Aodhan

Yeah, well, it has been close to 20 years, I'm surprised they were still in business. But, he's got a younger partner that is also teaching. John

Aodan, in my 30+ years in Taekwondo I have to agree with DWx here. Retesting at a new dojang is the simplest way to get that certificate. I'm sorry that this happened to you, but you are not alone. Perhaps a new dojang under a master whom you trust might rekindle your love of Taekwondo. You might find it to be a wonderful experience. All my best to you in your journey. I have not lost my love for Taekwondo. I am currently a 4th degree certified instructor with the ATA. I would have liked to have had the certificate for historical purposes, as it was something that I earned. Retesting, while an option, would be a large pain at this point as it has been many many years since I was in a WTF school and I don't remember the forms. I did manage to get in touch with the former dojang (I found the name on one of the couple of certificates that I did find), and they have no records that far back. So, I guess it's one of those things that shall remain lost. John

I have a bit of a dilemma. I achieved black belt rank in WTF in the mid 90's in Nevada, while I was in the Air Force. When I was discharged, the AF lost some items shipping them to my home, chiefly among them my black belt certificate. Now, come to find out that Kukkiwon has no record of me. (I finally went to get it re-issued, as I'm starting to do some clinics and it would be nice to list it on the resume.) All that I currently have is my green belt certificates and a couple medals from the state championship event that year. Is there a way to appeal this to the Kukkiwon that my instructor (Who I cannot track down) never registered me? Or am I just out of luck as far as the official recognition of rank goes? John

In the past, I've seen some rewards from the "bring a friend" idea, that if the friend signs up, then you reduce the montly fee of the one who brought him in by maybe 5% or something.Yes, we do that as well. Usually if the friend signs up, they get $10 for each friend off of their next testing or gear order. Ninja nights and other "bring a friend" parties like this are awesome. We are lucky enough to have Ernie Reyes Jr. working for our schools now, gets a lot of interest in the demos and he's a really cool dude to talk to. John

Our white belt form has: Front stance Middle Stance Reverse punch High block Low block Inner forearm block Knifehand strike. Yellow belt form adds: Double knife hand block Spearhand Jump Front kick Backfist So, there isn't really a lot of difference. And, there are ways to teach it that they "get it" during the curriculum block. I wouldn't block more than that, and if/when I have my own school, I would seriously consider white as it's own block, then block by two's the rest of the way. John

This is not the fault of the style, but rather the application of the training within the style. An elbow to the side of the head is the same, whether you call it Isshinryu, TKD, Shotokan, WingDings Finger food or reality training. You are probably learning bone breaks, elbows, in close fighting, groundfighting, etc. These are all things that can be gleaned in just about every art out there. It's how you apply the training in various situations that differs from style to style (and school to school). Rather than say "Well, that was 12 years wasted", see what you know that can be applied in your current training regimen. If there is absolutely nothing that can be applied, then you either really did waste 12 years or your new training isn't as reality as you think it might be. John

Quite a few ATA schools do what they call "blocking" of forms. We have 9 colored belt forms, and the most popular is to block by threes. So, if you happen to start with the Yellow belt form, then your next form would be white belt, and the next would be orange. There are some disadvantages to this, in that there are some slightly advanced techniques in the yellow belt form (In ATA, the yellow form has a jump front kick.) If you come in during the most advanced form portion of the block, then you'd be learning the blue belt form (6th colored belt) as your 4th form instead of 6th. I was against this at the beginning, but I believe that if you pay attention to the basics, it works. It certainly does make it easier to teach slightly larger classes, as if you have a class of 20, you're not teaching 7 different forms. Black belt forms are not blocked. I also don't agree with the concept of blocking the entire curriculum, I think it's inviting too much in the way of injury to have a brand new student doing a brown or red belt form. John

I've tried that, with limited success on lesser weight doboks (gi's). For the OP, if you really feel the need for an ironed one for demos/testing/tournaments, I would suggest dry cleaning and pressing, and then use other doboks for general class. John

Well, even if it's a large community, you will never really get it going because it's a closed group. If you can't teach anyone but community members where you are, then to grow at all you will need to find a different place to teach. As far as ideas about attracting students: - Demonstrations at grade schools - Home depot has events geared towards kids every couple months where other groups can show up and demonstrate/have an interest table - Boy/Girl scout groups, self defense seminars - Kiosk at a mall - Demonstrations at movie theaters when a MA themed movie comes out Always have a schedule or card with contact information readily available as well. Welcome to the forums! John

