DWx

Wrong, the instructors and practitioners of TKD really define what TKD is. These orgs can try to hold people to certain standards, but in your experience, has this been the case at all? (It hasn't in mine) But what is TKD though if it isn't a certain way of doing things according to what is commomly accepted as TKD. The instructors and students make TKD (or any other MA) live. The actual movments and way of doing those movements make a martial art individual and different. I'm finding it really hard to explain myself lol... What I mean is, what if I was only ever taught WuShu but thought I was doing TKD, would that make it TKD because all the other students and instructors believed it was? How can you be sure you're really doing Tae Kwon Do. Tae Kwon Do was named in 1955 so surely the only true TKD is exactly the same as the style that was named in April of that year? Any improvements or modifications should really be scrapped if we want to call an art pure Tae Kwon Do. But then again there is always room for improvement in any fighting system. Should martial arts be able to evolve so much that they are unrecognisable as their original forms and still retain their original names? Scientists have come up with new names at each major deviation of natural evolution so should martial arts be renamed if they aren't recognisable as their original format? Well then call it martial arts and not TKD. And are different 'styles' of of the same art really part of the same art if they are so different they have varying parameters? Hasn't this already happened throughout the history of martial arts? Yes, it happened before the concept of "martial arts" when we were still cavemen and it will happen for as long as humans feel it necessary to learn to fight. However, people cling to structure and organisation and I think martial arts wouldn't be as popular if people couldn't recognise a set system or style? I think my wording's off again... If martial arts returned to just the "student and teacher" concept, the competitiveness would be lost, the desire to master something that others are trying to master or the ability to compare yourself to another... The beauty of martial arts now is that most have spread global and someone from the country of origin for a particular martial art can see the resemblance to someone across the other side of the world?!? What I'm trying to say (and failing miserably) is that just like common sports such as tennis and basketball, martial arts work better if the "family" that study them is worldwide and encompasses people from all backgrounds, (this is starting to sound really mushy ) aww, heck, forget this bit until I can think how to word it... So why name martial arts, lets just call them all by the same name! What do you think constitutes a martial art by the way? A common answer I get is that martial arts often have a philosophy or ideal behind them. By mixing bits of different styles do you lose that ideal and therefore lose the "art" respect behind them? That all depends on what you are taking away from each style. Some techniques are designed to work well after another and indeed some work only in certain situations. When explaining the pros and cons of mma to other students, I tend to use the analogy of an alphabet. You can take letters / symbols away from different systems of writing but what you are left with is incoherent and doesn’t work unless you are able to adapt it properly and create a new language that utilises each component effectively. A better example is language. Have you ever tried having a conversation in English, French and Cantonese? The grammatical structures are different. One language may have a word for something that you will never encounter or a word that only works in certain contexts. By trying too hard to mix languages but not really defining a totally new system, all that results is confusion. Would you really try a TKD technique in a silat stance? The mechanics of the motions are often incompatable. Yeah, I think we hijacked Bushidoman's original topic though.

It seems he (this student) thinks he's learning XMA but it just look flashy acrobatics with bad weapons skills. Last session he tried to run up the wall in the car park before proceeding to produce his latest metal and wood hazard. I would be less irritated if he learnt actual techniques (in the comfort of his own home) but when he keeps trying to swing stuff around and twirl it before and after lessons, it just convinces me that his ego really is bigger than he can handle. I will try to catch my sensei next lesson.

That would be great but unfortunately we live in a capitalist world where everything is governed by political bodies and orgs whose hidden agenda is nearly always money. The sad thing is that all these organisations really define what Tae Kwon Do is. Even just looking at WTF vs. ITF style a beginner can see that there is a major difference. Which one is really TKD? or even what is TKD? You can say it is a predominately striking art but you could say that about hundreds of martial arts. You could name some of the forms or techniques but many different other styles also share them. It'd be great to go back to the days where a master would take on a few students for nothing and teach them. Yet if that happened unique martial arts would disappear and we would end up with everything becoming morphed and diluted from the originals with additions and variations. If people didn't care about what style they were learning I say go ahead and return to the concept of no-style. The best martial artists were always the ones who adapted things to suit their body type and didn't care for rules. However people in this day and age like to learn different systems, look at yourself for example, you list five different arts under what styles you have learnt. If you want to do away with all the orgs, do away with naming the system altogether and just tell people you learn "martial arts". (This is in no way a go at you Ottoman... I just hate it when MA are taken over completely by politics) EDIT: I can't spell

