why you do anything. I don't believe Tae Kwon Do should become a commodity to be marketed and made money off of. Gen. Choi had many students, but to my knowledge he never turned it into a commodity. He made sure it retained the character that made it great. I don't believe he ever wore a red or black uniform either.

There is nothing wrong beating your Instructor or outdoing him, as unlikely as that would probably be. It depends on how you do it. If you try to beat him with underhanded technique, we have a problem. Our philosophy is: If you want to try to beat beat black belts or the Instructor, you're welcome to try. But they will go as fast as you want to go; and if you want strong contact, so be it.

He actually quit over 10 years ago. The thing I don't understand, though, is how he was able to smoke and train at the same time. He won the Korean National Free Fighting Championships several times. And knowing the immense physical regimen he must have gone thriough, how was he able to keep that up and smoke A number of years back, I found out one of my students smoked. I just decided to make her work harder in class

Very good point. Part of self defense is knowing when to fight, not just how. Most battles are decided before they are ever fought-Sun Tsu

First , CCDI, how does my website show disrespect on the part of myself or my students. If we're just talking about white uniforms, if anything it shows that I practice what I preach. I don't understand how it shows disrespect from myself or my students. As far as Ernie Reyes and others like him, in my not so humble opinion they have taken Tae Kwon Do and turned it into the martial arts equivalent of a carnival side show. What should be a great method of self defense, exercise, and physical-mental-spiritual improvement has become simply a demonstration of flash and Hollywood-style special effects. I consider them comparable to televangelists. They take what could be something great and cheapen it. I am not saying they are evil people. Perhaps their technique is also pretty good. That's beside the point. A prostitute may also be pretty good in bed. But in the process it just becomes an act with no real substance. Finally, I do not consider Kuk Sool Won or Tukong Moo Sool (?) martial arts. They are fighting styles. I don't care about KSW or TKMS. As such, they can wear what they want. And Kumdo is modeled after kendo anyway. P.S. I wear a hat only in the winter to cover my head. I have no idea what size.

I think I was mistaken as far as Gen. Choi going to N. Korea in the 60's. His leaving S. Korea I think was more due to the way he tried to run the KTA. But I've been wrong before

I consider Ernie Reyes one of the biggest MA whores on the planet. As far as the WTF, I don't deny that it has hugely marketed Tae Kwon Do in a way that I don't always agree with. I don't particularly care for its emphasis on Olympic-style sparring. On the other hand, I never bought into Gen. Choi's insistance that he was the founder of Tae Kwon Do. So I guess it goes both ways. Getting back to what I was saying. Ernie Reyes is a perfect example who someone who embodies the "colored uniform" mentality. He is the epitome of the "Mr. Hollywood" type. While I enjoy watching his kids perform onscreen (I'm not sure if "act" is the right word ) I do not consider him to be a traditional MA. Maybe he is better off not wearing a white uniform. Regarding Hee Il Cho. I don't doubt his technical ability. What I do doubt is his ability to do anything in Tae Kwon Do without turning it into a money making venture. Everything the guy does is for sale. All he seems to care about is how many books and videos he can sell, how many magazines he can get published in, and offering seminars to anyone who wants to attend. You know, prostitutes don't care who they sleep with either. His blue and red uniforms just strike me as one more way he can get noticed.

Ishin Ryu Ju Jitsu? Sounds like a made up style to me. I'm aware of Ishin Ryu Karate, but not IRJJ. How many magazines did this Pell character read before he created it?

Our Grandmaster smoked for years, because it is very commonplace in Korea. He finally quit because I think he finally understood the health risks. However, whenever he went back to Korea on TKD business, he didn't smoke because he felt it was unseemly for a man with his reputation to be seen smoking.

I was asked to by our President. The Instructor of the class I now teach was having a hard time juggling work and teaching. I was attending college at the time, and would teach after school. I still drive 40 miles each way to teach the class. I ended up taking over the class and he teaches elsewhere now. We are both same organization. I can't imagine leaving to found my own style. My ego isn't that big

I'm going to Tennessee next month for a series of Organization seminars about various aspects of Tae Kwon Do. One of our Instructors is teaching a self defense seminar, and it should be very interesting to hear what he has to say on this matter. He works as a prison guard, so he might know something about it. Then again, he might not.

I think it depends on what the circumstances surrounding the failing are. For example, in our Organization, if a student could have done better but overall was not bad, we give them a grade of Dan Bo. Kind of like A-. You can pass Dan Bo for 1st and 2nd dan, but not 3rd Dan. If a student did not do very well, but the judges think he/she has potential and will do better later as a Black belt, we will often pass them. If a student's technique is just really bad, to the point where they really need more time, and it wasn't just a bad test, then we will fail them and say "try again in 6 months". This is the Instructor's fault for recommending them in the first place. Also, I believe we have a rule that says any Instructor who has 3 students fail BB test loses their right to recommend students to test. And yes, other judges have passed BB who I thought should not have passed. But if I'm outvoted my hands are tied.

