Hardcoer TKD Class

[xfighter88]

I am thinking about doing a pilot class in the next few months that is geared to the students who want a more intense experience. 2 hours of "whip your but into shape." It will be a total loss of cash flow but it is totally worth it if you can keep the hardcore people happy by providing them with an opportunity to train harder than the majority of students are willing to. I know I always wished for a class like this.

Has anyone tried this with your school? I am just wanting some feedback from instructors who have tried this approach before. Did it work? Were your more intense students happier? What kind of things did you specifically do different? Was there an age limit? Was it Invite only?

 

[FLTKD]

I tried something along the same line, Called it CORE Training. Everyone thought it was a good idea, but week after week I saw the numbers drop until it finally went away. I liked it because I got a good work out, but I think....know, others were not looking for that hard of a workout. Sure they said they were at first.....

 

[terryl965]

I also gave it atry had twenty people until a week later we had onlytwo. People say they want but seriouslythey rather be doing nothing. Fla Tkd has said before only a few ever stay, the dojaang is a revolving door.

 

[dancingalone]

I teach a rigorous traditional karate class with plenty of physical conditioning and physical contact. I accept mostly adults with only 1 exception thus far for a mature 16 year old (now 17). Not anyone can join. There is an interview process and I make sure there is a baseline of physical fitness met first since I don't want to slow down the class to get anyone up to speed.

I have 16 students with about 8-12 usually attending per class. This is probably the maximum I can handle myself without neglecting someone. I have a strict attendence requirement too, and practice is expected outside of class at home.

This is the only type of class I teach within my OWN school. I actually lose money on my school when you consider the investment I put into the venture, but I am content with this.

 

[Laurentkd]

Like a lot of others here, we have tried the same thing in the past with out much success.
It is always adults only (with maybe a couple teen exceptions). Not really invitation only, but everyone was told exactly what to expect (and everyone was excited for it). It usually lasts a few weeks, maybe a couple months, until people get hurt and get tired and stop showing up.
It seems the class is usually filled with 35-45 year old men who want to move like they did when they were 18. So they over do it, end up pulling something, rolling something etc, and are out for awhile. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" sort of thing. If you can keep people working hard, but staying within their limits it will go a long way.
The best we ever had was when my instructor taught a kung-fu program for awhile. It was all 20-something year old guys (plus me and a couple revolving girls). My sahbonim told them he was only taking 20 students and if anyone slacked they were gone. The class was awesome- it was disciplined, intense, a great workout, and everyone could hang. After about a year though my sahbonim decided he was trying to do too much by running a seperate kung fu program from his main program and decided his TKD was suffering for it so he dropped the program and sent the students to a full time kung fu school (most just switched to TKD though).

I don't know what the answer may be. Like someone said, everyone says they want hard core training but then it doesn't last. If you can find a young enough group you could be rocking. If not, maybe the answer is something like three weeks on, two weeks off?? I don't know, something that keeps men past their prime from hurting themselves by over doing it. But maybe you have a younger group than we have had.

Good luck! Please let us know what you end up doing and how it works out.

For those of you who wish you could have a hard core class, stop wishing. Just focus on killing yourself in every class- best power, best speed, best technique. Be the first one done with a drill with the best power and technique in the room. If you are asked to do 20 pushups, do 30 in the time it takes everyone to do 20 (with good technique of course). When it is time for a water break, run to your water, squirt some in your mouth, and line back up at attention stance ready to begin again. Push yourself to your limits with every command your instructor gives you. I don't care if it is a kiddie class, if you are doing this you will get a killer workout every time. AND your instructor will notice, and more good things will come, if you have a good teacher.


Good luck!

 

[ralphmcpherson]

We have black belt class on a friday night which sounds similar to what you would like to do. Everyone walks out very exhausted , the class is very fast paced and usually has a sort of theme (and only the very fit survive). Wherever possible a different instructor will take the class and throw their own perspective on it. Class size is getting smaller for the same reason as you guys have discussed. I saw a photo at my instructors house of a black belt class back in the early 80's. They took an aerial photo of the class from a helicopter and there are about 900 people in the class. It was mainly taken as a promotional shot but my instructor said back in those days people were collapsing during the class from sheer exhaustion. Apparantly, the GM would keep shouting "must endure! , must endure!"

 

[xfighter88]

I am a bit concerned since it seems that this class is injury prone. Is that because there is a lot of sparring and people get tired and sloppy. Maybe Heavy bag, pad work, and conditioning would work better. Perhaps do the sparring at the beginning and then work endurance on the bags and such. What do you guys think?

