tkdBill

In that case you need to run away from that club and your old instructor. No decent instructor is dishonest and a thief. Integrity is a tenent of my style (taekwondo). I'm quite certain that integrity is essential in all martial arts. You must be able to trust your instructor! Without that, you have nothing. --

That's not all that scary...he needs just 40 students to break even and pay his home bills. $85 is a reasonable rate in most parts of the U.S. Sounds like he could do real well with 50 - 60 students. If he sells a few t-shirts and makes a few dollars in testing fees, it's definitely do-able. I opened my full-time school 9 months ago. The most important thing I did was spend time with established school owners, observe their schools and "pick their brains". --

If the black belt went on his own and decided to pass her in spite of objections by the other black belts, you have a legitimate beef. You need to talk to your instructor about the incident and ask him to be up front with you about the pecking order. If you cannot trust your co-instructors to uphold standards and be fair, you may have to reconsider your association with this club. --

The problem with attacking small targets is compounded by the fact that our fine motor skills degrade in a stressful situation. Also there is almost no margin for error when going for such a small target. If I attempt to strike the ribs and miss and just hit kidneys or gut, I've still hit something. If I try to grab a hand and miss by a little bit, what have I got? oh, yeah, a broken nose (or worse). --

I hate the term McDojo as well. On this forum, a McDojo is any MA school that someone thinks is not as good as their own, especially if they don't know much about the school. Some MA's take longer to reach black belt because the art is more difficult to learn. Taekwondo is one of the easier MA's to learn, so of course it takes less time to earn a BB than in a more intricate art. I have not heard of 4th degrees in less than 10 years either. --

Hmmm...I have over 100 active students and still consider my school a small school. I offer 5 classes a day and most students come to 2 or 3 a week, so each class is typically only about 10 to 20 students. I have a friend who has a large school...over 350 active students. Of course I've only been open for 9 months, and my friend has been there for 10 years. --

Awesome! If you can push aside the laws of physics for a second or two you are a cinch for a nobel prize. Can I have your autograph? --

Well said White Warlock. It's like any other product or service. Some are good, some are not, but either can be marketed well. You must delve beyond the image and investigate the instuctor and his class. Also, never judge a school's adult program by looking at their kids program (and visa-versa). The two are often totally different. --

I am part of Taekwondo America, and organization of about 60 schools in the U.S. Unlike most other orgs, there is no owner or small group of owners. It is owned by the school owners. The president is elected periodically, and is one of my peers, a school owner. They certify instructors and do rank promotions for everyone above 2nd degree. --

You are correct, I only used it because that is how you asked. We call it a membership. I do my own billing via debit or credit card. I'm thinking about using a billing company because it's starting to get to be too much. I like to focus on teaching and my personal development. --

Annual contracts, I would not do it any other way. Contracts are contoversial on this forum, but not so in real life. When I first started I was tempted to allow some month-to-month to attract borderline people. As it turns out, I don't really want borderline people, or parents who allow their kids to quit whenever it gets too hard. Now that I have over 100 students (all on contracts), I feel perfectly comfortable requiring contracts, if they're not willing to commit, I don't want them. My contract includes a 30-day guarantee, and I will give prospective students as many free classes as they need to try it out. In 10 months, I have had exactly one person exercise the 30-day cancellation. Also, make sure you collect monthly fees via auto-debit. If you're like me, you like teaching MA much more than bill-collecting. --

MasterH, I made the jump last October and couldn't be happier with my decision. The good news is that all the resistance to paying a reasonable price for training is apparently only on this forum. In real life, I have not had a single person object to the monthly fee or the testing fees. The usual reaction when I tell them the price ($90/month) is "that's not bad" and then they sign up. --

scottnshelly, you are so right. When looking at MA schools, you can almost never judge the school by the website. Talk to the instructor, try a few classes, talk to a few students, and then decide. --

MasterH, My instructor was Master Allemier. --

By teaching full-time, I have been able to RAISE my standards. Instead of spending most of my time devoted to some other endeavor to earn a living, I now spend all of my time refining and improving my teaching skills and my school. It's like anything else, the more time and effort you put into something, the better you become. --

