Any Chung Do Kwan TKD people?

[White Warlock]

There is a conflict in information on this Menjo. There are associations utilizing the name of chung do kwan, but not necessarily following the traditional stance of such.

As history goes, chung do kwan was the initial school of tang soo do. It became the largest and most known of schools in Korea. Later, all variations merged to be presented as tae kwon do, with tang soo do still holding its individuality as a more traditional form of instruction. Chung do kwan tae kwon do is, traditionally, traditional (tsd)... whilst tkd, presented mainstream, is more of the sport/Olympic variety.

So, when a school advertises as chung do kwan tkd, they are inferring that they are traditional, as opposed to sport/olympic oriented. But, like i said, there are associations out there branding the name of chung do kwan and not being traditional, nor advocating traditional instruction. This is especially obvious when you note they advertise their 'sport' competitions and Olympic training programs.

[Menjo]

ooooo, still a question though. When people say they train traditional TKD do they mean they train chung do kwan?

[White Warlock]

on that note, i have no idea. I gather it would have to do with what they 'perceive' to be traditional.

[Steve_K]

I train in Chung Do Kwan, and that is why I say I practice "traditional" tkd, because it's easier than explaining the fact that I don't do sport/olympic tkd, and that our training is more functional, and that Chung Do Kwan is derived from Shotokan Karate, because that is a mouthful, and most non-martial artists, wouldn't even understand what that means anyway. I don't know about everyone else, but that is what I mean when I say traditional.

[Belasko]

Im not a practitioner of that style. however iam curious to what it is like?

It is more traditional than the WTA or ATA schools that I have seen, plus has a bit of military TKD influence as well. Several of the masters that I have gotten to know have worked as bouncers at one time or another and therefore have had experience with what works and what doesn't so they emphasize more of the practical applications. Most of them also hold advanced ranks in more than one martial art and like to "cherry pick" techniques that work for them from all martial arts. I have found it to be very open minded and fairly relaxed. Otherwise it is much like other martial arts in the sense that we have about a 1 to 1 1/2 hour class couple times/week, start w/ warmups, move on to forms then drills of different types. The advanced class usually finishes up with free sparring. There are very few tournaments for us to attend (at least around SE ID). We do have about 3-4 seminars we can attend during the year which usually include masters from a couple different styles. If you want to check more info go to

http://www.isu.edu/stdorg/sports/tkd/

Hope it helps.

[theadric]

on that note, i have no idea. I gather it would have to do with what they 'perceive' to be traditional.

Correct, traditional in the sense that the forms and style of TKD that was used when "TKD" was first coined.