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.

The newer younger Instructors who only know and teach sport-style do tend to be weaker when it comes to power and waist action. The older generation Instructors (my Instructor being one) were something else. You definitely did not want to get hit by them.

None of them. I wanted to practice martial arts before I started watching martial arts films. I admired Bruce Lee's technique and speed, but didn't start practicing Tae Kwon Do because of him. Although practicing Tae Kwon Do made watching MA films interesting because I liked to compare how they did technique with how I did it. Who was better?

As far as using hip torque and pivot, the older Kwan-based Tae Kwon Do schools still practice this to make power. Older TKD resembles Tang Soo Do, and Tang Soo Do resembles Karate. Don't forget, Hwang Kee was not the first to call his style Tang Soo Do. It was Won Kuk Lee, Chung Do Kwan founder. Kee was allowed to call his art TSD to attract more students by Lee and others. Lee's reputation was such that calling your art the same name as his was beneficial to other instructors. In fact, within our TKD organization, we have always used older original terms for techniques rather than standardized WTF terms, even we practice WTF style.

Keep in mind, you are going to class to train, not meet dates. if you are an Instructor, DO NOT DATE YOUR STUDENTS. I cannot emphasize that enough. Also, color belts in the same class should not date each other. Yeah, I know human nature being what it is what if an attractive student joins? What if an attractive student does join? Put your personal feelings aside and focus on why you're there. Wait until both of you are black belts. Camaraderie in class is okay, but sexual politics muddies the waters too much. Again, you are there to train not meet dates.

I went to see "A Perfect Weapon" years ago with a friend of mine (we were both MA film buffs) when it came out. It was our opinion that Speakman got his butt kicked by the Tae Kwon Do guys. However, since he was the star, it would not look good to lose to a bunch of Tae Kwon Do guys. So he had to win.

It's funny. Whenever my Instructor mentions the Instructors he has any respect for, it stays to Won Kuk Lee, Gen. Choi, Jhoon Rhee, Hee Il Cho-instructors from more or less his generation or before. He never mentions more modern instructors, it's always the older ones. Knowing him as I do, for an instructor to earn his respect he would have to have either awesome technique or be a world leader. And I don't mean "Hollywood" technique either. I mean awesome traditional technique.

Any Don "The Dragon" Wilson film. I physically cannot sit through a Don Wilson film without turning it off. That's how bad they are.

I'm actually taking a break right now, in the sense that I am no longer teaching and actively involved in our organization. However, it is not out of lack of interest. I am currently working toward getting certified in radiography, and I simply cannot focus my attention on teaching AND going to school. After I finish school, I might resume teaching again, depending on my schedule. However, I still remain in contact with my black belt students, who are training/practicing with another of our Instructors, and I still practice on my own. So in that aspect I am still involved. I am learning that life is not just about Tae Kwon Do. I am probably never going to be totally out of Tae Kwon Do. My life would suffer too much.

Wouldn't trade my Sa Bum Nim for anybody. I've never seen anyone more intense about Tae Kwon Do. Anyone who thinks TKD doesn't work or is for wimps never trained under this guy. Aside from his amazing power and technique, he epitomizes traditional manners and etiquette.

So is Kenpo simply kung fu then? If it came from China (which is what everyone says) then why is it not called "kung fu"? Or what differentiates kenpo from kung fu?