MasterH, MMA competitors are always "exceptions to the rule" the vast majority of practitioners in all martial arts do not enter MMA competitions. In my area (TX, LA, OK), ATA requires weapons training for all black belts including weapons forms. They cannot advance in rank without it. That's one of the reasons I left them. Master H. U. Lee was an "empty hand" purist who did not approve of weapons training. Very soon after he passed, weapons training started entering the program. I have the same problems with ATA as you. I left them many years ago because I did not like their direction and politics. --

All the ATA schools in my area DO weapons training. I also know a few ATA people who compete in MMA competions and do well. Of course they train in other arts as well. MMA, after all, is mixed martial arts. I would guess that practitioners of any traditional martial art would not fare well in MMA competitions unless they cross-train. --

I have a 9 year old student who is just incredible in what he can do. I don't see what the big deal is about letting him EARN his black belt. I am proud of his accomplishments and I was proud to award him his black belt. He deserves it. There are plenty of McDojos giving black belts to people who don't deserve them. I don't award them to anyone who does not deserve them, nor do I deny them to anyone who does. Those of you who think that children should not be allowed to earn a black belt need to get over it. The horse is already out of the barn (and has been for a couple of decades) Most martial arts schools, even the non-McDojos, have been awarding black belts to deserving children for many years. --

Why would you draw the line at 16?? As the father of two teenage boys and an instructor to quite a few more, it is my opinion that maturity actually goes down around that age. If a line must be drawn it should be after 20 or somewhere between 8 and 12. Wouldn't you agree that an 11 year old who has been working just as hard, just as long, and has the same proficiency as a 16 year old should be given a BB? If not a BB, then what would you give him? Would he reach a point where his training and advancement would no longer progress? --

Muaythaiboxer, every taekwondo school I've seen (including mine) teaches low licks AND hand strikes to the head. When sparring in class we use both. Competition sparring is just that, competition sparring. It is not what we practice on a day-to-day basis. My students know full well that tournaments are not meant to be self-defense practice. They are just for fun. If your only exposure to taekwondo is from watching competitions, you have only seen a small, rather un-important part of our art. Most of my students have never been to a tournament. Of course there are those who are overly concerned with tournament competition, but that is the small minority. Conditioning is also an important part of my students' training. I'm not sure what your experience with taekwondo is, but it's certainly not at any of the schools I know of. --

Different organizations have different ways to make money. Our organization is there just to serve the schools, and in it's charter it's not permitted to retain earnings. In effect, it does not make a profit. All of the money is used for actual services and expenses. --

I also make a few dollars from the testing fees. I have a mortgage and a family to provide for, so I don't feel bad about working hard AND getting paid for it. --

Our association fee is the only source of income for our association. Like any organization, they need some money to operate. What we pay them is well worth it. We don't need to bring in someone, we do it for the benefit of our students. They usually get to see things they haven't seen before, and a chance to experience our art beyond of our small community. Who wouldn't want to watch a demonstration by a skilled martial artist from somewhere else? Since the visiting instructor also helps on our judging panel, it helps us stay consistent and objective. While I think I am a pretty good judge of skill, I am human and subject to the shortcomings that brings. --

Enviroman, I think you are being overly cautious. My young students do board breaking and grappling. These same kids and their friends are jumping over things on their bikes, wiping out at skateboard parks, and playing roller hockey in the street. What we do in a very controlled and safe environment is probably one of the least risky parts of their day. My own son who is 11 years old is in an arm cast right now. This is the third time he's broken an arm or elbow. None of those injuries occurred during his 4 years of martial arts training. He fell off his bike while trying jump a curb. Another time he fell out of a tree, and another was a skateboard wipeout. --

We charge $50 testing fee. A school down the road from me does not charge a testing fee, but their monthly fee is $15 higher than mine. In effect he builds his testing fee into his monthly fee. Neither one of us are wrong or right, just different. Our testing is a pretty big deal. We bring in a guest instructor from out of state to sit on the judging panel and perform a demonstration midway through the testing. Also, since our national organization regulates belt ranks and issues the rank certificates, we have to pay them part of the testing fee. --