Few worries about TKD school

[Shotokan-kez]

This doesn't sound good to me either. Our karate classes are for an hour and we warm up for 10 minutes before hand. I think they are not taking the TKD very seriously which is a shame really. Like someone else says you are not getting what you are paying for. I would look elsewhere. Good luck!

[IcemanSK]

You've mentioned all the things I'd consider "red flags" in a MA school kid's program. I'd encourage you to look elsewhere.

[lordtariel]

If you are in a contract you may not want to run right away. Start taking notes on how often the class starts late, how often the kids train, things like that. Get colaberation from other parents as well. If you go and tell him you're going to try and break before doing that, you may find that all of the sudden he's got "perfect dojo" and they'll make it look like you just want to weasel out of your contract.

[Jacob]

I say find another TKD school; mine was a bit relaxed but attention was always paid to starting and finishing on time, and stretching does not take a half hour. Sounds like they are not all that serious. Hope you don't have a contract.

[Orient]

Thanks for the replies, in writing it says I have signed for a 6 month contract at least but the instructor says I can cancel at any time with no extra charge.

He seems a nice person to be honest, the club pay half towards the suit etc and the kids are treat well but it just seems that 20 minutes of watching black/blue belts attack pads and then eventually having a go themselves seems a bit pointless, especially as it's only once a week.

we went to one of the late classes last night and it seemed a bit better, still they started 20 minutes late for no apparant reason...but they also finished 10 minutes late so again 10 minutes of lost time. I've noticed that the people that have been going a while tend to turn up late too as if they're not expecting the class to start on time, last night even one of the instructors turned up half an hour late!

They did sparring last night though and the class was longer, still half an hour spent on stretching and then 10 minutes here and there for "getting a quick drink" which basically involves everyone sitting around talking again.

I would like to take him 3 times a week but its almost £40 a month to do that which I can't really afford, especially if they're going to be so lax about the starting times etc.

Also, my son has only been going for a month and he's already being put in for his next belt at the end of this month, is this normal?

[BlackCat]

That seems really fast to be getting his next belt considering you go once a week. At my son's dojo he got his white belt pretty fast but they have a minimum requirement of classes you must attend before you even get pre-tested. He had to go to 23 classes just to be able to pre-test to green. Only if they think you're ready will you test.

He's a green belt now and the requirement for pre-testing is 30-40 classes. It's getting harder as he progresses I like it this way because I want him to learn MA and not coast through the belts not knowing what he's doing.

They also have set days that they do things like on Tuesdays and Wednesdays it's self-defense or the one-step. On Fridays it's sparring and on Saturdays it's Katas. They're very organized which I like.

My son is in what's called "The Black Belt Club", where basically it cost me more money monthly but he can go up to 4 times per week plus I never have to pay for his testing. Even when he tests for black belt. One of the masters told me that it can run a couple of thousand to test for black belt.

Do you think your son is learning anything there and deserves to move up? I would probably look around at other schools just to see how they run them and compare them to the school he attends now.

[alsey]

i'd be thankful that the instructor is a nice person and (if i understood you right) there wouldn't be much problem with leaving and going to another school. from what you've said, the school seems like a bit of a joke. MA require discipline and lots of training. lessons starting consistently late and time being wasted doesn't create a good learning environment, and even if it was a good environment, 20 minutes a week of actual learning is very poor IMO.

if your son is having fun and getting some exercise, and you think its worth the money, stay with it. but it doesn't sound like an effective way to learn martial arts to me.

Also, my son has only been going for a month and he's already being put in for his next belt at the end of this month, is this normal?

from what you've said, he can't have done much more than two hours of actual TKD. if you get a belt for two hours of training, well...i'd be like 100th dan by now.

[Zorbasan]

tho really, the jump from 10th gup to 9th gup isnt a massively big one. anyone with decent hand eye coordination can get it with minimal TKD training.

[New Beginner]

A class starting late on a regular basis is inexcusable.

In any martial art there is just so much to be taught that 50% of the lesson being spent in warm-up defeats the object, a perfectly adequate limber up can be done in 15 minutes maximum. It may be, with the class being TKD, that extra time is dedicated to stretching to increase flexibility.

To have all these periods of inactivity where low grades simply watch a couple of higher grades demonstrating is a waste of time, you could buy them a video for that!

Look for somewhere else in my opinion.

[Jiffy]

It sounds to me like you are looking for people to confirm what you already think, and my in opinion, you are right.

Classes should start on time. I always turn up early. Sometimes, I have started a few minutes late due to not being able to get their earlier, and I hate it. It shouldn't be happening on a regular basis.

Warmups do not need to go for more than about 12-15 minutes. The idea of a warm up is to get the blood circulating, the lungs working, the mood right and of course, to stretch the muscles, tendons and ligaments to prevent injury. It should not be a workout in itself, and therefore does not need to drag out.

Using a high grade student is not a problem, in fact, this is quite beneficial. It means it leavs the student to demonstrate and the instructor to explain.

In a 90 minute class (which is what I'm guessing you have), the students should be getting at a minimum a good 65-70 minutes of training. This allows for bow ins/outs as well as warmup. Sure there will be instruction during the class, that is what they are there for, but practice should be the primary activity.

Hope this helps.