TKDspace.com | Your Online Taekwondo Community
Conartist
 PROFILE   GALLERY   BLOGS   GUESTBOOK   FRIENDS   FAVORITES   VIDEOS   HOME  
 


RSS
Does martial arts lack dicipline today?
Posted On: 02/21/2008 23:09:47

So I'm coming back from training and my Master's wife recognizes that I've been improving in my skills quite rapidly. And she brought up the topic of when I would go for my next promotion test. Just to set the background for this blog, here's my opinion on this topic. And I stress that this is just my opinion and I do not mean to offend anybody with this.

In my years of training, I've been to several schools and went through several training methods. So I've had time to guage the strengths and weakness of each school that I was at. One of things I notice is that in some schools I felt that it was run more like a business and that students are given the wrong idea that it is a race to become a black belt. Quite frankly, I'm not okay with what they think. I don't like how people can seemingly just have a cakewalk through the colour belts. But what do I know? I only have a blue belt and I admit that I still have a lot to learn. But it does irk me to think that there are a lot of dojangs that have turned into "McDojangs." It seems like the quality of students that come out of these dojangs just lack some of the basic skills that every student at whatever level should have. Why do you think people have largely criticized TKD for being an ineffective martial art? To me this is definitely one of the reasons. For me as a coloured belt I don't want to get to black belt fast and suddenly find out that I can't fight and that my technique is sloppy. I am more at peace that I am wearing the belt that I deserve and not the product of the Master who has simply lost their passion for teaching. Which is why I try to spend at least a good amount of time at each level. From my experiences I've spent about 1 year at each level.

So I told my master's wife that I simply like to spend a year at each level and then what she said was something I didn't realy expect. She said it was good but she said that one year is kinda long for the amount progress I've made in the past month and a half. She said that since we are at a small school where the Master is able to teach students one-on-one and refine our techniques well, we don't really need to take one year for each level. We have the opportunity to excel. So then I started thinking again, am I doing myself a favour by giving myself lots of time or not?

I am a firm believer that it is better practice one technique 1000 times than to cram 100 techniques in a short amount of time. Because at least you know that one technique so well that you can apply it elsewhere.

I've also been reading about the old days of martial arts and that back in the day, it was very meaningful thing to achieve a black belt and now its not so much. Now there's the topic of genuine places and fake big businesses.

So right now, I'm thinking where I should be going with this? And I hope this blog encourages all of you to honestly assess what your dojang's strengths and weaknesses are. 

So what do you think? 

Tags: Dicipline Self-control Belts Promotion



Bookmark:



Viewing 1 - 6 out of 6 Comments

From: taekwondojunkie
02/24/2008 13:00:27
i agree with your comments, but there are ways you can eliminate some of the "Mcdojangs" as you call them. Im sure you throughly check out each school you might attend, if not that might be a mistake, before I attended my dojang i watched classes for a week. My master is korean and he didn't move to the states until he was in adulthood. It seems to me (and only my opinion, don't mean offense) american instructors are more laid back, maybe by that i mean in terms of etiquette and discipline. If you practice enough everyday you will have good form and good kicks, speed, and flexibilty, but being a martial artist to me is more than that it is about being in control of your life and have patience and calmness. etiquette and discipline are absent in some dojangs, but that doesn't mean that there aren't good ones out there. Just go with your gut if you feel your not getting what you need just do some research. I agree that if you don't progressivly test every 3-4 mos you may end up getting bored and feel frusterated.  I have been doing tkd for about 4 1/2 yrs My son and I have missed about 2 black belt tests but i feel that getting your black belt is not a race, it is something you become and the longer Im a color belt the better i will be when i get my black belt. I find that  a lot of people ask me what are you going to do when you get your black belt? and of course my answer is continue. the non martial artist doesn't understand that the color belt system is like the introduction in a book. It's Just the beginning. pilsung to you and kick on!!!!


From: IcemanSK
02/22/2008 20:28:24
I appreciate what you're saying & agree in principle that many schools rush the belt process. But 2 folks who have trained with you have chimed in on this with their two cents. We've never met, but you strike me as a man who would train hard because you're so passionate about the Art. Choco mix confirms this. The hard part is, if you wait a year at each rank, you will waste a lot of time. Here's what I mean.

You're a talented man who is passionate about TKD. There's no special knowledge or inspiration you will get by waiting longer than you should to test...especially, if you're training all the time. In fact, the reverse (boredom) may happen because you're not learning anything new.

You've been around a bit in TKD. You've seen good & not soon good schools & students. You've decided what you want to be & you want to work hard to be good. But you also have to trust your master who says "you're ready." To do otherwise is a lack of trust in his judgement of your skills & attitude. I'm not saying you should be higher rank, now. I'm also not saying you should be rushed through the ranks. I'm saying, if you trust that your current master is a person of honor & you're working hard, then test for the ranks as he allows.

