why are people always knocking TKD?

[matthewkemp]

in my short time on this forum ive noticed that alot of people have a low opinion of tkd and im just curious as to what people think is so bad about it.

[Damian Mavis]

Unlike other martial arts, TKD has millions of practitioners and is the most visible art in the world.... it's going to get tons of criticism for being in the limelight. The majority of those millions are soccer moms, fat older dads that work in an office all day, and little kids.... so with them representing TKD it is easy to critisize. If all people saw were the younger hardcore guys then TKD wouldn't catch as much flak.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

[matthewkemp]

not a bad point damien lol

by the way, having practised both ITF and WTF which do you prefer?

[Damian Mavis]

Well both have interesting drills..... but honestly I find them so similar that to me WTF is ITF but missing the head punching. As for sparring I will always prefer ITF style, it's more well rounded.

There are crappy schools in both federations that I have visited.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

[m.artist]

i don't like the way we here in america have made tkd out to be....im sure that in korea it is much different and the training is legit...but when i say i don't like tkd...i mean i don't like it here....it's weak here and equvilant to tae bo...im not knocking tkd practitioners....but the american tkd itself

[taekwondoguys]

I tell you what, the one thing I love about the TKD school I go to is that our instructor came from Seoul, Korea. So he is teaching us what he learned, I don't like the way some of the other taekwondo schools do around here. Most of them are ones who don't know the "right ways" if you will, that is why I would prefer a instructor who came from korea, where they teach them the correct way. If that makes any sense.

[m.artist]

see that's what i would want...i want a man from the actual country were it originated...not one of the mcdojos that are taking over

[taekwondoguys]

Yeah, I agree, I took from a mcdojo & our master now, is to me, a whole lot better than taking from someone who just takes over. IMO.

[MichiganTKD]

Knocking Tae Kwon Do

Don't assume that Tae Kwon Do direct from Korea is any good. Our Instructor is Korean-born, and he always told us that the majority of TKD in Korea right now is crap (not his word). Only about 5% of real Korean TKD is powerful. The rest is watered down sandlot style that your average Korean practices, kinda like here.
Yes, it is part of the school curriculum, but is just physical activity, not something practiced to give you power and effective self defense.
Especially with the emphasis in Korea on tournaments, most Korean Tae Kwon Do as practiced over there has lost the power and technique that made it effective in the first place. He stated that the best Korean Instructors are all overseas now.

[Damian Mavis]

Yup, Korea is pretty much the same as North America, full of McDojo's. And yes many of the best Korean instructors went overseas a long time ago..... I don't know of any "newer" instructors from Korea that are any good. Even the old good instructors from Korea are mostly all jumping on the make money bandwagon and opening crappy schools run by assistant instructors with little skill.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

[MichiganTKD]

Knocking Tae Kwon Do

Our Instructor has related to us classmates who came up alongside him who , theoretically, should be at his level. But what happens is, they get sucked into the American Dream of making money, and as a result teach a watered down style that is just designed to appeal to as many people as possible. They never made any money on their own, so to make up for it they charge huge sums of money for testings, certify anybody as black belts, and completely mass market Tae Kwon Do as a commodity to make income for themselves.
For this reason, and this is just my personal opinion, I think Instructors who teach martial arts for a living are whores out oif necessity. They exploit Tae Kwon Do because they need income, and everything to them is designed to be a marketable commodity.

[Damian Mavis]

Ahh but then how do instructors dedicate enough time to their schools, students and skills in order to be good instructors if they are working 8 hours then teaching another 4 or 5 then sleeping and doing it all over again every single day with no free time and no life? Or are they supposed to dedicate the time but hold no job to live on therefore forever be in poverty and struggling? Is that what it takes to get respect? Be poor?

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD

[MichiganTKD]

Knocking Tae Kwon Do

Noone says you have to be poor, just don't have Tae Kwon Do as your primary source of income. Every instructor in our organization, from the founder on down, holds a full time job, or makes their primary source of income outside Tae Kwon Do. Teaching is what they on the side, and they are as dedicated as anybody I know. Our founder even told us many times, you cannot make money or get rich off of Tae Kwon Do, nor should you. It is perfectly alright to derive income from teaching, but I don't think Instructors can really derive full time income from teaching. You would have to have a very large number of continuous students due to turnover. The Instructors I've seen who teach for main income are total whores-everything they do is for money because they have to have that income coming-American and Korean.
It is better to teach part time because then you can teach as you wish since your livelihood doesn't derive from getting as many students as you can. That means, to me, teaching traditionally without having to market Tae Kwon Do as a commodity because you have to make money. As one of our Instructors has said "For money I work for the postal service...For life I teach Tae Kwon Do" He makes money from it, but it is not his primary source of income.

[IPON]

Or are they supposed to dedicate the time but hold no job to live on therefore forever be in poverty and struggling? Is that what it takes to get respect? Be poor?

Damian good point, but I think the issue is sacraficing the style or product for money. People lower the standards to draw people but it comprimises the art. I think the 1 yr BB or the 8yr old BB is what you see in the McDojo (like you said above) which is why TKD gets the bad wrap. Now becuase of this you have highly ranked stylists that not only can't fight but barely understand MA. The answer...well there is no easy answer, unfortunately this is also what people want, bragging rights, and the instructors just give it to them.

I have thought about teaching some day, but I could not teach and comprimise my teaching for money.

just my 2 cents

[MichiganTKD]

Knocking Tae Kwon Do

And it's not just Tae Kwon Do. There are plenty of Instructors in other styles who are more than willing to compromise their and their art's integrity to make a name for themselves, get in magazines, get publicity etc. Tae Kwon Do just gets the bad rap because, as mentioned previously, it is the biggest. So you have these 8 year old kids dressed like Power Rangers doing all these fancy techniques and earning black belts because it satisfies their Instructor's ego and makes him famous.