Are the best really the best???

Which is a shame in today's world.
Not really.

I still maintain that sport TKD bears little to no resemblance to taekwondo and should be named accordingly. There is little to no kwon and really not any do. Or the art should be called something else. Either way. Sport taekwondo is essentially foot fencing, a sport for which, honestly, there is no viewership interest.

The only reason that football, basketball, baseball, etc. can do what they do is sponsorship dollars. The only reason that there are sponsorship dollars is because there is a television audience. The only reason that there is a television audience is because before it was on television, those sports packed stadiums with spectators on a nationwide level.

Taekwondo does not even come close to doing that outside of Korea, and viewer interest was deemed low enough that it was not televised when it was in the olympics.

Frankly, once the sport takes over (and it has) then the emphasis shifts from what taekwondo was originally conceived as and became popular as to a sport that generates about as much interest as badmitton amongst television audiences. Nothing wrong with badmitton. Fun game. But you won't be seeing any multimillion dollar contracts for badmitton players.

Taekwondo works best when it is taught as a martial art. The schools do not need the sport. Yes, those trophies are a nice way to wow potential customers, but not a necessity. Generally, a well run school with a courteous staff and well developed childrens' and adult programs is all that you need to do well with a school. Look at how many successful schools are out there. There are way more successful school owners than there are pro football players. They may not make a bajillion dollars, but they will all have longer professional careers and will do a lot more good for a lot more people than any pro athlete ever will.

Daniel
 
Speaking of sponsorship, perhaps Gorilla can enlighten us on this message posted to Vladimir Sokolov's Facebook early this morning:



Here is his page on the Nestle / Power Bar site: http://www.powerbar.com/user/Russo.aspx

Obviously Olympians like Lopez family and Charlotte and Nia etc got a fair amount of sponsorship money but I don't think I have heard of TKDists that have not even made it onto a USAT national team getting such a deal. Yes, I know he is an AAU team member. I think he is a phenominal talent and likely will make the USAT team at some point in the near future, and a deal like this can only help in the efforts.

So Gorilla, you have any inside info you can share.
Wow...he trains with Dewey Cooper. Use to watch him fight in K-1 and the old ISKA. Dewey lost to Don the Dragon Wilson when Don made a come back of sort at 40 something. Don beat Dewey with only a side kick. Was a great match to see old school vs. new school. Was good to see that old school still worked if done right.
 
Which is a shame in today's world.
unfortunately though , until they make sport tkd better to watch they will struggle to obtain the global interest/finances to allow for sponsorship etc. A good cricketer makes millions of dollars a year because everytime there is a game the stadium is packed out and the tv networks pay heaps of money to secure the rights. This is because it is a great spectator sport. I hate to say it , but in my opinion tkd is far, far from a great spectator sport and until rules change I really cant see that happening because sports that attract little interest also attract little money for sponsorship etc.
 
Speaking of sponsorship, perhaps Gorilla can enlighten us on this message posted to Vladimir Sokolov's Facebook early this morning:



Here is his page on the Nestle / Power Bar site: http://www.powerbar.com/user/Russo.aspx

Obviously Olympians like Lopez family and Charlotte and Nia etc got a fair amount of sponsorship money but I don't think I have heard of TKDists that have not even made it onto a USAT national team getting such a deal. Yes, I know he is an AAU team member. I think he is a phenominal talent and likely will make the USAT team at some point in the near future, and a deal like this can only help in the efforts.

So Gorilla, you have any inside info you can share.

Vlad's win at the US Open drew allot of attention. In the last year Vlad has beaten D. Kim Olympian UZB, Maixim Potvin World Silver Medalist from Canada, Juan Sanchez Puerto Rico(Quarter Finalist@ Worlds). His only loss in the last year and 1.5 is to Mark Lopez. He fights the Lopez's don't. The only reason that he is not on the National Team is the politics! He also beat Brian Gallagher. He really wanted to fight Mark Lopez @ the US Open but Mark backed out. You may see more things from Vlad in the near future a Gold at the Spanish Open would help him allot.
 
Wow...he trains with Dewey Cooper. Use to watch him fight in K-1 and the old ISKA. Dewey lost to Don the Dragon Wilson when Don made a come back of sort at 40 something. Don beat Dewey with only a side kick. Was a great match to see old school vs. new school. Was good to see that old school still worked if done right.

Look on some of the Utube stuff on Dewey Cooper. You will see Master Blackburn in his corner. Terry trained Dewey in the early 2000's.. Terry and Dewey are Old friends.

I will look for some of the Old Clips.

Terry is tremendous fight trainer in all areas Boxing,Wrestling, Mauy Tai truly one a very tough main. He loves TKD and that is his focus at this time.

This is the clip of the Carter Williams fight you will see Terry in the Clip with his famous Dread Locks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPy1bnQPvG8&feature=related
 
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Look on some of the Utube stuff on Dewey Cooper. You will see Master Blackburn in his corner. Terry trained Dewey in the early 2000's.. Terry and Dewey are Old friends.

I will look for some of the Old Clips.

Terry is tremendous fight trainer in all areas Boxing,Wrestling, Mauy Tai truly one a very tough main. He loves TKD and that is his focus at this time.

This is the clip of the Carter Williams fight you will see Terry in the Clip with his famous Dread Locks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPy1bnQPvG8&feature=related
Wow! Good info to know. The funny thing is that Scott Croker the person that produced many of the K-1 fights was once my old master. I was not with him long but I got to know and train with people like Javier "Thunder" Mendez and some others that fought ISKA and K-1 for a short time. They also all came out of West Coast Martial Art (Ernie Reyes Sr.). They also all trained Taekwondo as their base art as well as other things. I am sure that Master Blackburn also knows Master Croker as well. Small world, I guess that 6 degrees of separation thing is really true.
 
He fights the Lopez's don't. The only reason that he is not on the National Team is the politics! He also beat Brian Gallagher. He really wanted to fight Mark Lopez @ the US Open but Mark backed out. You may see more things from Vlad in the near future a Gold at the Spanish Open would help him allot.

Goriila one thing to remember the Lopezs are great at playing the game os TKD, bit to take anything away from Vlad at all but there is a big difference in fighting and playing the game withrn the USAT. I would love to see Mark and Vlad spare for real without politics.
 
Goriila one thing to remember the Lopezs are great at playing the game os TKD, bit to take anything away from Vlad at all but there is a big difference in fighting and playing the game withrn the USAT. I would love to see Mark and Vlad spare for real without politics.


They will fight again and I hope that the politics will stay out. Not likely though!
 

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