So by your definition, how much would have to be altered from what is now KKW tkd before you would not give out that cert? From training with kukki guys I would say that what we do is about 30-40% kukki based, so do you believe a student who is taught less than half the kukki stuff should have a kukki cert?
I'm not sure where you're getting your percentage from, but unless you are doing mostly non TKD techniques, then I'd say that aside from the modified sparring rules, you're still within KKW TKD, though using an older form set.
I listed the differences between our club and kukki earlier in this thread and even puuini said that by definition what we are doing is karate, and not tkd (which I dont necessarilly agree with), but the differences went way beyond how we spar.
Is that what he said? I think that he responded with an 'if you feel that way, why don't you call it karate?' rather than 'you're essentially doing karate.' If I am mistaken, my apologies; this conversation has taken place over more than one thread, each of which tops ten pages.
So do you belive we should have a kukki cert hanging on our wall? I appreciate where you are coming from, but I still maintain that I would be way out of my depth in a kukki school and thus feel that me having a certificate saying I was a kukki black belt would be bordering on fraudulent. Also as Ive said earlier, our GM is more than happy to get us a kukki cert if we want one, so he does offer the same cert that he got many years ago, its not like he refuses to give out the same cert he received.
One of the nice things about the Kukkiwon is that it is designed to accomodate more than one type of school. Not all schools are 'olympic sport' schools. Some Kukki school owners focus on self defense more than the competition. Not all school owners want to run their school identically. Certainly, it didn't bother your GM to get a Kukki certificate. Realistically, he probably is practicing along the same lines he was back when he first received his KKW cert.; what you describe is not unfamiliar and is pretty much how quite a few of the TKD schools out my way looked in the eighties.
The main idea of the Kukkiwon is to furnish a common set of forms and techniques, most of which you likely are doing, around which a school owner can build his or her curriculum and add to it if they so choose. That is why you see Kukki schools with hapkido grafted on; the kwanjang has HKD experience and simply blends it into his curriculum.
Every school does things differently, so no matter how 'compliant' you may be or think you may be, you will probably have to get up to speed on something if you switch schools. I'm sure that Steven Lopez, were he to move to a different area and go to a Kukki/WTF school with olympic rings decorating the door would still have to get up to speed on something. The Kukkiwon curriculum isn't a straight jacket, a format, or even a comprehensive curriculum (though one could study just what is in the Kukki textbook for a lifetime). It is an area of common ground for all taekwondoin.
Certainly, you are not the school owner, so you cannot determine what kind of certificates your GM issues. But if he is higher than fourth dan KKW and is teaching taekwondo, he should at least allow his students access to KKW certification. And perhaps he does; you may have said so, so if I missed it, my apologies.
If he is offering you access to a Kukki cert, personally, I'd take him up on it. He wouldn't offer it if he felt that it had no value. Obviously, it did for him.
Daniel
PS: You'll do your part to stave off planetary implosion by receiving your KKW cert as well!
