Balrog

Most ATA schools teach weapons to students that have committed to training beyond the basic level. It's a perk, so to speak, for making that training. And we do not teach you weapons with the goal of making you a weapon expert. We simply want you to be knowledgeable about the weapon. Think of college: TKD is our major, and weapons are elective courses that support the major and make us well-rounded martial artists.

ATA has many schools run by women. Off the top of my head in Texas alone: Sr. Master Marilyn Niblock and Ms. Julie Graf in Austin, Master Renee Battenberg in Kingwood, Ms. Laura Zant in Odessa, Ms. Beth MacDonald in Clear Lake, Ms. Diane Myers in Webster, and many others.

One could be very literal and take the terminology apart: Martial: derived from Mars, the Roman god of war, and meaning anything to do with fighting or combat. Art: a higher quality of conception or execution. So one could say that martial arts is fighting taken to a higher level, and one would be right. I personally think there's more to it than that. The higher level stressed in m.a. training is improvement of the person, the training of mind and body equally. The major concepts taught are self-control and self-discipline. So one could say that martial arts training is learning how to not fight. And one would also be right.

ATA has a school in York. York ATA Black Belt Academy

Balrog, I would never have guessed.......... Don't hide your feelings, you must express yourself! I know, I'm such a soft-spoken guy!

I'm an ATA 5th Degree and as long as there is breath in my body, we will NOT teach using the block system in my school. I personally think it is one of the worst things I have seen happen to ATA. We used to have superb technicians; now we've got schlock and I don't know that we will ever recover from it. Block teaching came in about 5 years ago and I immediately started seeing the quality of technique displayed in tournaments go headfirst down the toilet. We score on a 0-9 rating and I honestly cannot remember the last time that I gave someone under the rank of 2nd Degree a score higher than a 7 in forms competition. I sure do give out a bunch of 2s and 3s, though. And that saddens me greatly. In theory, block sounds real good. It allows the instructor greater control over a class because they are all learning the same material, no question about that. And yes, it increases the bottom line because you can have more students and fewer instructors. But nobody bothers to look past that and ask if it benefits the students. The answer is that it doesn't. Our style was specifically developed to build on the preceding ranks. Orange Belt depends on White Belt, Yellow Belt on Orange Belt, etc. Now if you are teaching on block, you're going to have students learning material for which they have NO foundation. The answer that I get most often is "That's no problem, they'll learn it correctly the next testing cycle". There is a problem: they don't learn it correctly because they've already learned it incorrectly. And we all know how difficult it is to unlearn something and relearn it correctly. The result: if a student lucks out and goes through the blocks with the correct sequence, we'll get somebody with good technique. The rest of them....well, let's be charitible and simply say that their technique won't be good. If I said what I really think, the censoring software would bounce my post. This is a hot button subject with me. I'll get down off my soapbox now. As always, this is just my $0.02 worth....

To be bluntly honest, debating whether or not to participate in martial arts because of religion is just plain dumb. The two do not conflict; I have devout Christian students in my school, I have agnostics and athiests and I have a Buddhist. We don't have any issues at all.

SWMBO and I met through Taekwondo. We started dating when she was a yellow belt and went public when she was a green belt. Even though I was her instructor of record, every single time she tested, I always made sure that there was at least one other certified instructor on the judging panel and I *always* took their recommendation for her promotion. Word got around about how I was handling it and there was never a question of favoritism or preferential treatment.

No. Around my school, the only color that matters is the belt you wear.

I agree with that. However, that is not a consideration for promotion within ATA.

Am I the only one who sees the irony in an organization that tells folks how to be successful declaring bankruptcy?

Master is an earned title. A Christian would have no problem calling someone Dr. Smith; if Dr. Smith happened to be a master instructor, there should be no problem in calling him Master Smith in the school.

GM Pierce has been around for quite a while. He was a high rank in ATA for many years and was actually one of the first folks to attain the title of Master in the ATA. He left the organization and either joined or founded the organization he's now with, I'm not sure which. I never learned the reason that he left, but I would imagine that it was a philosophical difference of some sort. When he was a 5th Degree with ATA, he certified me as an instructor at the 1991 Korea Camp.

I had seen that before, labelled "Karate vs. Sumo".

I'm not going to say good luck. Luck didn't get you where you are; skill, perseverance and dedication did. I will say have fun! Run out on the floor with a smile on your face and strut your stuff! And make sure somebody videos the test!

