TKD blackbelts

[Kyle-san]

I'm sure he is a blackbelt, not a mcdojo.

 

Just that I'm curious how someone with no skills in martial arts and on a low level of fitness can acheive black belt status.

 

Those two statements contradict each other. If you claim your friend has no martial arts skills then he wouldn't have recieved a blackbelt from a respectable school (ie, not a McDojo). As for your question, it should be difficult to get a black belt and is usually hard to learn what you need to know, but it comes with time.

[ZeRo]

Cripes Azim, who needs enemies when they have friends like you

 

I'm with ZR440 on this one...

 

[monkeygirl]

I hold a blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do (just recently actually, I got it September 21st). I'm not the strongest person in the world, but that's not the point. I can't presume to judge your "common aquaintance", Azim, because I don't know him, and I've never seen his training.

 

However, in response to your very first post on this thread, blackbelts from the USA can do quite a bit I like to believe I can do those flashy TKD kicks pretty well and can show off a bit.

 

Flash isn't everything, though, and all of the blackbelts that I personally know can defend themselves quite well.

 

Keep in mind that there are several different federations of Tae Kwon Do--WTF, ITF--some schools (like mine, for example) are not affiliated with these federations and are pretty much independent.

 

BTW my school is pretty close to ITF and we're a member of NAPMA, so we're not just loners out in the boonies

[Azim]

I'm sure he is a blackbelt, not a mcdojo.

 

Just that I'm curious how someone with no skills in martial arts and on a low level of fitness can acheive black belt status.

 

Those two statements contradict each other. If you claim your friend has no martial arts skills then he wouldn't have recieved a blackbelt from a respectable school (ie, not a McDojo). As for your question, it should be difficult to get a black belt and is usually hard to learn what you need to know, but it comes with time.

 

Thats my point, he has no martial art skills yet he still managed to get a blackbelt. I dunno bout the school he goes to but in the UK you have to get graded by a independant masters.

 

Also, raising another question, how much do u guys pay to get graded. My friend had to pay £100 for his blackbelt grading, the place I go costs £10 whatever belt you get graded for.

[KickChick]

As with any sport or profession .... there are those that are going to excel in their area and those well, that don't.

 

Alot of the arguement here on the forums concerning being black belt. A black belt to some may ultimately be little more than a bragging right that holds their pants up.

 

And as far as $ for belt grading, that too is a tough question to answer because sometimes that is included in the tuition. There are varying grading costs in the US as there probably is there.

[BladeLee]

Well, like everyone else is saying, blackbelts do come in all various ways, but i do believe they should be physically fit and able to defend themselves. I mean, when you obtain a blackbelt you should have mastered all the basic techniques and self defenses. But nowadays there are alot of so called blackbelts out there that give us dedicated and deteremined blackbelts a bad name. There will always be people like this though. Perhaps your friend, or acquantice as you said, just had a bad sensei. I know we have one around where i live, certiainly no tthe one i train under but i had a friend that trained under him and he was just out for your money. I personally know someone who got there blackbelt in just a few months because they had a large wallets lets say Don't let it get to ya though, when you talk to a blackbelt, you will probably instatly be able to tell if he/she is real or not. Btw, yes i am a blackbelt in tkd forgot to mention that haha

[SBN Doug]

Well, like everyone else is saying, blackbelts do come in all various ways, but i do believe they should be physically fit and able to defend themselves.

 

There's a small hole in this statement, however. What constitutes "physically fit"? Has anyone seen that MA top ten show on the Discovery Channel (I think)? That Aikido master looked pretty well nurished , but I bet he could woop my relatively fit butt.

 

Let's not even get into the debate of genetics, and one's ability to get any thinner than a certain amount. Granted, when you think of TKD in particular, you think of high flashy kicks. So you might wonder how can this guy pull off any of that. However, most MA Masters will tell you to adjust the art to you physical limitations. That's not an excuse to not try and become better, or more physically fit. It's just being realistic about the fact that no two people are alike, and one must adjust what he/she has learned so that it is effective for them.

[Bretty101]

Is anyone here a tae kwon doe blackbelt. I'm from the UK and I have a friend whose a TKD blackbelt and he's a fat, unfit and can't do any of the imppressive kicks a TKD blackbelt should be able to do. So what can a blackbelt from the USA do?

 

The criteria to pass a TKD grading are:

 

COURTESY, INTEGRITY, PERSERVERENCE, SELF CONTROL and INDOMITABLE SPIRIT not ability.

 

Hence even disabled or over weight people can do it. Usually they make it up in other ways, hence perserverence.

 

Though i really hate seeing a poor BB, Usually they call themselves masters (a.k.a a has been). I personally think a black belt should be an elitest and not every one should be able to achieve it.

 

Bretty

[Azim]

, the tenets of a TKDist, but you can't grade them really can you? Not that I think the guy in person has all of them but I aint' gonna say more coz it'll probably start a debate.

[taezee]

ksn doug i saw that show it was on discovery that akido master looked like he ate forty white castle hamburgers as an appertizer before the main course but man could he move as graceful as a ballerina...just throwing people all over the place