03/17/2008 05:35:12

Thank you for your comment.
The "violent" comments were stated incorrectly by me in my blog.
I dont promote violence or anger.

Really my simple point to the blog was that students need to start applying their blocks, kicks, hand techniques in real time. Forms are done at the speed of a heartbeat. Not real time.

Most board breaking is done at that speed or slower.

I realize that there is "sport" TKD and "way of life" TKD.

Maybe I enjoy "sport" TKD better.

You seem like a credable guy so I dont want to be confrentational about what you said...I'm sure you mean well in your response.

But I dont think Taekwando is a religon.

You kinda make it out that way.....

It's just a martial art....
Your kinda trying to "church" it up.

And shame on you for changing the Tenants of TKD....

03/16/2008 21:15:34

IrishTKD,

I see the point that you were trying to make, I too have felt many of the same frustrations as you, but just as you stated in your commentary above, I do feel as though I need to take issue with some of the contents of your "WaterBelts beware!!!!!! " rant above.

The title is very confrontational and set the tone of your commentary as such. By the end of it seems almost like your putting out an open challenge to people

"Students who choose NOT to attend sparring classes or dont participate in sparring at tournaments usually aren't that good of a martial artist. Any of you who disagree....come to my school and prove me wrong!!! (Doubt you will.)"

This is a broad stereotype that you are putting out there and the "Bet you won't" at the end is not in the spirit of Tae Kwon Do. As TKDHortkid stated Tae Kwon Do is about oneself, ex: Self-Control, Self-Discipline, Self-Confidence, Self-Respect, Self-Development, and Self-Defense. These are not just words, they are a way of life and should govern the way we conduct ourselves in our day to day lives. However Tae Kwon Do is also about others, being courteous to others, being patient with others, respecting others, etc. 

We have a student Creed at our Academy that is different the most of the Tenants of Tae Kwon Do that I see at other schools but I feel as though it truely encompasses what your training in TKD should be about. Here it is:

1/ I intend to develop myself in a POSITIVE manner and to avoid anything that will reduce my mental growth or physical health, sir
2/ I intend to develop SELF-DISCIPLINE in order to bring out the best in MYSELF and OTHERS, sir
3/ I intend to use the skills I learn in class CONSTRUCTIVELY and DEFENSIVELY to help myself and my fellow man and NEVER to be abusive or offensive, sir
4/ I shall RESPECT my parents and SENIORS and always abide by the Black Belt Creed, sir

Black Belt Creed: -COURTESY -MODESTY -PERSEVERANCE -SELF-CONTROL -INDOMITABLE SPIRIT, SIR! 

Developing in these areas is what should be the main focus of your training, yes it is a martial art but the physical training and molding should not outweigh the mental, social, and many other benefits that come from TKD.

I feel as though even within the physical development your love of sparring has overshadowed what is really the "culmination" of physical Tae Kwon Do training: SELF-DEFENSE.
Tae Kwon Do is a martial art, not a combat sport. Olympic sparring is a sport that uses some of the techniques that you learn in TKD. It is fun and is great for developing, timing, distance, blocks, conditioning, cardio, reaction, etc...but it shoud be a part of your development not the culmination.
Sparring is a tool to help you accomplish your goal. If all you get out of Tae Kwon Do at the end of the day is that you were good at Olympic Style sparring, then you are missing a lot.
You touch on some of this briefly:
 
"this is a MARTIAL ART, not Tai Chi or yoga. The whole point of TKD is "the way of the hand and the foot"!!!!! Meaning: a specific WAY to defend yourself with your hands and feet!!!! You SHOULD expect to spar."

However you should expect to be able to defend yourself first and foremost cause if you throw sparring techniques on the street against someone who knows what they are doing and you will end up on your "smile" quicker when you know, or if someone grabs you from behind or comes at you with a knife, or there's 3 guys, etc.. All of these scenarious are the real word, no chest pads, or helmets, and most importantly no rules!

If practical Self-Defense, using the arsenal of techniques taught in TKD, is not an integral part of, if not the main focus of, your training then you are a "water-belt, you are NOT A MARTIAL ARTIST. Despite your Master telling you so.

"Dont get me wrong, I totally belive that forms and stretching are VERY important. Forms are going to help you kick, block,and punch correctly. But you will not fight someone "form" style"

I believe that blocks, hand/arm strikes, stances, kicking/leg strikes, stretching, balance, body conditioning, cardio, coordination, and all of the other things that you learn are the tools that build a foundation. These are expressed or shown off in our Poomsae, Sparring, and Board/Brick Breaking Competitions and our Demonstrations, but I feel as though somone could go through the belts and never compete in Olympic style sparring, or poomsae, or breaking and still be a real Black Belt, if their focus was on maximizing their personal development and being able to effectively defend themselves.
I realize that you will not fight someone like you do in Poomsae but I hope for your sake that you are not going to fight someone sparring style either...

The most disquieting to me though is this statement:

"I know people will say, "you are not supposed to be violent" or "you should promote piece and not try to fight". For one, only students who are scared to spar say that. Or masters who cant spar themselves."

I should hope that every student of Tae Kwon Do and every Master that they have has this attitude or they are in the wrong Martial Art.Not being violent does not equal being scared it shows that they have self-control and not endorsing or encouraging violence should not be looked at as a lack of ability but as a sign of wisdom and restraint. I would like for you to ask any Master around if they edorse their students being violent and I think you'd find that most don't, and if you told them it meant that they couldn't spar then I bet it wouldn't take too long for you to realize that you put your foot in your mouth, cause I bet most of them could put their own foot in your mouth before you knew what hit you....

