My gut instincts about this are the same as you folks'. The question is, why do we need yet another TKD org???
Suppose, just for fun, you wanted to put an association together which agreed on a curriculum spotlighting traditional SD-oriented TKD, Karate, and other MAs, as vs. competitive sparring. This would be kind of a `H2H-effective seal of approval' sort of deal. I can't see any reason why there might not be such an group; the British Combat Association seems to be just that in the UK, and it has some stellar members—Iain Abernethy, Geoff Thompson, Peter Consterdine and others whose public record on behalf of realistic combat methods in the MAs are celebrated (and dearly bought, I suspect). So that would be one rationale, maybe the best one for a new association (this ties in to some of the discussion on Terry's `Where are we?' thread). But if you check out the BCA, they are very upfront about their CQ combate-effectiveness orientation; you can't get away from it, with them! This is what they tell you right at their site's opening gate:
The Association was formed in 1993 and serves the needs of instructors and their students who study self defence or follow the more practical aspects of Martial Arts.
For many years, I had felt that the UK Martial Arts scene lacked a credible organisation, which specifically dealt with the issues of self defence and which was run by people who had years of street experience, not just theoretical application of traditional martial arts. Not only that, but even after decades of martial arts in Britain, most 'style' organisations were still political in the sense that they were protectionist, prevented their instructors from studying elsewhere, were closed to practical and realistic applications and were often run by people who were happier in a committee than engaged in hard training.
Right in your face about that, eh? Now look at what you can glean about AIMAA, apart from the fact that Gm. Cho is the best of the best and therefore that it makes sense to belong to any organization that he's taken the trouble to set up:
The AIMAA advocates the holistic profitability of its members.
This is the most specific thing I could find about them at their site—not much information, relatively speaking, eh? I happen to believe that Gm. Cho really is an outstanding, even legendary MAist (there are stories about him destroying heavy hanging bags with a single barrage of kicks, and for all I know those strories are true); but it's hard for me to see much content here. If I had an organization that had a very specific raison d' ĆŖtre, like the BCA, I'd be leading with that mission statement and hammering it into the ground on every page of my website. But it looks like you have to pay these guys $10 just to obtain the information package that tells you why you might want to join an organization that charges you $10 to get an information package telling you why you might want to join an organization that....
I personally will have nothing to do with any organization that leads to an infinite regress. Sorry, but that's just the way it is with me!
