omg! a 4 year in training 3rd dan came in yesterday...

[msmitht]

He had a good front kick. That's about it. He could do some weird Handstand kicks and his acrobatics were nice. Told me he has trained ata for about 4 years. Got his 3rd dan 3 months ago.
He almost broke his toes on a paddle target. Did not rotate his side kick properly. No idea what a back kick is. All spinning kicks look like crescent kick. He watched sparring and was in shock at our level of body contact. What am I Supposed to do if he comes back? I can not have him wear a 3rd dan. Guess I could let him wear a plain black...
I wish that certain school orgs would stop calling what they are teaching tkd. It is embarrasing to me that the general public thinks all tkd schools are like that.

 

[jthomas1600]

When I hear accounts like this I wonder if the person has been completely living in a bubble. Certainly they must wonder at some point how come it takes everyone else so long to progress. I'd think they would really question and look for answers to the question.."how did I get to 4th dan in the same time period that many would say is a minimum just to get to black?"

 

[dancingalone]

He had a good front kick. That's about it. He could do some weird Handstand kicks and his acrobatics were nice. Told me he has trained ata for about 4 years. Got his 3rd dan 3 months ago.
He almost broke his toes on a paddle target. Did not rotate his side kick properly. No idea what a back kick is. All spinning kicks look like crescent kick. He watched sparring and was in shock at our level of body contact. What am I Supposed to do if he comes back? I can not have him wear a 3rd dan. Guess I could let him wear a plain black...
I wish that certain school orgs would stop calling what they are teaching tkd. It is embarrasing to me that the general public thinks all tkd schools are like that.

I daresay mcdojangs are present in all organizations. No need to single out any one particular style.

 

[granfire]

He had a good front kick. That's about it. He could do some weird Handstand kicks and his acrobatics were nice. Told me he has trained ata for about 4 years. Got his 3rd dan 3 months ago.
He almost broke his toes on a paddle target. Did not rotate his side kick properly. No idea what a back kick is. All spinning kicks look like crescent kick. He watched sparring and was in shock at our level of body contact. What am I Supposed to do if he comes back? I can not have him wear a 3rd dan. Guess I could let him wear a plain black...
I wish that certain school orgs would stop calling what they are teaching tkd. It is embarrasing to me that the general public thinks all tkd schools are like that.

The promotional speed sounds about on par with ITA standards (ATA offshoot, some 20 years ago)

However...the level of performance does not.
(Isn't that the 2nd one of that kind you had walk in in a few month? Aren't you the blessed one)

Contact in sparring is relative. That is an easy remedy as long as you don't let him get clobbered the first few times out but ease him into it.

The rest, well, that's a problem. Too bad the kid learned from a crappy place (we had one of those schools in the area, their students pretty much stunk but alas they got promoted...) because I am sure he would have great problems with other schools from the same organization in another region!

If he comes back he would have to commit to a catch up program to fix faulty technique, because that's what it is.

(the funky handstand kick, a K-kick perhaps? I have heard a kid in the ITA actually scored a point with it in a tournament fight... )
http://www.itaonline.com/media/image/content/k-kick.jpg

 

[StudentCarl]

What am I Supposed to do if he comes back? I can not have him wear a 3rd dan. Guess I could let him wear a plain black...

You can let him know the good news: that there are many new (to him) things he can learn from you...so he can definitely continue to grow and develop.

You can also tell him that not everything he learned in his old system transfers, so based on your assessment he should start with a plain black belt because of what he will need to perform when he is next eligible to test.

If this person is sincere about his development, this is his lucky day.

 

[chrispillertkd]

Wait. He got his 3rd dan after four years total training time?

Pax,

Chris

 

[StudentCarl]

Wait. He got his 3rd dan after four years total training time?

Pax,

Chris

You're thinking maybe he slept at night?:rofl:

 

[dancingalone]

Wait. He got his 3rd dan after four years total training time?

Pax,

Chris

That does seem a bit fast. I believe at some point (4th dan? 5th dan?) in the ATA, you must start testing at their nationals/worlds/whatever instead of staying at the school level and getting an easy pass there. Presumably quality control will be much tighter there under the careful watch of the higher ups.

<shrugs> From reading this board, I tend to think TKD ranks are devalued to an extent anyway. Seems like no one really respects 1-3 dan as a rank.

 

[IcemanSK]

I'm sure you'll handle this well, & with restraint. You won't tell him exactly how you feel about the fact he was given a 3rd Dan after 4 years of training.

I'm curious as to what brought him to your door step? If he was just tested a few months back, why is he at your dojang? Has he produced any paperwork saying he's a 3rd Dan? With technique that poor, is makes me wonder if he ever actually trained. How old is this person? If an adult, that would really be a surprise to me. If a kid, the "mom & dad got hosed" story rides again.