 

[StudentCarl]

In my school that is the competition team, with the focus on sparring and participation in tournaments. We practice for two hours on Monday nights and sometimes on Saturdays when there are no tournaments (in addition to our regular classes).
The focus is on skills needed to win Olympic style matches. While I've read comments and threads by numerous members who don't like that style, my experience as a student is that it is a good focus for training since tournaments are a good test of at least those skills. Working on kicking speed, footwork, combinations, fight strategy, and conditioning (whether heavy bag, pads, hogus, or resistance bands) is all easier to get into when there's a clear purpose for it--helping me get to the next level.
We have about 30 members with about 20 regulars from age 6 through 56. My instructor is a USAT certified coach. These students are the most dedicated in the school and are pushed more than regular students. I think this approach works well, but it takes a master who is oriented to this aspect of TKD.

Respectfully,
Carl

 

[rip_dorey]

There was once a tkd dojang in berlin with a traditional tkd master, who decided to return to Korea. On his place came a military world champion from Korea(who was unbeaten in Korea for 3 years). Half of the students resigned because they couldn't have kept up the sport taekwondo training pace. He is a great coach. When he was a national coach of Greece, his student won a gold in Sydney. Anyway what I was trying to say, most people train taekwondo to move a bit, not to get exhausted. Of course some of them may want to improve their skillz and condition.

 

[Laurentkd]

I am a bit concerned since it seems that this class is injury prone. Is that because there is a lot of sparring and people get tired and sloppy. Maybe Heavy bag, pad work, and conditioning would work better. Perhaps do the sparring at the beginning and then work endurance on the bags and such. What do you guys think?

I just wanted to clarify that it wasn't sparring that lead to injury in my experience. It was more something like, a night of roundhouse kicks and the next day one guy's old football knee injury acts up and he is out for a week or two. Or doing some running up and down the floor and someone turns wrong and rolls and ankle. Just little stuff like that that slowly makes the class smaller. Or just a matter of being to sore the next couple days to do much of anything and losing that fire to hit it hard again. I am only 27 so I don't yet know what that feels like, but I know most martial art guys that want to hit it hard are x-athletes but just can't move like they used to (most, not every!)
I do not want to act like you shouldn't do a rocking class- I am the one that was always pushing my instructor to try it again! But I am just giving you my experience on it. And please let us know what you end up doing and how it works.

 

[spinny]

For 4-5 months before the NCTA Nationals tournament my club offers extra practices. They work out 3x/week like everyone else, but then add an extra hour of sparring after advanced class, and an hour of conditioning in the morning.

People do get burned out and injured, but not often, since the point is to be in good shape for that tournament. Maybe one or two each year get actually 'injured' with a broken bone or severe strain....And they are college-age, though a few people in their 30s work out with them sometimes, too. And it's not unusual for them to take a week or two off after the tournament to rest and heal.

The rest of the year, the people who feel they need "more" participate in both intermediate and advanced classes (1 hour each) (and extra sparring workouts 1x/week).

I don't know how your schedule your classes, or if you just have one all-ranks class, or if it's divided up by age or rank...
Maybe it would work for you to have an extra "whip your butt into shape" class after (and in addition to) the regular class?

 

[msmitht]

I usually do a 2 hour CAT (competitive athlete training) class 2x a month. Anyone wishing to compete has to take it. The numbers rise and fall depending on the time of year. I usually cancel after Nationals for a month and during the holiday season. It is not for everyone but those who attend really enjoy the fun....I mean pain...LOL!

 

[Archtkd]

For those of you who wish you could have a hard core class, stop wishing. Just focus on killing yourself in every class- best power, best speed, best technique. Be the first one done with a drill with the best power and technique in the room. If you are asked to do 20 pushups, do 30 in the time it takes everyone to do 20 (with good technique of course). When it is time for a water break, run to your water, squirt some in your mouth, and line back up at attention stance ready to begin again. Push yourself to your limits with every command your instructor gives you. I don't care if it is a kiddie class, if you are doing this you will get a killer workout every time. AND your instructor will notice, and more good things will come, if you have a good teacher.
Good luck!

Amen! to that.

 

[Gorilla]

Only a few really want to do Hard-Core Training our school does nothing but Hard-Core Sport TKD Training...It seems that we get up to 30 students at most but only about 15 are dedicated to it year around...many attempt 1 or 2 classes and we never see them again....Most people think that they want to train hard but when they really attempt it they find that it is not for them!