foreveryoung001

Great point! plus, the argument of being "smarter" than someone else, seems rather subjective. As an "old school" disc jockey, I had to learn the basic workings of a tranmitter... plate current, frequency modulation, and things which are no longer required knowledge for an on-air talent. These are things my current MA master has no concept of. If I choose to make the argument, I could say I do have more knowledge than him. He has also been studying the MAs for over 40 years, and he will always have more knowledge than me. (Plus, even at 60, he can still take me). I understand your dilema though, and I would say that if you have truly reached a level where your instructor can no longer help you acheive more knowledge, then perhaps it is time to change. But I would suggest speaking to him/her about this, and let your feelings and concerns be known.

Well, I'll be glad to throw my two cents in... I have had limited exposure to many different styles outside of TKD. A tourny I attended last summer... well, let's just say I got my a** handed to me by a gentelman who practiced a style I still can't pronounce. At other times, I have faired quite well against some other styles. As far as forms are concerned, I love to watch some of the Chinese MAs. Some of their forms are fantasticly (is that a word?) fun to watch. The TKD forms, even my 1st & 2nd Dan forms seem very rigid and stiff when compared.... almost uncreative, if you will. As far as effectiveness, training techniques, or philosophies, I have had no exposure to them. Just my two cents...

Just a thought... From the perspective of another Christian, it is my understanding that to be a Christian, is to be "Christ-like". I am under the impression that our main purpose on this earth, is to show God's love to the world, and in doing so, to spread the gospel. That being said... Jesus himself, spent a night at Matthew's home, the tax collector. This was seen by the Jewish leaders as a sin. By doing this, Jesus was reaching out to a certain selection of people who might not otherwise have had a chance to here his words. In my particualr MA, I have not been exposed to Ki, nor have I studied it in any depth. My question though, is that if studying, learning, teaching, or trying to use this Ki opens a door to spread God's love to someone who might not otherwise have a chance to experience it, as a Christian, would you still consider it wrong?

Back on topic. Ken, I thought your article was very well written. Some of the earlier posts seem to have taken the debate in a different direction, and they might interesting to pursue, but I do agree with your basic premise. I too am a Christian, and I enjoy my particular form of MA. I will admit I may have a limited view, the orgnaization that I am assoc. with was founded in 1967 by a Christian, with the goal of using it as an evangelistic tool. I have not been exposed to many other styles, so I can not comment on them. I did enjoy your article! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

the nearest school affiliated with my assoc. is about three hours away. Therefor I am forced to train quite regularly from videos provided from the assoc. I've decided two things. It is not easy training for my 2nd dan from the videos, and number two.... it is not easy training for my 2nd dan from videos. I do like the fact the every student across the country has access to these videos, and when it comes to the forms, the videos trump the instructors. In other words, slight variations that different instructors might introduce are generally cancalled out when the students make use of the videos. If I train with a club in Ohio, I know I they will be teaching the forms exactly like a club in Florida, or Michigan, etc... Other than that, I think nothing can truly replace the live instructor, but they can be a nice supplement.

In my style, 1st gup and below would cross it in the back, 1st dan and up would tie it in the single belt fashion. I was never sure of the reasons behind it, other than tradition.

I have had a similar experience. I received my 1st dan in the USCDA in 1988 after almost 4 years of hard work. I graduated the same year and moved about three hours away, and there were no Chung Do Kwan schools anywhere near me. To keep in shape, I worked out with a co-worker from time to time. He was a 3rd dan in a style I don't recall. One day he came to work and gave me a dan certificate for an organization that he was trying to start, the Universal TKD Assoc of Michigan, or some such nonsense. We had only worked out together a 1/2 dozen times, nothing to intense, but it didn't stop him from giving me something that was most likely ordered out of the back of some magazine. He offered to make it for a 2nd dan if I would help promote his organization. Long story short, I am still a first dan with the USCDKA. I had no idea this type of thing was that common.

I simply looked under "Embroidery" in the yellow pages. I live in a small town, population 5000, we may push 30,000 in the county, but still nothing big. Within 60 miles of my town, there are 12 different listing under embroidery, three right in town. I took an afternoon to call them all, and find out if they could do what I wanted. then I went to each one and looked at some of their samples. One of them, about two miles from my house, had the best work for the price, and they were willing to do anything I needed.

Very True. It is something you would have to watch out for

I think you will find that it is much easier to defend yourself when you know what attack is coming. Fake low-strike high, or fake high-strike low. The use of good fakes (a fake that doesn't look like a fake), and your sparring success will improve with any techniques you choose to use.

I had my best success by tracking down a local shop in my area to do the embroidery work for us. I haven't done a whole lot of comparison pricing, and I may be paying a little more than if I had found a supply company to do the work, but I did have a chance to view their work, so I know what kind of quality I am getting, and I also know the translations into Korean are accurate, since we provide them to the embroidery shop.

I have seen this work to some degree. If the dance studio has multiple class rooms, then finding open times may be easier. I would also suggest trying to work with a percentage lease rather than a straight per month lease. In other words, pay rent according to how many students you have in a particular month. This may be especially helpful if you have limited start-up capital. Not everyone is open to that type of set-up, but it may be worth investigating. Best of luck

New to this forum. I've been placed in a unique position to have an opportunity to open up a TKD school in my little town, to help a non-profit arts academy. having gone a while without formally instructing anyone, I thought I would swing by the local forum and get to know some new people, and perhaps pick up a new idea or two...or three... or four....

Chund Do Kwan TKD Ground fighting: 1 trapping, throws, takedowns: 2 fighting : 2 Punshing: 3 kicking: 4 weapons: 0 Cool Topic!