 

[granfire]

Wait. He got his 3rd dan after four years total training time?

Pax,

Chris

LOL, I don't think it's like World of Warcraft where you can get a total of time payed in years and month....


:lfao:

 

[miguksaram]

He had a good front kick. That's about it. He could do some weird Handstand kicks and his acrobatics were nice. Told me he has trained ata for about 4 years. Got his 3rd dan 3 months ago.
He almost broke his toes on a paddle target. Did not rotate his side kick properly. No idea what a back kick is. All spinning kicks look like crescent kick. He watched sparring and was in shock at our level of body contact. What am I Supposed to do if he comes back? I can not have him wear a 3rd dan. Guess I could let him wear a plain black...
I wish that certain school orgs would stop calling what they are teaching tkd. It is embarrasing to me that the general public thinks all tkd schools are like that.

We had an ATA Black Belt start about 5 months ago. He sounds pretty much like what you described minus any acrobatics. He decided to start as a white belt at our school. His mom told us that after he did his first sparring class with us he told her that he got wiped out by our people. Apparently ATA has no contact at all in their sparring. I'm glad to say that he is still going strong with us after all this time. They only thing you can do is be honest with the parents and let them know that he will need to start a bit lower on the belt chain. Just let them know that his style is different from yours. Good luck.

 

[granfire]

AUGH, threads like this remind me painfully of how long my hiatus is going on...

However, had I not taken a break about three years ago, I would have gotten my 3rd degree in about the time frame of 4 years total training.

However, I have no illusions about my abilities, though I am very confident my instructors taught me proper technique.

Now I am rustier than the tinman....might as well put a whitebelt on when I come back.
(would have preferred that when I tried a comeback after a few month off...being the BB in class and huffing like an old steam engine after a couple of sets of everything is just plain sad)

 

[ATC]

We have an ATA BB that is now in our Dojang. We let him wear his BB and take any and all the classes he wants. He understands that he in not at the same level as even our blue belts. He does not know any of the forms or techniques either.

He will stay where he is as we develope him. Once he is to our standards he can then test again for his 1st Dan, even if that takes 3 years.

He is a quite kid. Just comes in and does his classes and leaves. He will from time to time seek out assistance from another to help with a form or what not. Everyone tries to help him, even the color belts.

He has gotten a lot better in the 6 months he has been with us. He really works hard and it is not his fault he is not up to par.

All I can say is reach out and help this person. No need to belittle him. Just help him form this point forward.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

That is disgraceful. Its not his fault, I feel sorry for him, but I just cant understand anyone being a 3rd dan in under ten years (minimum) training.

 

[msmitht]

Yes he had only trained for 4 years. And yes, I am going to help him. He came back tonight and signed up for a one month trial period. He wore a red belt to class. I told him he could wear his black but he said he prefered not to.
I have had a few ata students come in in the past year. There are 3 ata schools within 15 miles of my dojang. I treat them the same as anyone else. I do not belittle them in any way. I just try to correct technique and move on. I would hope that not all ata schools are like the ones I've seen...

 

[granfire]

That is disgraceful. Its not his fault, I feel sorry for him, but I just cant understand anyone being a 3rd dan in under ten years (minimum) training.

In the end it all comes out in the wash: By the time they get to the really impressive ranks that still have put in the time.

It's just cutting the foreplay and getting to the heart of the matter.

 

[puunui]

From reading this board, I tend to think TKD ranks are devalued to an extent anyway. Seems like no one really respects 1-3 dan as a rank.

I don't know if the ranks are devalued or the lower ranks overvalued, especially 1st Dan.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

I don't know if the ranks are devalued or the lower ranks overvalued, especially 1st Dan.

1st dan is very varied depending where you train. You get schools like where I train where it takes quite a few years to get a black belt and then once black belt you train for another full year before 1st dan is awarded and then you get schools where you go from white to 1st dan in 2 years. So the amount of experience required to get 1st dan can vary greatly from school to school. I have met guys from the school up the road who have trained literally a third of the time I have yet they are the same rank. At least after 1st dan it starts to become a bit more consistent from school to school and it starts to work out as granfire said. From what I read on here, it appears WTF schools dont rate 1st dan very highly at all.

 

[terryl965]

Well this is just another great example of TKD at it's best, I applaud this young man for being able to get this done because it is a special person that can put 12 years of training into 4. When all of you see this as a a bad thing, I see it as a remarkable and talented young man.........

:rofl: :erg:

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

If your system is not ATA then well there are different forms, etc. In other words it is a different system and he should expect to start at the beginning and advance at a faster pace than a new student. It would be on his part nice if he went to a new school with an empty cup so to say and started from scratch with a white belt!