UpTheIrons

I have known people that I trained with that have used Tae Kwon Do successfully in self defense, some against weapons. We are WTF, but train in traditional style, emphasizing basics and power. It goes back to how you practice, not necessarily what organization you follow. If you train to win tournaments, good luck. You will be a good athlete, but will lose many of the attributes that will help you with self defense.

I'm 36, and feel as good or better than I did at 26. I have as much energy, kick and punch as strong, and overall feel as good as I always have. I never have days when I feel "old", just days when I feel sore from overuse. I attribute this to traditional Tae Kwon Do practice, with the energy and physical benefits it produces. My wife, unfortunately, thinks of Tae Kwon Do as simply a sport activity-one that I am passionate about, but a sport activity nonetheless. She also has days when she feels "old", and thinks I have too much energy for my age. She attributes it to ADD. Granted, she might be partially right (about the ADD), but she still doesn't understand Tae Kwon Do energy. I don't think anyone who doesn't practice does. And one of the above posters was correct. Most Western doctors are clueless when it comes to martial arts practice. They think if you injure yourself, your days of practicing are done. Very few of them understand martial arts-related injuries. That's why we have Chinese medicine.

Who says they're easy? They're probably very easy if you don't do them right, which can be said about any forms.

I disagree with Ji Do Kwan being the hardest style. Much of what I've read says that Chung Do Kwan training (the style I do) was almost brutal. Chung Do Kwan students had a reputation for having very powerful technique.

Koryo remains my personal favorite black belt form since it is beautiful to watch when done well and contains several Tae Kyon-derived techniques.

Tae Kwon Do has weapons disarming techniques as well. Don't confuse the sport version with the traditional/self defense version.

And the reason why 1st and 2nd Dans know of them is the hard work and dedication they have shown to world Tae Kwon Do. Gen. Choi and Jhoon Rhee would be considered 9th Dans. Why? Because everyone in the Tae Kwon Do world, regardless of affiliation, knows who they are. That means 9th Dan. If you claim 8th or 9th Dan, but noone outside your organization or circle of friends knows you, you are not really 9th dan. True story: The guy who teaches Tae Kwon Do at my alma mater claims Tae Kwon Do 9th Dan. The organization he claims it from? The organization he founded. Very convenient.

What I have found is that Hapkido seems to teach more joint locks and manipulation (stemming from its aikijitsu) roots. Tae Kwon Do or Tang Soo Do will teach more joint breaking-using a striking or blocking technique to hit and damage the joint as opposed to locking it or setting up a throw.

As my Instructor explained it, 4th Dan-5th Dan is teaching and producing good students. 6th Dan-7th Dan is about developing a national reputation and learning about Tae Kwon Do politics (which can be intriguing). 8th Dan-9th Dan is about developing a world reputation in your art, so that if you are a Tae Kwon Do Grandmaster, everyone in the Tae Kwon Do world knows who you are.

Kibon Il Chang. Kibon means "basics" and Il Chang means 1st in the set. At the time there was one white belt form. I think there are more now, though we still do the one white belt form. Apologize for the long block of white. Haven't mastered quoting specific sentences or paragraphs.

I thought there were 15 kwans, 5 major ones before 1950. I suppose maybe there were 9 by 1955 when "TaeKwonDo" was proposed by the council of kwan leaders/Choi Hong Hi (whichever history you buy into)?? 1. There were 9 recognized Kwans at the founding of the KTA in the early 60's. Don't ask me to name them, because I can't off the top of my head. I thought there were only 8 TaeGeuks. Even when they were still doing the PalGwe forms there were only 8 of those. Both sets of forms are in 8 to represent the 8 triagrams of the Iching. 2. There are 8 Palgue and Taegeuk forms, and the white belt form. So 9 total. I was told by my WTF instructor (when I was still with the WTF) that all degrees above 4th were honorary (meaning you don't have to test). They sent my WTF master a 5th degree certificate from the Kukkiwon in the mail... Tests above 4th Dan are not honorary. They are based less on your physical technique and more on your contributions to National and International Tae Kwon Do. The higher ranking you are, the more worlwide your recognition. Always makes me laugh to see these so-called Grandmasters who are unknown outside their organization or small group of friends. Edit: I guess its not honorary then.

In Kukkiwon Tae Kwon Do, the highest Dan possible is 9th Dan. The reason is that at the founding of the Korea Tae Kwon Do Association (which is where the Kukkiwon/WTF came from), there were 9 recognized schools of Tae Kwon Do. It's also why there are 9 gup-level forms and 9 Dan-level forms. Testing for 9th Dan is like any other testing (kind of): you are recommended by your Instructor and test before Kukkiwon-certified 9th Dans. You must test in Korea at the Kukkiwon. Unlike a regular testing, you may or may not actually demonstrate technique. Oftentimes, it is based on your credibility and the judges question you about your ideas on Tae Kwon Do. It can last quite a while.