Welcome! MMA is to martial arts as Riverdance was to Irish Dance (My wife was a competitive Irish dancer and is now a teacher), or Bobby Fischer to chess in the 70's. You see an initial explosion of interest, mass registrations, and then it dies back again, to a slightly higher level than before. Everyone that says "Oh, MMA is REAL fighting", no. It's another contest according to certain rules. No downward elbows, no groin shots, no biting, no eye gouging, etc. Yes, it's a harder contact and punishing sport, but it's still not a street fight. I was at a weekend regional camp this weekend, and one of our senior masters made an excellent point, in that many many techniques across all martial arts are the same. So, if you have a cup of coffee in a cup labeled "ATA TKD", and you pour it into a cup of coffee labeled "Krav Maga", does the coffee change? Or just the container that it's in? Now, yes, there are some distinctions and variations between martial arts, and that is where your cream and sugar come in. Some people like a little cinnamon, honey, etc. What's going to happen is that you will see tons of people rushing to sign up at MA and MMA schools, discover that it's actually hard work and often painful, and drop out. But, you'll get some that will love it, and will stay. John

Looking for some new exercises and drills to work on agility, movement and/or balance to shake up my classes a bit. What do you all have/do for each of those segments? John

For the ATA, they have implemented Fitness testing before you can test at a National or World event (Which is mandatory for anyone testing past 3rd degree, must be done at a Nat/World event. 4th to 5th and higher must be done at Worlds). 1 min round, 1 min rest. You have to do pushups and situps, then on the bag punches, kicks, and punch/kick combo. (Must have at least 1 kick per 2 punches). The bags have impact meters, so weaker techniques won't count. Minimum standards apply. For example, in my 40-49 male age group, it is 40 pushups and 47 situps. I can't remember the standards for the kick/punch items. However, if you are deficient in some areas, you can make it up in others. For example, if you do 30 pushups, then you need to score 10 extra among the other standards. Our schools also implement a 1 mile run and a few other items above and beyond these when testing for any black belt rank. John

Here in Phoenix, ATA regional tournament this last weekend. John Very cool. My former instructor is Tony Collett, and he is out of Colorado. Are you familiar with him?Not directly, I believe he recently achieved 5th degree. Paragon martial arts, yes? With Stan Shields? I've taken "drop in" lessons there when I've been back to Co visiting my parents, but I don't recall Mr. Collett specifically. John

Same here. I've been in martial for 28 years and never been hit/kicked/physically abused as a punishment. Now, I will admit to "tuning up" an attitude in sparring class on occasion, but never in a malicious manner, and certainly never done to humiliate/demean anyone. John

Amen, brother. I hear ya. Although I like to imagine that I'm a super athlete in my head as I'm falling asleep. I wonder what it might look like if martial arts studios had a special achievement rank parallel to but not exactly a black belt. I think this whole argument centers around our society's rejection of the idea that there might be things that some people can't have - we're a very "anybody can do anything!" kind of society (which I mostly admire). But not everybody can get a PhD. Some people just flunk out. And not everyone can be a doctor or a policeman, or an NFL player. And despite what we tell our children, not everyone can really be president of the United States (probably). So how come we all accept that, but we don't accept that not everyone can be a black belt? I guess because it's a leisure activity, not a necessity/public service? Or because there's no direct and tangible negative consequence for giving out black belts (as opposed to having your roofer decide he's your surgeon!)? All I have are more questions, no answers. And they are good questions. Why isn't there a parallel ranking system? The local ice rink runs adult hockey leagues, and they are rated from D (Can stand on their skates without hurting themselves or anyone else) up through AA (Has some former pros), everyone has fun and as their skills improve they get to move up. I guess it's all in the standards that you set. If you say X number of classes, being able to do all your forms, break boards in a certain manner, weapons and sparring are the standards for a certain rank, and someone meets those standards, should they not be promoted? I can see both sides of the argument, and both sides have very valid points. One last consideration, is that we often tell our students that black belt is the first step on truly starting to learn. If they don't get to that rank, then they stagnate and quit. It's superhuman people that can consistently do something with no hope of reward/advancement. If they stagnate and quit, does that protect or diminish the art? John

ATA rules- 1 point for punch or kick to body. 2 points for kick to head or jump kick to body. 3 points for jump kick to head. (To qualify as a jump kick, both feet must be off floor at time kick lands). We do not allow kicks below belt or to back, and no hands to head in tournament or testing sparring. (We teach hands to head in class sparring). In the younger ranks, if the technique is controlled and doesn't hit, if there is no attempt to block/evade we will call the point. This encourages control and not killing your opponent who didn't see it coming. John

While it is a completely safe supplement, I wonder if creatine played any part in this. If you cut water weight sharply, one of the things that you do is increase the viscosity of the blood, and place a greater strain on the kidneys. This can be a contributing factor, IIRC there were some deaths attributed to creatine/cutting weight in the early days of creatine adoption by the masses. John