It's all about perseverance, ma'am. I no-changed twice in a row going for 5th Degree, got it on the third attempt. It doesn't matter whether you get it first attempt or tenth attempt, the important thing is that you stay the course and succeed. As Grandmaster H. U. Lee said, "Today not possible, tomorrow possible.". And my suggestion for you is to break, break, break and break again in class. Use the rebreakable boards and challenge yourself by setting them a half-step higher than what you'll be breaking at your testing. Get to where you are consistantly breaking at that higher level. Then when the test rolls around, you'll do the breaks almost on autopilot because you practiced them so much; you won't even think about doing them.

There are three basic strategies in sparring and you need to be able to work all three equally. Everyone will naturally have a favorite that they tend to gravitate to, but it is critical that you be able to switch without hesitation between the styles. Attack - You initiate the exchange. Your preference is to take it to your opponent. Defense - You wait for the attack, then block and counter. Trap - You fake an attack, force your opponent to commit to a defense, then block and counter that defense. Given two sparrers of equal skills, you'll usually wind up with: Defense beats Attack Trap beats Defense Attack beats Trap This is why it is so important to be able to switch between the three. Suppose you read your opponent and determine that they are aggessive and like to attack; you should immediately switch to defense. If your opponent is smart, he'll realize (after losing a point or two) what has happened and he'll start trapping you. If you're smart, you'll realize this (hopefully before you lose a point or two ) and switch to attack. Etc., etc.

I never really saw the value of the sine movement. In the front stance, one can develop great power on blocks and strikes by simply making sure that your basic mechanics are correct: front leg bent, back leg locked, shoulders square, feet "on the railroad tracks", etc.

Amen. We can thank Hollywood for that little bit of idiocy. They refer to the weapon as numchuks because they are too dumb or lazy to learn the proper pronunciation of the Japanese term. And we don't use that term in TKD training anyway; the Korean term is Song Jeol Bong.

I would. And it wouldn't be a last resort, either. You don't want to fight, period. If you have to fight, you want it to be over with as fast as possible. You don't want to stand around playing pattycake with some bozo because you have some concept of playing fair. There is no "fair" when you're fighting for real, there is only "ending the fight" and "keeping from being hurt" (if you can).

Every single day of my life. Martial arts training teaches you to control your environment and to avoid situations where you might need to find, and then gives you the skills for the times when you can't avoid them. As a result, I find myself far more aware of my surroundings that I used to me. I'll walk with kubaton and keys in hand. I'll cross the street to avoid someone that makes me uneasy. Etc.

Correct. When I joined ATA, we only had 5 colored belts: white, yellow, green, blue and red. Each of the colors past white represented two grades. In 1989 (if memory serves), we adopted a unique color for each grade and tied the colors into the growth cycle of the pine tree. In addition, having a seperate color for each grade provide a more accurate visual indicator of the path to Black Belt, which fits right in with the SMART goals concept that ATA advocates.

My brain. It's the best weapon of all when used correctly, because it will keep me out of trouble in the first place.

You've missed a few points. A normal testing cycle is 8 weeks; most schools will have 5-6 tests a year due to the tournament schedule and holidays. And most students will promote a full rank at a time. In our school, we slow the students down to 1/2 rank at a time at Purple Belt because the material becomes significantly harder at that time and they need the extra time in rank. However, it is still possible to promote a full rank at a time from Purple Belt on up; it's just a lot harder. Almost all organizations have testing fees that you pay. Some don't, some are less than ATA's, some are equivalent, the rest are higher. ATA basically recommends a guideline for colored belt tests of $30 plus $5 times the rank of the chief instructor. As a 5th Degree Black Belt, the testing fees in my school are $55. Black Belt tests from Second Degree on up are set by ATA and are $100 times your current rank. I appreciate your acknowledgement that you are biased against ATA, but it seems to me that your bias is unfounded. I'd like to ask what the basis is, if there is one other than testing fees. Perhaps I can fill in some blanks for you and give you a better understanding.

15? And you're worried about being too old? Let me introduce you to a lady named Marjorie Templeton. Years ago, she gave TKD lessons as a Christmas present to her grandkids when she was 60. When she took them to the first lesson, they got her out on the floor doing it with them. She stayed with it and three years ago was inducted as a Master Instructor at age 83 (IIRC). And she's still rockin' on. I see her at the major tournaments and she is just a hoot to be around.