SloMo

I like McDojos! Why? Because they make my school look great! OK, all kidding aside, I don't care for them BUT they have a right to exist. Should Yale or MIT say that community colleges or trade schools should not exist because they do not have the standards that they do? There is a major McDojo chain of schools here. They do a huge business and maybe part of what makes them annoying is the fact that they are successful. Our school operates out of school cafeterias, church gyms and club houses. We charge very little because of that and our students and parents understand. We would love to have the money that the chain school does. They even built a whole building for themselves ! Here's a question to all of you that I would be interested in hearing your opinion on. Can a MA school with high standards ever make it as well as a McDojo?

Hey, I personally don't have any tattoos simply because I can't think of anything I woudl want on my body for the rest of my life! If I could think of one I would get one. It's a form of personal expression. If you have something that you feel strongly enough about to have it tattooed on your body then that's great! Whatever you get I hope it brings you years of pleasure.

At a young age I wouldn't worry so much about which art to choose but more on what type of teachers and class settings you can find. For very young students ( 4 - 7 ) I would look for smaller classes with most, if not all, the kids being about the same age. If the classes are larger you should check the class / instructor ratio. Also the classes should not be very long. And most important, the classes should be fun for you child! If they have fun they they will enjoy the experience and want to continue for years to come. Now there are some kids who can take things very seriously from a young age. It's important to find a class that your child can meld with. DIfferent styles have different methods of teaching. Talk to the instructors and ask them what are their goals when teaching a child of a certain age. If you like what you hear, great! If not, then trust your instincts and find somewhere else. Lastly, make sure you manage your expectations for your child. You won't see dramatic changes but you should expect to see small changes as time goes on. OK, that's my two cents!

I think lesson plans are needed. Just don't alow yourself to be married to them. You need lesson plans to make sure you have balanced all of the training. But sometimes, depending on the mood of the class, how they are progressing, etc, you might need to deviate or completely throw out that days plan. If the class seems a little lazy that day you might switch up and do some more energetic items to get the class's blood pumping. Or you might want to spend some more time on something that the class is having difficulty with. Some teachers can do a class "off the cuff" but that usually takes years of experience. So, I say, do a plan. But use it as a guideline not as a hard fast rule.

It's now been officially over a year since I quit smoking!!! I quit for a couple of reasons, but one of them was that it was interfering with my MA training. I think MA is what helped me learn that you can do some pretty difficult things if you put your mind to it! Any smokers or reformed smokers out there?

My brothers and I joke that we're a litter of mutts ( We're part Black, Korean, Irish and Native American ). Plus I was raised in NYC, hence the "da" part.

Another reason teaching should be required ( in my opinion ) is that it makes you a better MA. When you teach something, you are forced to look at things in detail. Which makes you look at yourself. It also makes the advanced students review basics that they haven't looked at critically in a while in some cases. We have teaching requirements to get your 1st Dan. After that you can go the Instructor route to your 2nd dan or not.

It's funny that my first TKD instructor was a man, but his instructor was a woman. The instructor who took me to black belt is a woman. The instructor who took me to my 2nd dan is a woman. I guess this is unusual. Looking into the future though, she is the only active female black belt. We have a few woman black belts but they all quit not too long after getting their black belts for various reasons. It may just be a matter of percentages. More men do MA than women, generally speaking, so I guess you should expect that percentage to carry into instructors as well. Also, more women are doing martial arts today than in the past so I would expect ( and hope ) that the number of female instructors shoudl increase as well.

Mo - WTF TKD 2nd Dan Buddy of mine in college was a 2nd degree and started a club. I joined because it was something to do. After college took Wing Chun because my brother took it and I couldn't find a TKD school that I liked. Moved to Florida and found a TKD school here through a work friend. Been back with it ever since ( 10 years )! I love teaching.

I agree, it's pretty stupid. I've seen greying belts and I keep waiting for mine to start to grey on its own! Anybody who knows anything knows 1) You rarely if ever wash your belt 2) It takes many many many years and a lot of use for a belt to go grey. Seeing little kids with them on is just dumb. But, whatever. The proof is always in the pudding.

Welcome!

Welcome and good luck!

Welcome!

Is it going to be for profit or fun? Full time or part time?

Welcome!

I did a search on bookfinder.com and got a hit. Give it a shot. Doesn't look cheap though.

Welcome!

I really don't see how it can be done in a year IMHO. 2-3 is more likely in my opinion. Can it be done? I suppose so but it would have to be an exceptional student who is extremely dedicated. In our school it's also not just learning the material. You need to have teaching hours and we have added a community service requirement as well. ( That is not typical of TKD it's just something we believe in ). But even without it. It would be rough to do in a year. Now your friend may be a great student who deserves receiving the BB. I'm talking mostly about my experiences.

Welcome!

That's a tough question. If I have a student for any length of time and they want to quit I see that as a failure on my part and I try ( perhaps stoo hard ) to keep them. Students get discouraged. When a student is lagging ( but still trying ) I look to see what I could be doing differently help that student progress. I agree with ladyj that the ones who really want to quit generally just leave quietly. If a student is coming to class and working hard then I think that they do not want to quit and do everything I can to help them.

Sorry your friends school didn't do anything for you. Don't discount TKD because of one school though. Because it's so popular, there are a lot of not so good schools out there that forget the basics that the art came from. But that isn't to say that TKD is for you. I personally believe that finding the right MA is like finding a good pair of shoes, they have to fit, you have to comfortable in them and you need to be able to wear them for a long time! Pineapple's question is a good one. What are you looking to accomplish?

Welcome! Lot's of good info here!

This is a bit personal for me but I could never understand how it is that if a Martial Artist grew up in "The slums of { fill in name of city here}" that it makes them more qualified or better qualified to teach Martial Arts. It just seems like so much Hollywood to me. Just about everybody ( myself included ) puts their instructor on a bit of a pedestal. I don't see what it is about how they grew up that makes them a better teacher.

I don't have specific goals but I have vowed to get my butt back into shape and test for my 3rd Dan.

Congrats! I'm hopefully going to be testing the middle of the year. Excellent work!