I suppose that would make sense as Prof. Chang Ung is on the IOC. It says on his ITF website: "With my back ground as the Member of the International Olympic Committee (I.O.C.)... I will fulfill my duties, that of the unification of ITF & WTF.." Wonder what will happen to ITF-C and ITF-V if Chang Ung and WTF merge.

http://www.tkdtutor.com/02Taekwondo/TaekwondoHistory/15Organizations01.htm That's another one, from about page 3 and onwards is the detail about what happened after General Choi's death.

http://www.raynerslanetkd.com/SECTION2-ITFinterviews01.html That one's from the TaekwondoTimes. I might be able to find another one.

They're based in different countries but operate worldwide and have their own World Championships, seminars etc. GM. Choi Jung Hwa is head of ITF-C based in Canada Prof. Chang Ung is based in North Korea, ITF-NK and M. Trân Trîeu Quân has the original headquarters in Vienna, ITF-V I remember reading an article on it once that went into a lot more depth with some legal information too. I will see if I can dig it up.

After Genreal Choi's death, the International Tae Kwon Do Federation split into three factions, each under a different leader claiming to be the head of The ITF. ITF under GM. Choi Jung Hwa: http://www.itf-administration.com/ ITF under Prof. Chang Ung: http://www.itftkd.org/ ITF under M. Trân Trîeu Quân: http://www.tkd-itf.org/ They are three very separate groups now although their techniques and syllabus's remain nearly exactly the same. Yet again its down to politics, politics, politics...

Although it would be great if they merged, I can't help but wonder what would happen to the actual styles themselves. The ITF and WTF ways of performing techniques are very different so which one would be chosen as the definitive set? There's also the question of the forms as they too are different, would say a 3rd dan have to start all over again at white belt (or an equivelant rank) with the other organisation's forms or could they learn them when they feel the need to? It'd be nice to see a joint ITF / WTF but I don't envy the people who have to sort out all the logistics of such a move. I imagine there will be a lot of disagreements and this will sadly turn into a power struggle. By the way, which one of the ITFs? I think it would be probably more beneficial to merge the three ITFs first and then do the ITF / WTF combination.

The first time he brought them was on my sensei's request as he was interested in seeing how well made the sword was. He never asked him to use them at all but the student decided to show us his moves (if thats what you want to call them) and he has brought a different one each lesson ever since... One time our sensei told him quite clearly that he should stop practising with them in that lesson as he was conerned about safety however I don't think he has realised that that was a polite hint to stop bringing them altogether... It doesn't help when some of the other teens ask him what else he's got and can he show them to him...

Practice on a target, ideally get a person or, if no-one is available, a punchbag/pad type thing. If you're on a low budget, tie an old sparring glove or old cushion to a washing line to help gain accuracy. The target will move a bit, especially if its windy, and you can practice a variety of different moves on it until you are confident to practice in a real saprring situation.

There is this other student who trains in one of my classes and he keeps bringing weapons to the dojo to show off. So far he has brought kamas, butterfly knives, a long sword and a bo staff. I wouldn't mind if he was just showing them to people but he keeps practising combos before and after training showing off to everyone that he can twirl them. He has had very limited actual teaching in any of the weapons and has not practised with any of them for a long period of time. Am I over-reacting or is it right for me to feel very uneasy or practically on the brink of paranoia around him? The weapons he brings aren't even safety versions and are sharpened. When he throws them about I feel very on edge as its a 50-50 chance of him actually catching them properly. Since our school doesn't actually teach any weapons, the insurance we have doesn't cover accidents arising from misuse of weapons. Aside from the legalities of it all, a lot of the younger students are becoming interested in swords and the like, buying replicas and intending to copy him. He hasn't hurt anyone yet but he has come very close with a number of mistimed spins and strikes. I've said to him a number of times that I don't like being near him when he "plays with his new toys" and feel that not only is it a hazard, it also destroys my personal warm-up and cool-down before and after the sessions. What do I do as talking to him is obviously not working?

As all the previous replies have suggested, spar more. Spar in lessons, spar out of lessons. I used to think way too much about my combos and "ideal" counters during matches that I never actually performed them until it was too late. What worked for me was to get my sister (who hadn't had any martial arts training at the time), to move around outside, circling me and dodging and weaving while I tried to perform my combos on her. Once I'd gotten used to certain techniques, I tried them in class with people who were going to hit back. Practice makes perfect but you can never practice enough so keep at it and good luck!

