training under the grandmaster

[younwhadoug]

is there a grandmaster in your system and if so have you or do you take a class instructed by him/her? if so how is it (if it is at all) different from training under your regular instructor?

when we have testing, grandmaster Han will hold an advanced class the night before and also an hour of class during the testing break. i have noticed his training is a lot more repetitive than my regular instructor. it also seems like everyone works harder which is no surprise i guess. i enjoyed the reptitiveness and intensenessof the atmosphere when he is there. he is a 70 yo man and can still run circles around his 4th dans. its pretty amazing to me

[Sohan]

In our system--Eizo Shimabuku. He is past 80 now and is starting to show his age, from what I hear. I have heard good things from those who have trained with him, but I think unless I hop a plane to Okinawa soon, I may not get that chance.

Besides, if I make a trip to Asia, my first choice is to train Muay Thai in Thailand instead, which is much cheaper and more my speed. I don't feel that training with our grandmaster these days would really give me that much benefit over what I learn from my present sensei outside of providing some kind of historical context. Perhaps ten years ago....

With respect,

Sohan

[bushido_man96]

Our organization is the Traditional Taekwondo Association, and our Grandmaster is Chae Sun Yi. He is a ninth degree. When we do a black belt testing, we go to the headquarters on the Friday night before, where we have black belt class. It is kind of like a pretesting; we do all of the forms, all of the one-steps, and a few other basic form requirements that we have to know in order to be allowed to test. He demonstrates a little bit, but for the most part just directs the class.

He holds a seminar for black belts every year as well, but I have not gone to one yet. I may go this year in February.

[bushido_man96]

In our system--Eizo Shimabuku. He is past 80 now and is starting to show his age, from what I hear. I have heard good things from those who have trained with him, but I think unless I hop a plane to Okinawa soon, I may not get that chance.

Besides, if I make a trip to Asia, my first choice is to train Muay Thai in Thailand instead, which is much cheaper and more my speed. I don't feel that training with our grandmaster these days would really give me that much benefit over what I learn from my present sensei outside of providing some kind of historical context. Perhaps ten years ago....

With respect,

Sohan

How cheap is it to train Muay Thai overseas? It would be cool if I could afford to stay for a year!

[Sohan]

In our system--Eizo Shimabuku. He is past 80 now and is starting to show his age, from what I hear. I have heard good things from those who have trained with him, but I think unless I hop a plane to Okinawa soon, I may not get that chance.

Besides, if I make a trip to Asia, my first choice is to train Muay Thai in Thailand instead, which is much cheaper and more my speed. I don't feel that training with our grandmaster these days would really give me that much benefit over what I learn from my present sensei outside of providing some kind of historical context. Perhaps ten years ago....

With respect,

Sohan

How cheap is it to train Muay Thai overseas? It would be cool if I could afford to stay for a year!

Pretty cheap. I have found several decent camps that cater to foreigners that I can train at with private A/C accommodations for around 600 a month (includes training, and food is REALLY cheap, though you need to buy bottled water). It's considerably cheaper if you can handle more spartan quarters. My issue is airfare from the states, as I am waiting to find a good deal so my wife can go too.

There's been some good threads in the MT section on camps and experiences had at them. The consensus seems to be pretty positive. I think a poster named Ben Martin (?) is over there currently and has been posting about his experience so far.

With respect,

Sohan

[bushido_man96]

When I was in the ATA, I had to go to Instructor Certification camp. That is where all ATA black belts that want to become certified to run a school and teach have to go. It is a week long seminar, and the Grandmaster at that time, the late H.U. Lee, was there. At the end of every evening, he would hold and hour and a half long workout with the blackbelts. On the first night, we did the white belt form the whole time, and it is only an 18 move form! We spent over 30 minutes working on just the first 3-5 moves of the form!!! It showed me how in-depth one can go into learning everything there is to learn about even the most basic things. It was a real blast.

[UseoForce]

I'll be training with Grandmaster Pellegrini later this summer.

[IcemanSK]

Last month, I got the opportunity to train (not only with my instructor, GM Edward Sell, 9th Dan Kukkiwon) but his instructor (GM Park, Hae Man, 10th Dan Kukkiwon). (Before you ask, yes there are 10th Dans in Taekwondo. Most are given posthumously [after death] but some are given while the person is still alive. GM Jhoon Rhee is another example.)

I took a BB forms class taught by GM Park. We were to cover 4 forms (of which, I only knew one) during the class. Did I mention he DESIGNED the forms?! I was quite nervous, & he was quite kind to me. Even with his limited English, we all learned a great deal from him.

[Anbu Alex]

Last year i got to train under our grandmater and man i was awsome it may not look like it but just being exposed to that level of training show how inspires me and it makes people better to cant wait to go again this year

[Brandon Fisher]

The grandmasters of true GM caliber I have trained under were amazing. Truly great people and martial artists.