In Tae Kwon Do weapons are not part of our curriculum, although our Grandmaster has shown the senior instructors some sword work because he practiced kendo in Korea. Otherwise, any weapons training is on your own. We do practice weapons defense though. In aikido, however, we practice with the bokken, jo, and tanto.

You don't have to be a model citizen to make good movies (or even average movies in his case). If being a good person was a requirement to make films, most of Hollywood would be unemployed.

It goes back to your motivation for teaching. There is nothing wrong with being able to make money from teaching. You have a marketable skill that is worth paying to learn, as well as expenses (facilities usage, utilities, rent etc.). In fact, I'm always suspicious of people who don't charge money for teaching. The problem is when you are teaching to make money. Making money is no longer a nice by-product of something you love doing, it becomes the reason why you do it. It is no different than a school teacher who teaches simply to make a buck. How enthusiastic is she going to be? You teach because you love passing your knowledge on to students and seeing them use that knowledge to better themselves. Martial arts is no different. Not to say you can't make some income off it, but I like to think that true traditional teachers are guided by principles other than money. I apparently am wrong. You know, my teacher years ago used to tell us to be careful of three things in life-money, women (it was all guys), and alcohol. Being driven by a desire for any of them is only trouble. McDojangs tend to be driven bya desire for money and publicity.

Different instructors might vary the routine slightly (I don't), but this is essentially how we always did basics: Horseback stance middle punch Front kickups Low block Stepping middle punch Stepping high punch Stepping high spear hand High block Side block (back stance) Marching middle side kick (chung dan yop chagi) Marching high side kick (sang dan yop chagi) Double knife hand block Inside knife hand strike (back stance) Knife hand strike-reverse punch combination (yup chin) in back stance

Our belt system is based on the Kukkiwon belt system: White-purity and innocence. You know nothing. Yellow-The color of the seed. No longer just off the street. Yellow-green: Basically just high yellow Low green/high green: The color of growth Low blue/high blue: The color of the sky-unlimited potential. Low red/high red: The color of blood. First, black belts are the "face" of Tae Kwon Do but red belts are the blood. They are the next generation and it is vital they be taught properly. Second, black belts are going to be less merciful with red belts. Expect to see some blood on your uniform. Black: 1st dan-9th Dan.

But that's EXACTLY why McDojangs are successful: They cater to the masses to keep bodies coming in the door. Think about it. For every one small intimate place that serves the best food you could imagine because they don't mass market or compromise you have 10,000 McDonalds that do. By extensive marketing and trying to reach the masses on a huge scale you become what you are trying to beat. McDojangs do this because their primary concern is money. Once you allow money to become your motivating force you become a McDojo. Traditional schools are not concerned with money. By definition, that means they will not compromise their standards and will remain smaller. Quality over quantity.

The best way to put a McDojang out of business is to be a viable alternative. Make it so that students would rather train with you than with them. If they come, great. If they don't, it was not meant to be. Keep in mind, McDojangs are meant for the masses. It takes someone special to train at a traditional school where the practice is HARD.

One thing that probably differentiates WTF Tae Kwon Do sparring from Tang Soo Do sparring is this: WTF sparring is continuous, meaning the fighters go at it non-stop until the ref stops the fight, for reasons that include going out of bounds or getting knocked out. As a result, WTF sparring evolved away from point fighting and toward hard contact and trembling shock.

Ho Shin Sul is not an art by itself. It is self defense techniques within Hapkido, Tang Soo Do, or Tae Kwon Do. Each art will have its unique approach to self defense, but that's all it is. There is no "difference" between Ho Shin Sul and TSD or TKD. It is simply each art's way of performing self defense.

Just an abdominal yell. Nothing that can really be described in English.

You know, if someone wants to fork over $100/month, wear a fancy colored uniform, have all the bells and whistles while training, and get a nice patch for being a great person God bless'em. The people that go to traditional schools, where the Instructor has never been on the cover of a magazine and the only color on the uniform besides white is sweaty gray, know they have something special. Even if you did close all the McDojos, you think the students would actually tolerate that type of training? McDojos exist, like anything else, because there is a market for them.

When we are in a Tae Kwon Do setting, we follow traditional etiquette. When we are out in public we follow Western manners. However, if we are in public but on Tae Kwon Do business, we will use etiquette but not get extremely caught up in it. For example, if I meet my Master or another Instructor in a public place, we shake hands. In Rome, do as Romans do. We don't need awkward stares from people because we think we must bow. We bow in class or on TKD business. When fellow judges and myself go out to dinner after a test, it is kind of 50/50 between traditional and western manners. Some of the Instructors are more hardcore than others. I think for them it is more of an ego trip. They like being bowed to.

Our organization is Chung Do Kwan. And one of the above posts was right: A great deal of modern Kukkiwon TKD is based on Chung Do Kwan. In fact, CDK Grandmaster Hae Man Park is responsible for much of the Palgue, Koryo, and Tae Geuk forms. Our Instructor's Master is GM Woon Kyu Uhm, current Kukkiwon Head. It is my opinion that CDK is one of the strongest styles in terms of power and technique.