UpTheIrons

Granted, Kuk Sool Won and Tang Soo Do are both practiced in Korea. That is not disputed. However, it is a fallacy to claim any style other than Tae Kwon Do as the "Korean National Martial Art". No other style has instilled in the Korean people a sense of pride as Tae Kwon Do. Not Kuk Sool Won, and not Tang Soo Do. Am I degrading them? No. I am saying that neither are considered on the same level as Tae Kwon Do. And whether you consider TKD an art or sport is irrelevent. In Korea, Tae Kwon Do is #1. Yes, there is a subgroup of non-TKD students that does not get the publicity. You have to search them out because they are harder to find. If either were the National Martial Art of Korea, they would be easy to find. You want to find the Headquarters of the National Martial Art of Korea? Go to the Kukkiwon, located in downtown Seoul. It is also a fallacy to say that Kukkiwon/WTF TKD is only about sport. It emphasizes fighting more than other styles, but it is still a martial art.

I will say this: I don't really see a problem between black belts. Both are considered adults, so to speak. I strongly discourage dating between color belts who meet in class. I would almost say have a school policy against color belt dating.

My simple advice regarding dating fellow martial arts students: DON'T. I can't make it any plainer than that.

One problem: The Hwa Rang did not exist by the 1600's. They ceased to exist after the unification of Korea, which was centuries before the 1600's. Probably closer to 1000 AD or before.

I was not aware that there WAS a Florida Martial Arts Hall of Fame. Anyway, 8th or 10th Dan would mean worldwide recognition in your chosen art, not simply state recognition.

Tae Kwon Do is the national martial art of Korea. Granted, the sparring aspect gets much of the publicity, but Tae Kwon Do is still a martial art. Otherwise you would not have the Kukkiwon which oversees training and development of all aspects of Tae Kwon Do in Korea and the world. For the record, Tang Soo Do/Soo Bak Do is just as guilty of embellishing its historical credibility as Tae Kwon Do. In fact, Moo Duk Kwan TSD founder Hwang Kee at one time was a student of Chung Do Kwan founder Won Kuk Lee. Lee was the first to call his style Tang Soo Do.

To me, issuing an honorary rank to someone is a slap in the face to everyone who legitimately earned that rank. You either earn it or you don't. It is meaningless anyway. If the rank you are given is honorary, it means nothing because you didn't train for it and test for it.

One of the problems I have is when someone tries to justify their 10th Dan by listing all the honorary black belts and master ranks they have. Sorry, having a resume full of honorary ranks doesn't justify you being 10th Dan. It just means you are pals with whoever issued it to you, and you probably issued one to him.

Not necessarily. Not all famous martial artists who found their own styles claim 10th Dan. Ueshiba did not. No Tae Kwon Do Kwan Jang claimed highest Dan ranking. Kano did not. 10th Dan must be given to you by recognized Grandmasters in an art for outstanding contributions over a lifetime. You do not give yourself 10th Dan. Just because you found an art or style does not mean you deserve 10th Dan. It just means you founded an art.

Greatest accomplishments (so far): 1. Having two of my students, both 2nd Dans, teaching and being honorable Tae Kwon Do black belts. 2. Coaching a student who specifically asked for my help to the sparring gold medal at an Organization tournament several years back. I later helped him try out for and make the Demonstration Team. Greatest personal accomplishment: Testing for 4th Dan in front of my Instructor's colleagues, including Grandmaster Hae Man Park. It was by far my best test.

I had to spar my Instructor's son, who was training in Tournament style. I dreaded everytime I had to face him because he had some of the fastest kicking I ever saw and could do a high roundhouse before you could even block.

The big problem I have with the aforementioned test: there is nothing standardized. The nice thing about having an organization test (whether WTF, ITF, ATA etc.) is that everyone knows what the requirements are and what is expected of them. This is what you have to be able to do, and you either can or cannot. Pass or no pass. You start developing your own personal test, and I have no way of knowing whether you should pass or not because it doesn't fit into the standardized accepted framework. Same as school. The teacher passes the same test out to everyone. You either know the answers or you don't. Now, if I want to see your comprehention level and thought processes at work, I can give an essay test that forces you to think and express yourself. But nobody makes up their own test

You know, when I was going to school I wish my teachers had let me design my own tests, midterms, and finals. I probably would have gotten better grades.

I have been very fortunate that neither my Tae Kwon Do organization nor my Aikido organization seem to be racist. My Tae Kwon Do Grandmaster has made it a point of recommending several of his black students to the highest levels of the organization (6th Dan Senior Instructor). One of these Instructors has been the tournament director for several years now. Ironically, among the Korean students in Grand Rapids, none has achieved Master level yet. More ironically, their instructor (a white man) has attained 7th Dan level. He is married to a Chinese woman he met in China. Another of our Instructors, a 6th Dan and black, has a large organization in the Ken-Ten region, and many of his students are black as well. I don't think he actively recruits them, I think it is more they see other black students in class along with the Instructor and feel more comfortable there. But there is definitely no racial bias either way. I do know the students have a tremendous amount of respect for each other.

Anyone trained in a combative style is going to be held to a higher standard than a non practitioner. Not just in criminal court, but as far as civil action as well. The defendant's lawyers might very well claim that, as a trained fighter, you possess deadly abilities that the average person doesn't have. A gullible jury might very well buy it.