You speak in an earlier blog about the state of schools and today's children, is teaching them to be "violent, not peaceful and to try to fight" the answer?? I think you and I both know that it is not.

Many of the points that you made about practicing outside of class, pushing yourself to do things that you don't like to do (running), the fact that it is a martial art, show signs of a potentially great Martial Artist, but they way in which you challenged, and judged people so broadly shows that you are still immature in your Tae Kwon Development.

Let me assure that by disagreeing with some of your points I do not mean to be confrontational but I felt that you seemed misguided in your focus, but I also assure you that I am not one of the Water Belts bringing our "Martial Art" down. A sport is just that, recreation, a Martial Art however is a way of life, that develops the mind and body so that you are prepared to handle any life situation, whether that means defending yourself against harm or applying the principles of TKD to events in your everyday life.

I took a lot of time to write this and tried to express myself as best as possible, please don't dismiss this as criticism, and see the real reason behind why I took the time to write this....

Yours in Tae Kwon Do

Nathan Barrett, 3rd Dan
Senior Instructor
The NL Tae Kwon Do Academy

 

 

03/04/2008 18:33:48

you said it brother!!!!

02/24/2008 13:21:34

I agree with tkd hortkid comments also, i get frustrated in class when I see a higher belt than me doing something I can do better than them or someones discipline level isn't wear I think it should be. but then i have to check myself and realize not everyone has the level of expectations that i have. I take tkd VERY seriously, it's not social hour. But we all have our own goals to reach and we all learn differently and at our own pace. So i try to be patient and realize that im not all that either.

02/24/2008 13:15:07

I AGREE!!!
 
We always have a good turnout for sparring classes but alot of the time it is because we have sparring requirements for belt testing. I love to sparr, it helps you put together everything you are learning in class and it helps to make more sense as to why you are doing what your being taught, and it makes regular class alot easier after you wear your gear and sparr. wtf tkd is an olympic sport, that aspect of it is sparring. That is the modern aspect of tkd. stances and forms are the building blocks for good foundation which is essential!!!!!!  sparring is also alot more than putting on gear and punching and kicking, it is also a thinking man's game ( should I say woman) you need to know what your opponent is thinking so you can counter or strike and get the points. like chess you always want to be a kick ahead!!!! 

02/18/2008 11:11:11

OK...so as a person really into sparring I have to ask you this....apart from running, what else do you do to get the stamina for sparring? Im a beginner and love sparring, but after a few rounds my energy level dips. Am I putting too much effort into each round, or do I need to do more training (running etc and if so what?) to up my stamina for sparring?

Thanks for any input

Kix 

02/18/2008 11:06:12

I agree that sparring is very important in TKD. We're not learning needlepoint! But I caution you to not put down or undervalue the importance of poomsae in learning the Art of Taekwondo. It is vital to the art. No boxer in their right mind would train without shadow boxing.

I appreciate that you had no natural talent when you started & have worked really hard to get where you are. When I started, I had zero stamina, & no flexibility at all (Ask GM Chang!) I had to work harder than everyone else just to stay even with them. You've come a long way & that is fantastic!

BTW, GM Chang makes an excellent sparring partner. The stories I could tell you

02/18/2008 08:16:03

Thank you for your comment, I agree with you about making sure I worry about myself and concentrate on my own improvement. I guess I am glad sometimes that not everybody enjoys sparring as much as me when at a tournament...

No, I take that back, I would much rather spar someone who has the same passion as me.

 

Its kind of like playing basketball. If you really enjoy playin basketball, and practice everyday, and then go to the park and play against people who dont practice as much and dont have the same passion as you. It's great to start scoring on them, but after a while the challenge just isn't there and the game becomes boring.

 

I guess I totally belive that anyone can learn taekwondo and be good at it. When I started almost 3 yrs ago, I was horrible at stretching and had zero natural ability. Because of my personality I dont want to say that I think I am great now or anything because I can always improve. But I never thought I would be able to kick somebody in the head! I couldn't even sit indian style when I started TKD, so to come from all that and now be where I am at, I guess that is why I am so passionate about TKD. Of course to help along my training and help speed up my improvement I stretch when I run every morning.

 So basically, my weakness is stretching, and I face that weakness every single class. Sparring is only one or 2 classes a week. So if students dont attend sparring because they are afraid or weak at it, I lose all respect for them as a martial Artist.

I dont like hearing excuses of why people "cant" and would rather hear more reasons why they "can". 

 

Anyway, I guess my blog is part fustration and part wake-up call. When the time comes for me  to have my own school I am going to follow my master's teaching and expect more from my students.

Anyway, thanks for the comment...good to hear other's enjoy sparring. Maybe we will face each other in the future...I plan to enter into state tournaments after I recieve my black belt, and hopefully I will be able to get into Nationals.

 

Chuung Hyo sir,

IrishTKD 

 

 

02/17/2008 22:07:47

I understand where you are coming from, as I am a big fan of sparring myself. But you have to remember for most people, TKD is purely intermural. I have the tendency of judging people by their lack of skill both in sparring and in other techniques as well, but at the same time, I am always reminding myself, we all have different goals and different ambitions. As much as you'd want to tell other people to quit doing what they're doing, it unfortunetaly makes ourselves look ever more so rediculous considering that we often times confuse sport and competition with art and a peaceful bringing. I love sparring, and I'm a very peaceful person. I know kids that wanna start stuff in their schools, yet always think twice about stepping on the floor with me or any of the other ranks. All in all, remember, what you see and what I see, are never going to be what everyone else sees. With that being said, keep on kicking. Peace.