Honorary 10th degree Black Belt for U.N. Sec. General

[arnisador]

[h=1]Enter The Diplomat - U.N.'s Ban gets black belt[/h]

Representatives at the United Nations may think twice about crossing Ban Ki-moon in future after the secretary-general was awarded an honorary 10th degree black belt in the Korean martial art of taekwondo.


While is unclear whether the 68-year-old Ban can break bricks with his bare hands, World Taekwondo Federation president Choue Chung-won said the awarding of the black belt reflected the common goals and values shared by the UN and federation.

"I am delighted to have presented UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with our prestigious black belt[...]The black belt is a globally-recognized symbol of expertise across the martial arts and awarding it to the secretary-general represents how strongly matched the WTF's values are with the United Nations."

It's always annoying to see how the press reports martial arts stories, but seriously--people may fear him because he's an honorary black belt?

 

[Dirty Dog]

Especially since the WTF doesn't award any real rank...

 

[Grenadier]

It's always annoying to see how the press reports martial arts stories, but seriously--people may fear him because he's an honorary black belt?

I suspect it will have the same result as the amount of reverence and respect in the respective fields that these individuals have as a result of their honorary degrees.

As for Choue's remarks about how in line the WTF and the UN are, I'm not sure that I see any real connection...

 

[arnisador]

As for Choue's remarks about how in line the WTF and the UN are, I'm not sure that I see any real connection...

Yeah, I wondered about that also.

 

[Gnarlie]

As for Choue's remarks about how in line the WTF and the UN are, I'm not sure that I see any real connection...

Yeah, I wondered about that also.

http://www.wtf.org/wtf_eng/site/about_taekwondo/taekwondo.html

If you read that, it will clarify. The meaning of the 3 syllables 'Taekwondo' is not necessarily what people think.

Gnarlie

 

[chinto]

unless he has real rank in an art, I would just laugh.. and if he has real rank, I would laugh till he put his real rank on!!!

 

[DennisBreene]

Enter The Diplomat - U.N.'s Ban gets black belt





It's always annoying to see how the press reports martial arts stories, but seriously--people may fear him because he's an honorary black belt?

Only in the same way one should fear the movie star who is has an honorary degree in medicine and attempts to walk into an operating room and perform surgery. Mat Damon with a real scalpel? The honorary degree/black belt looks better on the wall than a letter that says "We think you're a swell guy".