bushido_man96

Ok, its been way to quiet here for far too long. So, on Monday, I got myself to the TKD room for a solo training session. 11/26/2016 TKD Training: 2:00 pm - 2:45 pm. I basically did my own mini-class. I went through basics, then white belt and the two orange belt forms, and the white belt and orange belt one-steps. I had a good stretch, and then it was off to pick the kids up from school. Man, I am sore a few days later!

I understand your passion. I also understand what you are saying about just being able to train and not worry about thoughts of rank and structure. It really just depends on how we are brought up in the Martial Arts. Boxers and Wrestlers probably don't care as much about rank as they would ability on the mat. Those exposed primarily to the Eastern styles tend to hold rank and structure in high regard. It can be hard to see the middle ground at times.

Funny you bring this up. The first practice was on Monday, 11/26, and both were out there for it. I'm not sure what the tournament schedule looks like yet, but we are off and running with practice! Stay tuned for details!

Knowing how to fight standing up and how to fight on the ground is very beneficial.

Welcome back!

Best of luck to you! Please lets us know how it goes!

Hey, good to see you, Justice!

Most of what you say here is true about all styles. Not many are made to take on more than one opponent, and third party intervention with a knife is bad no matter if it is one on one or three on one.

I can't tell if you are frustrated with some of the responses in the thread here, but when you mention this above, it sounds like you don't think we entirely understand what you were posting about. I don't mean this to sound negative or anything, I'm just working through what's been discussed so far. And it is true that at times the thread will turn in different directions. It just happens at times, with so many different perspectives. I wanted to focus on this portion in your opening post: I think everyone sees what the subject here is, and we all have different ways of looking at it, and I think everyone has shared some good ideas, too. I do understand your predicament. Early on as a black belt instructor, I taught a course that was for a college credit in TKD. The students had to come to class and participate, and those who wanted to test could do so, but it wasn't required. However, most of them did want to, and did so, gaining some rank along the way. It wasn't a guaranteed test, though. They had to know their material, and demonstrate that they were competent to test. If they passed, they received an appropriate rank, like all other students. I think if you really are stuck on giving out ranks, as opposed to participation certificates, then this would be a good approach to take. Make it like any other class, with material that is tested on.

Not seen that one before. Thanks for posting it, Alex.

This caught my eye, so I thought I'd see how it applied to my own school. Our school runs on approximately two month testing cycles. Sometimes, during the summer months, our instructor will put off a testing for another month to give students more time. However, not every student tests, is expected to test, or is eligible to test. And we do no-change students if need be. We have our traditional class curriculum, and we have a separate ranking system and curriculum for our Little Lions program, which is for 6-8 year olds. Its two different programs. Its no question, though, that the Little Lions program helps a great deal to supplement the income of the school. McDojo, or good business planning? This is not the case at my school. Our GM is not a published author, and we don't really have a "pro-shop" to sell anything. Most of what is sold is stuff for the gym members; protein, supplements, etc. Our classes are always combined. We haven't had enough students to justify classes for beginner/intermediate/advanced classes. We used to have a black belt class, but haven't had that for some time. I don't think that makes us a McDojo, though. Nope. Our forms are a touch different from other versions, but they aren't adjusted for tournament purposes. Its not a "passing thought" in our school, but it is part of the belt curriculum. We don't train any forms applications, other than those put together in our one-steps. It is still an important part of our training, though. And, I think there needs to be some perspective here. TKD, especially when the pioneers started to design their different forms to separate from the Shotokan background, never really did do forms applications the way it was done in other styles of Karate. This is more of a stylistic difference, in my opinion. Yep, we have child black belts. They train the same curriculum as the adults, and must meet the same testing requirements as the adults. So, it appears my school hits on at least three of the points you've made above. I guess if others would want to refer to my school as a McDojo, then so be it. But I know that I've never been guaranteed to pass a test, and have not had anything handed to me in my journey throughout. My point is that not all of those things mean you are finding a McDojo. Each school needs to be looked at and evaluated to see if it is going to fit the wants and needs of the prospective student.

Congratulations everyone!

I'll offer a small counter argument. If you only do WC class two days a week, because that is all that's offered, and have 4 days in a week to train, filling those other days with another style would be better than not training at all.

Hence the term, "using the right tool for the job."I wondered who would catch it first! Congrats.Hooray me!!!!

I've not seen this issue before, but I'd suggest doing some tip-toe walking and up-and-down motions onto the balls of the feet. That might help with your ankle mobility. Can you sit in a deep squat and keep your heels on the ground?

Congrats, Bob, on this milestone! You truly are an embodiment of what this community is, and I am proud to call you friend. Congrats!

Hence the term, "using the right tool for the job."

Some instructors have a different approach to teaching than others. I'd say that if you don't like the feel of the instructor and the class, then you should look somewhere else.

That's a great deal, LLLEARNER! Having access to drop on and train whenever is an awesome opportunity.

I would say of the TKD styles out there, the WTF has done the most work of tying to make TKD stand out more from Shotokan and its Karate roots. This is easily seen in the progression of its form/poomsae syllabus over the years, but even more so in its approach to changing how sparring was done. I think that the pioneers that were still around in the WTF when the Olympic TKD dream finally came true probably felt that they had finally made TKD what they wanted it to be when contrasted with Shotokan.

Quite a bit of difference between the performance of these two.

I don't like the labels that come along with ranks in some styles, either. My organization is like this. At 4th Dan, my title is "Jr. Master." I don't care for this, and thankfully am not addressed this way. I'm just referred to as Mr. Walker, and I prefer it to stay that way.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I don't think the bad that is out there is that much. By bad, I mainly mean here in the context of your post. I've never held anything back from a student. I don't try to overwhelm them, either. As an instructor, you've got to find the balance; the balance of what they are ready for, and what they are not quite ready for yet. And even then, you can talk to them about the ideas and concepts of what comes next, so they can prepare for it. Part of the deal is brining them along as far as you can as an instructor, but also making them seek and find for themselves. They need to learn how to do that, because they won't always have you around as the instructor.

Sometimes, we think too hard about something. A simple analogy has really gone off the rails here, I think.