Here in Phoenix, ATA regional tournament this last weekend. John

For all of those - If you ARE a police officer, and a good one, does it diminish you if they hire an unqualified rookie? If you are Placido Domingo, does it make you less of a singer to watch the tryouts for X-factor/Voice/Whatever singing show you watch? If you are a world renowned surgeon, does it make you less of a doctor if someone weaseled into school on a technicality? There are many many people that once they hit the minimum, they actually regress and become worse. Rogue/bad cops, malpractice suits, incompetent doctors that don't keep up with education, singers that turn to autotune, black belts that get Shodan and quit, etc. Often I find that the ones that struggle the most and are what you would probably deem "substandard" are the ones that are working the hardest to get it right. So, if I promote someone that you would deem substandard because of where they started originally, does that make your black belt any less of an achievement? Isn't the value of a black belt in what it means to you personally, and not the public opinion of it? When you look at your belt, I assume you see the same things I do. Blood, sweat, sacrifice, pain, perseverance, dedication. When I look at the students that I mentioned before, I see the same things. They have put in the time, sweat, sacrifice and pain to get where they are. Just because another student might be able to kick higher and faster, or outperform them, does that make their effort worth less, or worth less notice? John

Why is this a bad thing? If you have people that want to pursue martial arts primarily for the sport aspect, they are at the very least going to learn basic self defense along the way. Promoting it as a sport gets more people participating. I participated in Shotokan competitions, no pads, hardwood floors, etc. Now I participate in TKD point sparring, with all the pads and restrictions that go with it. I still enjoy the competition. I don't need to limp for a week to feel satisfied, and I think that there are a lot of people that feel the same way. I am reminded of a line from the movie Rounders - "You don't think!" - "No, I don't think like you!" If a person is training, enjoying what they do, and improving their body, why tear down the art that they do because they don't train the way you do? I proudly train in the ATA, which gets labeled as one of the biggest McDojo offenders out there. Yes, there are some schools that fit that description, but that is true in any art. One of the reasons that we get that label, is that we consider where a person started as well as where they are currently. Eternal GrandMaster often said "Today not possible, tomorrow possible." If we get a 45 y/o man that is 200 lbs overweight, never exercised in his life and can't pick up his foot more than 6" without falling over, and in 3 years he's lost 150 lbs, can balance and perform all the required forms, breaks his boards at testings, spars, but can't manage a kick above mid thigh yet, I would proudly award that man a black belt. If I get an autistic kid that when he came in for his first class stayed curled in a ball in the corner all class, but after a few years of training he is able to interact in the class and participate, but still has to be led through parts of his forms at testings, I'd also proudly award that child a black belt. Maybe that means someone labels me a McDojo teacher because all they see is a black belt that can't kick high, or a child that has to be led through parts of his forms, but I see a man that has sweated, bled, suffered and trained hard and earned the privilege. I see a child that now interacts with the world rather than retreating from it. Never discount someone else's journey just because it differs from yours. John

While he may have several belts in different systems, I would bet that at least some of them are ceremonial in nature. I have met him and my co-worker has a brother that works in the industry, and in person he is less than inspirational to put it nicely. However, he was designated as a Lama a few years back, so he has that going for him. John

Once I got my fourth degree, I took a year off. First class back last year I ruptured my Achilles tendon, so I had another year off for surgery and rehab. Been back in the dojangh training since early August, and had my first competition back on Saturday. 4th/5th degrees, men 40-49 was my ring. Consists of a friend I've trained with for years, another 4th degree, myself and my instructor (5th about to test for 6th). Ended up beating my friend 5-4 in the first round, and lost 5-2 to my instructor in the final round. However, I did get a VERY nice twist kick to his chin (Twisted his helmet around! ) for my only two points. Ganked up my bo staff form somewhat, ended up 3rd in that, 2nd in the forms competition (Again to my instructor), and 3rd in Combat bangh mangh ee (Basically stick sparring with padded sticks) in my first time ever competing at it. (Lost to my instructor, I'm sensing a theme here!) Felt great to be back in the ring again! Next up on the agenda is a sword form for our creative division for the November tournament. John

Minor differences creep into everything, and especially in a physical endeavour. I remember in my first instructor camp, we spent a good couple hours with a couple of our very senior ranks out from HQ on the differences in knee position for the prep phase of a round kick. We went through three or four different ones, and the differences were literally an inch or so between each one, but we dissected each and found good/bad aspects of all of them. Some might be better for sparring, others would be better for a forms competition. Inner forearm block - I've had some instructors that like the upper/lower arm at 90 degrees, and some that prefer it around 65-70 degrees. Will each block a punch coming in? If yes, then it's an effective block and the minor difference in arm angle doesn't mean anything. While I find it admirable that you want to learn the original hyungs, consider that they have had 60+ years to adapt, see what works and doesn't, improve and change. I would learn both, and use what works if you need it. John

That is a very nice form! I like the split between slow and fast techniques in parts of it, at least in the couple of videos I watched of it. John

Yeah I have it just once a week. Missed this week because of stuff with the kids at school. Can't wait till next Monday. I hope I pick it up quickly. Trying not to be too hard on myself with any of it be it weapons or karate. Just a baby when it comes to this. Just take your time. Carry the weapon around, get used to the feel of it, where the balance points are, how it feels in your hand. The more used to it you get, the better you will be in the end. Your eventual goal is for the weapon to just feel like a natural extension of your hand/arm. John