aigaios

"...It's like a finger pointing to the moon..." RIP.

I started in mid 1996... I guess that makes it almost eleven years now...

^Definately will do. I've been meaning to check out some of the schools near me anyway...

Thanks for the responses guys... I was just curious what you guys would say about it, it's not like I haven't asked others closer to me about my situation. I'll probably start looking for a new school after my mid terms finish.

Hmm, it's been about four months... and before that one time I went back it had been about three. Also, I would only consider starting at white belt again if I started at another HKD school... Sorry about that confusion. The school since I got my black belt has been declining... My test was right after they changed the curriculum from the traditional stuff to a watered down, easier version. Also, they seem to be becoming a belt factory that extracts hundreds out of poeple a month for little classes that almost never cover something outside the norm. These things have changed big time since I first started.

Should I go back to my old school? I've been really busy with school, and I haven't been back since the black belt test a while ago... I mean, it sounds like a stupid question, right? But I'm curious what everyone thinks. I didn't have a great experience there when I was teaching, and it seems like it's turning into more and more of a McDojo every day... Should I just go back and deal with it, or should I find I new school? EDIT: I guess I'm also asking if I should start from white belt again...

That sucks. I've had some issues with my school about similar stuff in the past...

Yeah... I'm glad he's such a stand up guy. Anybody else got any weird stories?

Ok, so this last saturday I was one of the four black belts sparring the eleven BB canidates for their test, and something really weird happened; during one of the rounds I was sparring one of the oldest canidates, a 58 year old man who's been a black belt canidate several times in several different styles in his life prior to this, but always had some kind of complication that prevented him from taking the test. This time, though he took it and passed it. But the test was not uneventful. During our sparring round, he came jumping in for a flying backfist. I, not being used to 58 year old men executing flying backfists, shot my leg up quickly for a sidekick and put a little too much juice into it. He didn't have his ribcage guarded, and the fact that he was moving rather fast combined with my kick not having enough control resulted in a broken rib or two, or so we thought. Showing a ridiculous amount of determination, he finished the rest of the test, which consisted of staff drills, a long staff form, and three board breaks. Everyone said congrats and went home. Then, on wednesday, I get a call from the chief instructor saying that the guy I was sparring had been admitted into the ICU at the hospital earlier in the day with a collapsed lung. So he got back from the hospital today, and when we were talking on the phone about it (neither of us place blame, and he was still friendly) he told me that the doctors couldn't actually find any signs of a broken rib. An entire team of doctors couldn't figure out exactly how his lung was collapsed without actually being punctured... Their best theory was that there was an air pocket on the outside of the lung that burst and caused the rupture, but they aren't sure. Weird huh?

^You know, you have a point. The main reason was that I wanted to be a certified instructor in the IHF. But the secondary one was that I wanted the job.

Thanks for the replies, guys... And to 2007, no, it's not a McDojo. The quality of instruction is high, and you have to earn your belts. However, sometimes it feels like it's being run like a McDojo. Also to Aefibird, they did give me free lessons, but instead of being like 2 hours of teaching for an hour of class, it was like 6 or 7 hours per class...

I've been away from my school for over a month. I left 'cause I had some physical problems to sort out, and I didn't really agree with the mentality of the place... They had me teaching for 36 hours a week for a good 8 months, not including the summer camp, without paying me anything, and kept stringing me on about becoming a paid instructor. Should I put up with this? And do all schools do this kind of stuff to their underlings? Thanks for your replies, -aigaios

I just got my college schedule for the spring semester figured out, and it looks like I'll have to cut down my training schedule by a lot... How do you guys keep sharp when you have school or work taking up 60 hours a week?

Taekwondo schools can be incredibly varied... In the World Taekwondo Federation, for example, you can't get a full dan ranking until you're 16. Prior to your turning 16 you are considered a "Poom" or junior black belt... I would do what Bearich says and find out what organization the school belongs to... And no, they are probably not recognized grades. Until you reach BB you don't usually have a recognized rank in another school unless you are under the same organization as them...

*EDIT: I messed that up... I meant the "yup" to mean that "yeah we don't have it." Whoops.* Also depends on what state you're in.