I wouldn't say that it is disrespectful; just different. If someone is really adamant about teaching a martial art, and is willing to get out there and sell himself to 30 kids in the hopes of gaining 2 good students, then good for him, I think. It is a good recruiting technique if it introduces kids to karate, but I'm still not happy with the idea, for me, martial arts are about more than just entertainment..

I have occasionally assisted in lesson since I first gained my jr.blackbelt at 14. I agree with bbk2132. Younger students are more likely to relate to students their own age as asking a senior stdent for help may seem daunting. In fact, when I first started out I would approach people my age with questions rather than go up to an adult in the class. I have always been very tall and had a bigger build than most kids my age so I have really only ever trained in mixed or adult classes. With regards to adults not respecting or valueing the opinions of a junior, I have always felt that I was on very good terms with the adults at my club. I can joke with them and talk to them about things outside of Martial Arts and I feel that they do listen to my advice when they ask for it. For example, I was in a class a couple of months ago which was entirely made up of adults. Since it was coming up to a grading, my instructor asked me and one of the senior blackbelts to come in and go around the class correcting technique. None of the adults ignored my suggestions and all seemed to try really hard to adjust their motions. In fact a few actually motione for me to come over and answer some of their questions about positioning and application. I suppose it depends on the attitudes of the junior and senior in the club. I know that I can go and ask anyone in the club for help, whether it be on TKD or even my maths homework. I'd like to feel that they can do the same (well obviously not the homework part )

All the way from white belt to my current grade, we have had to spar in some way or another. The number of rounds depended on your grade and generally you had to spar someone around the same grade or possibly higher. Marks were given for accuracy (ie. just touching or just off the target area as we only do light contact), speed of the technique, whether you performed the appropriate technique etc. Mostly it was up to the examiner's discretion to award you marks. We didn't really have to work together or dominate but a lot of pairs who had sparred each other a lot could find there own rhythem while keeping it slightly competitive. At 2nd gup and above 2-on-to-1 was required where the attackers could just keep going and try to surround you. At my 2nd degree testing, we had 3-on-to-1 which was a lot harder as it was asier for the aggressors to surround you. I also got my legs sweeped during this, (illegal move!) and landed flat on my face in front of the examiners, very embaressing...

Thank you - I think learning three forms at blackbelt level motivates the student more. Since you spend a longer time at that level before even thinking of grading again, students need something to keep themselves interested. A common problem (at our dojang anyway) is that when students reach blackbelt, they still believe that they will somehow gain superhuman powers and begin learning the "real stuff". What they don't realise is it gets tougher so you have to work harder, a piece of cloth doesn't entitle you to instantly be able to punch your way through 100 bricks. Having 3 forms to learn gives them an arsenel of new techniques that they have to practice and work on rather than just the few in one new form and many see that they are still only a student as they now have to discipline themselves to get better. I've seen a lot of people quit at this point, unable to cope without being spoonfed on how to improve. I think that also, the three forms are different and provide variety. At 1st dan, Kwang-Gae is a combination of slow and fast which students have to work on to be able to perform artistically, Po-Eun has the fast combinations and faces forward (to judges, examiners etc.) and so every move must be correct. Ge-Baek is again different as it is much more of a power pattern and includes more leg techniques.

They do Karate birthday parties for children, if that isn't a definate sign of a McDojo establishment, then I don't know what is... I don't see why a birthday party would constitute a McDojo. It may constitute genuine sincerity from the instructor. But teaching children karate to entertain them with delusions of becoming a Karate Kid seems like a money making scheme to me. I suppose it would depend on whether the party was a serious introduction to karate to try and get the kids to join up but to me it seems degrading. Parents can hire clowns, bouncy castles..... and now a sensei to keep their kids happy for a couple of hours. I think its dependant on whether the instructor was seriously hoping for people to join up, but just being hired to play with a group of children and then eat cake in the dojo seems rather "disrespectful" (probably not the best word but I can't think of anything else) to the whole idea of karate or anything other art for that matter.

Our dojang does it exactly like this, same order too. One form per coloured grade and then 3 forms per grade up to 6th degree.

They do Karate birthday parties for children, if that isn't a definate sign of a McDojo establishment, then I don't know what is...