There's nothing magical about having a BB. I thought there was. I wanted there to be something different. After 25 years of training, there still isn't. Am I satisfied with my progression? Not most days. It's a life-long process. Truthfully, I learned more when I became a BB because then I was asked to teach it. That's one of the reasons folks say that at BB, you're ready to really learn TKD.

I hope I'm making sense. It's been a long day.


From: TKD_Hortkid
02/22/2008 15:28:26
Hey Con, I'm definetaly going to come back and add more, but I soley agree with what you are saying and how you feel about going through the belts at your own pace. I wish I had the honor of being able to train with someone like yourself who takes in consideration fully understanding the techniques and practices. Though our school has one of the largest chains of dojangs in the US, I've noticed that several of the masters push their students through the belts like it's a pride and joy to say "I have 20 garbage black belts" than to have 3 or 5 decently prepared students. I was lucky enough to get a teacher who despises that type of thinking and even though I'm considered by several students and perhaps maybe the teacher himself, to be one of the more advanced students in the class, I still humble my self down in knowing that my belt is nothing more than a color of rank, and to me, that means nothing.

Progress at your own level, and I'm going to send you a comment when I start this topic up about acheiving that black belt status and what that really means as far as our future and lives are concerned. Though I've only been in TKD for less than 2 years, I've been doing martial arts on and off since I was a little tike. When you're younger, you sometimes don't fully grasp what it is that you're doing, yet, there's a 10 year old kid at our school that is absolutely amazing both in his form and in his grades. I admire the kid and sometimes wish I was at that level when I was younger, but now, I realize that we all move through and at our own pace. I'm glad you posted this up and I think you should also post this up as a blog. I've never met you and yet, talking with you feels like I'm communicating to the type of student/trainee that I wish I could have alongside me as we both develop our technique and stay humbled in both our opinions on the art, as well as our Christian and natural based ideas on life. Keep it up man, PEACE.


From: doughboy
02/22/2008 09:51:30
i think if you train 4-5 days a week, then you can probably go through all color belts in 18-24 months.  there aren't whole lot to learn between each color belt.  couple new patterns, few new techniques which you probably have seen or done before, and, of course, better techniques of previously learned materials.  so it shouldn't take all that long between each color belts. 
depending on a person, getting 1st black belt may need little more preparation, but it shouldn't take more than a year to get 1st black from red (or whatever the belt is right before black).  1st black belt only means that you know and somewhat understand how to execute each technique.  chances are, you will learn 90% of techniques you need to know by the time you get your 1st black belt.  after that, the rest is matter of perfecting your techniques and understanding what martial arts is, instead just doing it as a sport/exercise/etc. 
and quite frankly, if someone trains 4-5 days a week for 3 years and still doesn't show the ability to get their black belt, then consider either what you are doing wrong or what your instructors are doing wrong. 


From: choco_mix
02/22/2008 07:47:10

Con, it's always great to see your committment to what you do. The truth is, that you are a very diligent student and a hard worker. It is definitely hard when your instructor thinks you are ready and you are not sure. I had that with my first degree. I was rushed through my colours thinking that was cool, but when I got to my double black stripes and was told to test- I was like, "I'm not ready sir". He disagreed. So, I tested. I still think it was too fast, but so it goes. I then waited much much longer for my next test, although technically, I could have tested a year or two later.

If you have been training there for a while, and trust their opinion on other things, maybe they knwo what's best for you for the test. Definitely take your time as you continue to the next belts. Passing blue will get you into the higher belts- a place to simmer for a bit.

I know how you're feeling bro. Keep training hard. You are a great student, and will make a great black belt in time. 

From: irishtkd
02/22/2008 03:26:17

I agree with you that it seems like it is much easier to acheive black belt than what I thought it should be like before in started TKD. When I started with the school in currently go to, I sat down and talked to my Master about this same thing. I told him, "when I test for black belt, I want to be the real thing" And he is a great teacher, so in class he gets on me and makes me stretch properly and do forms properly and sparring techniques properly as well. Some people in our class are at a very high color belt and I look at their technique and think to myself..Wow they can't even do a back kick correctly...and they are a whatever belt??!!

 

But I guess it all comes down to this. Your taekwando skill is dependant on your amount of effort put forth.And the same is true for all the waterbelts (watered-down). You can't do anything about the waterbelts...but you can keep focusing on your self and improving yourself.

 

Its just like anything in life, there are doctors who passed in college with "C"s...not every doctor is an "A" student. There are good drivers and then there are bad drivers on the road. So keep pushing yourself and try to be the best and maybe you will encourage a waterbelt to change their ways.

 

Chuung Hyo!

IrishTKD 

TKDspace.com | Your Online Taekwondo Community
Powered by phpFoX Version 1.6.20