Quitting taekwondo

[bumblebee19]

I officially decided to quit taekwondo. I haven't been happy at my dojo for a while and I finally decided it doesn't make sense to do something I no longer enjoy. It kind of sucks since I was about 10 months away from getting my black belt.

The biggest issue is my instructor was making me teach classes and no longer training me - and I was expected to continue paying the regular student fee. When one of our student instructors left, I was pushed into helping cover the classes. I was a little worried about pushing back on him too much as I was so close to my black belt. I didn't want him to retaliate by not letting me take my black belt test.

However, things started getting worse. The master instructor stopped doing advanced belt training or any type of advanced self defense. The classes were all open classes (for all ranks) and he focused solely on teaching the lower ranking belts. Higher belts just basically had a review class of the lower material. He said that because I was a "high" ranking student, I shouldn't even take classes but either teach or help teach classes. My own training was expected to be done on my own time (and without anyone critiquing me or pushing me to get better). I know that black belts are expected to help teach but I never wanted to be solely an instructor. I always thought when I got my black belt, I'd continue to learn new things and continue to grow as a martial artist. I haven’t even sparred in over a year. Someone asked me what type of training I would do after I got my black belt and I realized that there was no training - I just would have to attend 2 years worth of "classes" (aka show up and teach) and pretty much be given my 2nd degree black belt.

I also felt like the instructor was taking advantage of me a bit, by expecting me to pay to teach his classes. I was a regular attendee of classes for several years. I was one of those students you could always count on being there. And instead of continuing to help me grow as a martial artist, I feel like he's taken advantage of my loyalty to the school. I also feel like he's worried about the school itself since we are small. He focuses so much on keeping new students, that he forgets about his advanced students. I realize now why so many students left when they were a high colored belt/new black belt. There was also a liability concern - the instructor regularly left the building during classes and I was left alone teaching. If someone accidently got hurt, I was worried if I would be held liable.

It's sad because I really enjoyed the past few years there. But it doesn't seem like the school is a good fit for me anymore. I'm not sure what I'm doing next, but for now I'm taking a break from martial arts.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

If the school isn't to your liking, you should leave.

I have no way of knowing what things are like at the school or what the instructor has/had in mind for you. I will say that in many schools, teaching is part of learning. I am a 3rd degree black belt in Isshinryu. I teach the kids and the beginning adults as well as being an adult student myself. I pay, I don't get paid. I believe that teaching students helps me as a student myself. But your situation may be different. Best of luck to you.

 

[dvcochran]

First, welcome to the forum. There is a great group of like minded people here who will do their best to help you.

That is a tough position to be put in. Loyalty is important but it goes both ways. Like Bill said, we are only hearing one side to the story so at best we can make assumptions and give advise based on our own experiences.

Way back in 1984 when I started TKD it was under a BB of my now GM. He was a great teacher and motivator but not a great person. We were a small/medium sized school and when it all ended me and another student were teaching all but a few of the classes each week. I also was not a BB at the time either. The other student and myself were fortunate to be able to talk through our concerns with our GM. If you have the opportunity to do this I strongly recommend you do so. At the very least talk to the other ranking students at the school. A set down with the instructor is also in order. It will hopefully do both of you a lot of good.

A bad instructor or a misunderstanding should not stop a person from working out completely. Do not let this experience taint your opinion of TKD. Maybe you have a bad instructor or are at a bad school but that does not speak for the art as a whole. Are you in a position to take your rank and what you have learned and move to another school?

Reflect on the whole picture. It really should not have very much to do with the fact that you are close to testing. Your workout experience is yours and can never be taken away from you. It is your responsibility to improve and learn the material given and taught to you. Of course someone has to be doing the teaching so make sure the equity is right before making rash decisions. Teaching is an integral part of most systems. Taking advantage of students is not.

TKD is the largest system by a factor of about 8 so there are lots of schools out there. If you don't mind sharing; What style TKD are you taking? How long have you been working out. What is your school size? What city are you located in? Maybe someone on the forum can suggest a school near you.

 

[skribs]

I officially decided to quit taekwondo. I haven't been happy at my dojo for a while and I finally decided it doesn't make sense to do something I no longer enjoy. It kind of sucks since I was about 10 months away from getting my black belt.

The biggest issue is my instructor was making me teach classes and no longer training me - and I was expected to continue paying the regular student fee. When one of our student instructors left, I was pushed into helping cover the classes. I was a little worried about pushing back on him too much as I was so close to my black belt. I didn't want him to retaliate by not letting me take my black belt test.

However, things started getting worse. The master instructor stopped doing advanced belt training or any type of advanced self defense. The classes were all open classes (for all ranks) and he focused solely on teaching the lower ranking belts. Higher belts just basically had a review class of the lower material. He said that because I was a "high" ranking student, I shouldn't even take classes but either teach or help teach classes. My own training was expected to be done on my own time (and without anyone critiquing me or pushing me to get better). I know that black belts are expected to help teach but I never wanted to be solely an instructor. I always thought when I got my black belt, I'd continue to learn new things and continue to grow as a martial artist. I haven’t even sparred in over a year. Someone asked me what type of training I would do after I got my black belt and I realized that there was no training - I just would have to attend 2 years worth of "classes" (aka show up and teach) and pretty much be given my 2nd degree black belt.