It is my understanding, if my reading memory serves me correctly, that there was one city in the United States that tried to do this. I believe I remember reading (I don't remember where) that when karate first came to America following WWII, a city in Pennsylvania (may have been Pittsburg) tried to institute registering black belts as lethal weapons. They tried to do this because karate in America was new and noone knew what to make of it. I may be mistaken, but I think I remember reading about this. I'm not sure what became of the effort.

Interesting point, Battousai16. However, one of the points of wearing a white uniform is not necessarily because we are pure. We are not. It is also because we strive to be pure. Since one of the goals of traditional martial arts is self improvement, it stands to reason that purity is something we should seek, even if we never achieve it. It doesn't mean we shouldn't try. Don't get me wrong. If all you want to be is a fighter, and you don't care about self improvement or purity, then you can wear whatever you want. But if you practice, or claim to practice, a traditional martial art, then I think it is awfully hard to be legitimate without a white uniform.

Grandmasterchen, If you are in Japan, does that mean you practice karate? I have never seen karate Grandmasters like Mas Oyama, Gichin Funakoshi, and others of their level wearing black uniforms. If you're going to believe that it is not important what color uniform you wear, then walk down the street or go to the store in dirty, greasy, filthy clothes. better yet, go in public consistantly wearing all-black clothes. You think people won't think deep down that you are a shady character? In this country, black carries the same cannotation-darkness and evil. Doesn't matter how you really are. Perception means a lot. Black uniform black mind.

I have absolutely no problem with tournament/competitive sparring, as long as people realize and keep in mind it is one aspect of Tae Kwon Do, not the whole package. Tournament sparring has many things that can assist students in learning self defense and become better people 1. Strategy-understanding vulnerable points 2. How to beat the nervous feeling of facing an opponent 3. Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses Having said that, I think the better approach is instead of focusing on tournament sparring as your TKD career, decide how many years you want to be active in it. For example, if you are 15-16, decide "I'm going to compete in tournament for maximum 10 years and then retire and focus on the other aspects of Tae Kwon Do."

I have no problem with practicing in sweatpants, t-shirts, loose clothes etc. The Dobahk/gi was not invented until relatively recently, so it's not like we have been wearing it for hundreds of years. I allow my own students to practice in streetclothes if they have forgotten their uniform or it is dirty. That's not a problem. No, I'm talking about knowingly forsaking the white uniform we associate with TKD for a bastardized version. Why do I feel so strongly about this? In Western culture, brides wear white at their wedding to signify purity, even if their are not. It is traditional. In Korean culture, white signifies purity. To me, if you don't wear a white uniform, regardless of your intentions, it implies you have an ugly mind. It seems to me, the nstructors most concerned with making money off Tae Kwon Do and selling out wear black or colored uniforms. Furthermore, I think those of you who DON'T wear white uniforms seem to be taking offense more or thinking it doesn't matter. I think the ones wearing white uniforms are silently nodding their heads. As Barry Goldwater said "In your heart, you know I'm right."

In our organization, only 4th Dan Master and above are allowed to judge, and we/they wear suits and ties as judges, not that that is particularly important. Anyway, at our regional testing, the head of our Organization is present, along with his VP, and whatever area judges are able to attend. Sometimes there are 5-6 judges, and sometimes there can over 10. For really big testings we can have amost 40 judges present from 4th Dan to 6th Dan and the Founder who is 9th Dan. Other regions (Grand Rapids, Tennessee) will have their own testings, with Organization Masters and the Head coming in to judge for them.

I follow this somple rule about letting students date: 1. Black belt to Black belt is possible, but see me first. 2. Black belt to color belt OR color belt to color belt see me first so I can tell both of you NO!

I don't remember the exact year, I know it was sometime in the 60's. It was during that time that Choi was leading demo teams to various nations to promote TKD. I know I read what year it was, I just don't remember. However, if I find the year I will pass it along. I know he also led a demo team to N. Korea in 1981. Interestingly, I understand Charles Sereff of the USTF was on this team. I mention this because Sereff's organization recently severed ties with the ITF due to the ITF's N. Korean ties.

1. Yes I have students. They all wear white uniforms, and all of them are very dedicated. 2. I still consider Hee Il Cho a prostitute. I don't care how good his technique is. I've noticed he never seems to shy away from a camera, movie role, or chance to be in a magazine.