Deep Stances? Or powerful technique?

[Truestar]

While it is definitely easy to achieve both, I've seen it differ.

We've had a recent addition to our school, I believe he is a black belt in a previous school, which in my eyes makes him a black belt in our school. While doing Chon-Ji (first TKD form) his stances lacked a lot of depth, yet his blocks and punches were great.

If you were an instructor making corrections to his form, would you tell him deepen his stances? His technique is great, but they lack a bit of depth.

Just wondering on some opinions here.

[bushido_man96]

It really depends on what you want out of him. If you want to mold his technique into the style of the school that you attend, then have him deepen his stances.

With that said, I don't think that it is necessary to alter the stances to make him a better Martial Artist. It is possible to develop and generate power in different ways; he has shown one, and you probably know another.

In the end, if he intends to gain rank in your school, then he may have to conform his technique a bit. Otherwise, I don't think it would be a big deal.

[DWx]

If its something that would improve and add to his technique overall then yeah I would suggest it. If he's already got good power and in his blocks and strikes then perhaps its something he can work on to improve them even further. Having said that I wouldn't correct him just because it isn't the way your school does it.

[ninjanurse]

Too deep hinders mobility and balance so one must consider the individual plus many TKD styles have "high" stances as the norm...I agree with bushido_man.

[tenshinka]

While it is definitely easy to achieve both, I've seen it differ.

We've had a recent addition to our school, I believe he is a black belt in a previous school, which in my eyes makes him a black belt in our school. While doing Chon-Ji (first TKD form) his stances lacked a lot of depth, yet his blocks and punches were great.

If you were an instructor making corrections to his form, would you tell him deepen his stances? His technique is great, but they lack a bit of depth.

Just wondering on some opinions here.

Being the instructor you should correct his form, and techniques to your schools standards. Which means, if his stances are too shallow for your schools stances they need to be corrected to be deeper. The students ability to take on instruction, and constructive criticism would certainly quickly bring out what kind of student he/she is.

Look at is this way, if he performed Chong Ji tul at a belt testing in your school, would he pass or fail it? That should tell all.

fwiw,

--josh

[humble monk]

If a deep stance is the standard for the rest of the students, it may raise questions among them if he is not corrected.

Regardless of the belt I hold in another school, in yours I am a beginner in the ways of how you interpret the art.

[ninjanurse]

I like your style monk! When in Rome....

[humble monk]

Thank you. I personally hate when new guys preface a statement with "Well, in my last school, we were taught...". If your last school had all the answers, why are you here?

[bushido_man96]

I think that people just like exposure to new things. However, conforming to the way the school does things probably is taking the high road.

[tenshinka]

Thank you. I personally hate when new guys preface a statement with "Well, in my last school, we were taught...". If your last school had all the answers, why are you here?

There are several reasons the student could be at your school: perhaps the old school closed, the student moved, instructor quit teaching etc. etc. etc.

As teachers we should TEACH. I find that most often when a student shares with an instructor, the way they have been taught to do things in the past, it is not often a "my way is better" scenario, but rather is it the student seeking to understand the hows and whys of the difference, and the methodology that makes each work as a component in your particular art of style.

In the west, we are an inquisitive people. We don't just want to mimic movements, but we want to understand why we are doing things, and what causes them to work, and be a beneficial part of our training.

fwiw,

--josh