I also felt like the instructor was taking advantage of me a bit, by expecting me to pay to teach his classes. I was a regular attendee of classes for several years. I was one of those students you could always count on being there. And instead of continuing to help me grow as a martial artist, I feel like he's taken advantage of my loyalty to the school. I also feel like he's worried about the school itself since we are small. He focuses so much on keeping new students, that he forgets about his advanced students. I realize now why so many students left when they were a high colored belt/new black belt. There was also a liability concern - the instructor regularly left the building during classes and I was left alone teaching. If someone accidently got hurt, I was worried if I would be held liable.

It's sad because I really enjoyed the past few years there. But it doesn't seem like the school is a good fit for me anymore. I'm not sure what I'm doing next, but for now I'm taking a break from martial arts.

So...why quit TKD? Why not quit your dojang and find a new one?

Or find another martial art in your area.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I officially decided to quit taekwondo. … I was about 10 months away from getting my black belt.

I don't understand your logic here. You should have learned enough TKD.

Do you need a

- teacher to train? Your teacher will die one day.
- school to train? You may move to another city one day.

Why can't you train TKD all by yourself? If you train 100 flying side kick on a tree daily, you will have the best flying side kick on this planet. Anybody who wants to learn flying side kick will need to learn from you. What else do you need?

 

[Headhunter]

Fair enough. People like to say oh you learn way more from teaching than anything else....no sorry imo that's rubbish. That's a line teachers use to con people into teaching their classes for them. Yeah you may learn a bit about your technique from teaching but in no way is it better than actually training not at all.

As for the black belt who cares it's a piece of fabric just find a new place or train yourself

 

[Gweilo]

I will disagree with HH a bit, you do learn things when you teach other people, about your art, and yourself.
Have you tried talking to your teacher about this issue, properly I mean, tell him you are thinking about leaving the school, your not happy paying full tuition, when you are not receiving any tuition. Some times people need to be told, they are taking advantage, and sometimes they just need a poke. If the teacher is not willing to discuss the issue, or change things, there's no need to quit TKD, or MA, as stated by others there are other schools, other arts, but what is clear, something has to change, and quickly, but do not rob yourself of an experience to improve yourself, or enjoy yourself.

 

[jobo]

I officially decided to quit taekwondo. I haven't been happy at my dojo for a while and I finally decided it doesn't make sense to do something I no longer enjoy. It kind of sucks since I was about 10 months away from getting my black belt.

The biggest issue is my instructor was making me teach classes and no longer training me - and I was expected to continue paying the regular student fee. When one of our student instructors left, I was pushed into helping cover the classes. I was a little worried about pushing back on him too much as I was so close to my black belt. I didn't want him to retaliate by not letting me take my black belt test.

However, things started getting worse. The master instructor stopped doing advanced belt training or any type of advanced self defense. The classes were all open classes (for all ranks) and he focused solely on teaching the lower ranking belts. Higher belts just basically had a review class of the lower material. He said that because I was a "high" ranking student, I shouldn't even take classes but either teach or help teach classes. My own training was expected to be done on my own time (and without anyone critiquing me or pushing me to get better). I know that black belts are expected to help teach but I never wanted to be solely an instructor. I always thought when I got my black belt, I'd continue to learn new things and continue to grow as a martial artist. I haven’t even sparred in over a year. Someone asked me what type of training I would do after I got my black belt and I realized that there was no training - I just would have to attend 2 years worth of "classes" (aka show up and teach) and pretty much be given my 2nd degree black belt.

I also felt like the instructor was taking advantage of me a bit, by expecting me to pay to teach his classes. I was a regular attendee of classes for several years. I was one of those students you could always count on being there. And instead of continuing to help me grow as a martial artist, I feel like he's taken advantage of my loyalty to the school. I also feel like he's worried about the school itself since we are small. He focuses so much on keeping new students, that he forgets about his advanced students. I realize now why so many students left when they were a high colored belt/new black belt. There was also a liability concern - the instructor regularly left the building during classes and I was left alone teaching. If someone accidently got hurt, I was worried if I would be held liable.

It's sad because I really enjoyed the past few years there. But it doesn't seem like the school is a good fit for me anymore. I'm not sure what I'm doing next, but for now I'm taking a break from martial arts.

this has been discussed oft times before, there are possibly very different perspectives at play, he may feel your a mug, he may feel that he is doing you a favour by giving you responsibility to increase your growth, there may not actually be anything else( worth while) to learn but the ability to teach what you have learnt.

my view is, even if your not being paid for your time, you shouldn't be paying full wack for the privilege, that said out seems a shame to walk away this close to your black belt, even more to pack ma in all together, you may never go back.

the answer to this, is swallow your pride, for a few months and get you bb ( your liability worries aren't real, that's what insurance is for) immediately find another school, that doesn't expect you to teach( which may be in its self a problem?) or be adult about it, voice your point of view to the instructor and only then if the won't compromise on payment by you,/ instruction for you, take your bat and ball home

 

[pdg]

While there is a certain merit in the idea of "the belt means nothing, it's just a strip of cloth" there is more to consider imo.

