This is actually a question about how Koreans in the USA (or away from Korea) view Korean (or non-Korean) TKD etc. instructors.

Yesterday I drove thru a neighborhood that had a lot of Korean businesses, Churches, etc. It made me wonder if instructors are as esteemed among Koreans here as they are in Korea. My experience is with Korean instructors & Korean ministers, but I've never asked either what their perception is of the other's work.

This is actually a question about how Koreans in the USA (or away from Korea) view Korean (or non-Korean) TKD etc. instructors.

Yesterday I drove thru a neighborhood that had a lot of Korean businesses, Churches, etc. It made me wonder if instructors are as esteemed among Koreans here as they are in Korea. My experience is with Korean instructors & Korean ministers, but I've never asked either what their perception is of the other's work.

I think that they are not held in any different regard here than in Korea. I believe it is the outside folks (non-Koreans) which hold them is such high regard. In Korea they are not that highly regarded. They are not looked down upon, but they don't have a high status in the society. In a place where they are pretty much a dime a dozen, they are looked at simply as another business owner, unless they make some sort of huge impact in the community or distinguish themselves frome the rest of the instructors.

I think any Asian martial art has an air of mystique about it here in the States. To the general public, a "black belt" should be able to defeat a dozen chainsaw-wielding attackers without a scratch.

At least during my time in Korea, being a Martial Arts instructor was viewed just like any other job. There are so many of them and so many people are involved in Martial Arts, that the instructors are just like any other teacher.