If I may chime in on an old topic...
I've spent 75% of my life (from age six to 24) in the dojang. However, like many people who started out very young, I had several perious--about green belt and then again about red stripe--where I stagnated in promotions. Because of that, and some stagnation after Il Poom, it has taken me quite some time to reach Ee Dan (2007).
However, I have come across Il Poom/Dan, Ee Poom/Dan, and even Sam Poom/Dan who seem to be lacking a critical body of knowledge--at least what I would consider such--related to Taekwon Do. These individuals, who after training seven years or so, are generally unaware of some of the history of the art (even the more recent twentieth-century history relating to the birth of modern Taekwon Do), the philosophical elements (such as those related to poomsae/hyung, meditation, etc.), or most shockingly the function of techniques found in poomsae.
For example, I toured a school in the area when I moved and to get a feel for the school, I always examine the black belts. An Ee Dan, who looked approximately my age, bore an "Instructor" patch on his uniform, and was often put in charge of the class. When class was over, I struck up a conversatioon about what appealed most to each of us in Taekwon Do. His answer was sparring, while mine was the deeper art--the Do--of Taekwon Do. I added that I appreciate the secrets of the art (if you will) found in poomsae, and used Koryo as an example. When I began a discussion of the arc hand strike, I paused when I noticed a blank stare on his face. Though he knew the poomsae, he did not know the function of the techniques--it was all but a dance to him.
That said, I think of thsoe people who spend any significant ammount of time in the art at some time or another, come to realize that proficiency is not measured by the color of one's belt, but rather their maturity and experience in the art.
Interestingly, this topic ties in with one that kickin_yellow posted [url]http://tkdspace.com/forum/posts/id_387/title_Fine-roll-your-eyes-at-me/[/url]--regarding maturity in the art.