Within the various tkd organisations the colour belts only have real meaning within the school. Go to a different school and you may well be expected to start over.

Once you attain 1st Dan or above, that grade becomes transferable to any school within the organisation, and there are often options to 'convert' that rank to other tkd orgs as well.

If you otherwise enjoy the art enough to want that option, then I'd stick with it until you get that certificate - because then you have it for life and can (almost) pick up from where you left off if you choose to return.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I officially decided to quit taekwondo. I haven't been happy at my dojo for a while and I finally decided it doesn't make sense to do something I no longer enjoy. It kind of sucks since I was about 10 months away from getting my black belt.

The biggest issue is my instructor was making me teach classes and no longer training me - and I was expected to continue paying the regular student fee. When one of our student instructors left, I was pushed into helping cover the classes. I was a little worried about pushing back on him too much as I was so close to my black belt. I didn't want him to retaliate by not letting me take my black belt test.

However, things started getting worse. The master instructor stopped doing advanced belt training or any type of advanced self defense. The classes were all open classes (for all ranks) and he focused solely on teaching the lower ranking belts. Higher belts just basically had a review class of the lower material. He said that because I was a "high" ranking student, I shouldn't even take classes but either teach or help teach classes. My own training was expected to be done on my own time (and without anyone critiquing me or pushing me to get better). I know that black belts are expected to help teach but I never wanted to be solely an instructor. I always thought when I got my black belt, I'd continue to learn new things and continue to grow as a martial artist. I haven’t even sparred in over a year. Someone asked me what type of training I would do after I got my black belt and I realized that there was no training - I just would have to attend 2 years worth of "classes" (aka show up and teach) and pretty much be given my 2nd degree black belt.

I also felt like the instructor was taking advantage of me a bit, by expecting me to pay to teach his classes. I was a regular attendee of classes for several years. I was one of those students you could always count on being there. And instead of continuing to help me grow as a martial artist, I feel like he's taken advantage of my loyalty to the school. I also feel like he's worried about the school itself since we are small. He focuses so much on keeping new students, that he forgets about his advanced students. I realize now why so many students left when they were a high colored belt/new black belt. There was also a liability concern - the instructor regularly left the building during classes and I was left alone teaching. If someone accidently got hurt, I was worried if I would be held liable.

It's sad because I really enjoyed the past few years there. But it doesn't seem like the school is a good fit for me anymore. I'm not sure what I'm doing next, but for now I'm taking a break from martial arts.

While I have no problem with requiring some amount of teaching to progress beyond a certain level (just to make sure the folks who are potentially teachers later get to practice with a more experienced teacher around), there are a lot of folks who don't want to teach a lot, and shouldn't be required to. And certainly if someone is contributing to the teaching, they should at least be getting a break on their dues (commensurate with the amount of teaching they're doing). Someone who is only teaching, not getting to play student, should not be paying any dues...and should be paid if the school is a commercial venture.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

So...why quit TKD? Why not quit your dojang and find a new one?

Or find another martial art in your area.

Agreed.

 

[skribs]

Agreed.

You know, there's a button that lets you say this on my comment itself

 

[jobo]

You know, there's a button that lets you say this on my comment itself

what and reduce his post count !

 

[skribs]

this has been discussed oft times before, there are possibly very different perspectives at play, he may feel your a mug, he may feel that he is doing you a favour by giving you responsibility to increase your growth, there may not actually be anything else( worth while) to learn but the ability to teach what you have learnt.

my view is, even if your not being paid for your time, you shouldn't be paying full wack for the privilege, that said out seems a shame to walk away this close to your black belt, even more to pack ma in all together, you may never go back.

the answer to this, is swallow your pride, for a few months and get you bb ( your liability worries aren't real, that's what insurance is for) immediately find another school, that doesn't expect you to teach( which may be in its self a problem?) or be adult about it, voice your point of view to the instructor and only then if the won't compromise on payment by you,/ instruction for you, take your bat and ball home

I think the biggest issue is that he isn't getting any instruction and is just expected to work on stuff on his own. What's he paying for at that point?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

You know, there's a button that lets you say this on my comment itself

Yeah, but I thought I was going to say more, and was too lazy to go back and click once I'd started.

(Plus, what @jobo said.)

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I think the biggest issue is that he isn't getting any instruction and is just expected to work on stuff on his own. What's he paying for at that point?

See? I do know how to use the "agree" button.

 

[skribs]

See? I do know how to use the "agree" button.

I was expecting you to "agree" with the post I made saying there's an agree button, but not the original one you quoted.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

See? I do know how to use the "agree" button.

I notice you got 3 extra posts by agreeing with skribs...hmmm...

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I was expecting you to "agree" with the post I made saying there's an agree button, but not the original one you quoted.

And now I wish I'd thought of that at the time.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I notice you got 3 extra posts by agreeing with skribs...hmmm...

Shh...shh...nothing going on over here.