Taekwondo Times

[cali_tkdbruin]

What's your opinion of Taekwondo Times Magazine? It's reporting and articles are really not all about the art of Taekwondo. It also covers other martial arts, such as Hapkido, Escrima, etc. When I subscribed I thought I would only find TKD articles, but, that's not what I found :shrug:

It's cool learning about other MAs, but, I really just want to read about my art in this magazine, and more info about the WTF. I don't think I'll renew my subscription... :shrug:

[arnisador]

I check it out when I can because it does cover FMA etc.

[bdparsons]

is probably one of the most blatant self-promotion magazines going. Ever notice that 9 times out of 10 the cover subject has an inordinate amount of ads for their tapes/association/books in that particulat issue. I got tired of being bombarded and discontinued my subscription. If they return to being content-oriented I may consider renewing. Unfortunately it looks like Black Belt is rapidly climbing into the same boat.

Resects,
Bill Parsons

[Bagatha]

Its the only mag that features ITF articles and issues. There are several other mags with WTF stuff in it. Thats why I read it. (but no subscription)

[karatekid1975]

I do read it, but I don't subscribe to it. Only because I only read it when they have an article that interests me on a givin month. Same with Black Belt mag.

[Hollywood1340]

And Black Belt doesn't just cover black belts!!! C'mon it's a magazine, and it covers somethings that others don't, that IMO should be viewed as a good thing. But I agree in it's terrible shameless promotion. BB has been doing that along time.

[white dragon]

I can't even find it in the shops in the UK, I've seen people with it though, so I assume they get it on subscription?

[jfarnsworth]

I've never heard of the mag. Do you have to get it at an actual book store or can you get it at super-kmart or something? I'm interested in reading some.

[arnisador]

I find it at a local Books-A-Million.

[Marginal]

I've found it at Borders and at Barnes and Noble in the magazine racks. www.tkdtimes.com's the web site if I remember correctly.

[white dragon]

why is it if you want a magazine you have to go to a book store, rather than a newsagent these days??? :confused:

[Marginal]

I dunno about the state of newsstands in the UK (they seemed to be everywhere when I was there) but in the US, they don't seem to fare very well outside of the dense urban areas like NY. I can think of two that are currently in business offhand in CO for example. One of those I dug up a copy of the TKD Times last Sept, but it was ancient. (Something like "Mel Stiener on his own!!" was the headline.) Bonus there I got to see the Statue of Liberty Axe kick from that issue.

[white dragon]

Not wishing to go off topic, but what is the statue of liberty axe kick? I'd heard that mentioned before but don't have a clue what it is.

[Marginal]

It's basically an axe kick that you keep from falling by grabbing your kicking leg with your hand. Then you can alter it into a side kick if I remember the article correctly. Didn't say why it was named after the statue of liberty.

[MichiganTKD]

If I remember correctly, the way Tae Kwon Do Times works is this:

If you want to be on the cover, or if they ask you to be on the cover, you pay them a fee of approx. $10,000. This is through sales of the magazine within your organization. So, basically, anybody can be on the cover as long as they can guarantee a certain dollar amount of sales. Our Instructor was asked to be on the cover years ago (early 80's I believe). He thought they would pay him $10,000 to do it. When he found out he was supposed to pay THEM $10,000 he told to go f___ themselves. I've been to schools where the Instructor is featured on the cover. The students are highly pressured to buy the magazine so the Instructor can justify his being on it.
Anyway, if you look at the articles, with the exception of the very high ranking or well known Masters (Choi, Rhee Cho etc.), most of the articles are written by students or associates of the subject. So instead of an informative, honest, in-depth piece, you have this fluffy, a** kissing article about how great the Instructor is and how much he contributes to Tae Kwon Do. Also, if you notice, the same people get featured over and over again.
Usually I just read TKDT for a laugh. That's about all it's good for.

[cali_tkdbruin]

If I remember correctly, the way Tae Kwon Do Times works is this:

If you want to be on the cover, or if they ask you to be on the cover, you pay them a fee of approx. $10,000...



I guess this is pretty much why I didn't renew my subscription... :idunno:

[glad2bhere]

Dear Folks:

I agree about the comments regarding the commercial aspects of the magazine, but, afterall it IS a commercial venture, yes? I would like to see an up-grade in the lebvel of quality of the articles but my sense is that they can only publish what they get in as contributions. People who see the KMA as self-serving are going to submit self-serving articles. Those articles are going to be published when there is nothing else to fill the magazine with. Seems pretty cut&dried to me. FWIW.

Best Wishes,

Bruce

[Kodanjaclay]

While it would be nice to have more altruistic intentions, is that even a possibility? Bills must be paid, people must be paid and the like. TKDT, like most publications, is written with the intent of making a profit. I really must agree with Bruce on this.

[Marginal]

Reality of the situation or not, it doesn't really make for interesting or even entertaining reading.

[MichiganTKD]

Not only that, but most of the people featured in the magazine really are not that good. For instance, there is a couple featured prominently whenever an article about Chung Do Kwan is published (and you know who I'm talking about). These people suck! Their technique is lousy, and the articles are usually no help whatsoever. I hate to think these two are the face of the style I practice, cause they most assuredly aren't.
Beyond that, as I mentioned, most of the people who find their way into the magazine really are not that good and have very little to say that is meaningful, except to self-promote.

[glad2bhere]

Aww, but c'mon. Lets be fair.

How many people really bust their butts to write a sound, well-thought-out piece on some aspect of Korean MA? I don't care much for Scott Shaw but at least he is making an effort. I don't know what the target demographic is for TKD TIMES but I would bet its not the same as JAMA! In fact, lets go a bit deeper. How many times have I been to an event and I ask if anyone is going to post their event to TKD TIMES? 9 time out of 10 everybody starts scratching heads, and MAYBE two months down the road a pic and a paragraph show-up, wedged-in among the advertising. The people running the magazine are not rocket scientists or Pulitzer Prize winning journalists. They don't have a cadre of foreign correspondents so California could slide into the sea and they probably wouldn't know about it.

While I am at it let me remind people of how many decent magazines have gone under just because they really tried to do something. Anybody remember SAMURAI magazine? How about KICK magazine? How about MA magazine? In their way they were trying to do something of quality and people simply weren't interested enough to support the effort. Seems like people get the media they deserve, yes?

Best Wishes,

Bruce

[Mike_TKD]

Hello, I'm new to the forum:)

IMHO I like the TaeKwonDo times magazine, since when is covering more than one martial art bad? I think that just reading about other martial arts can spark an intrest and can open you up to other arts therefore making you a better martial artist and if anything helps you become a better martial artist then what is bad about it? (not directed harmfully at anyone)