This is something I've noticed that is happening that I wanted to share. I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad thing completely. But a shift is happening.
Since the 1940s Korean Arts have had the Kwan system. Loyalty to one's instructor and to one's Kwan was very important. With the advent of Kukkiwon in the early 70s, the intent was to do away with power of the Kwan system and to view them as merely "fraternal organizations." While most, if not all, Kwan still issue rank they are now very much in the background of the Art. There is now something that has taken the place of Kwan connection in Taekwondo.
Dating back to at least the late 1950s, there have been colleges in Korea that offered degrees in MA. Yudo College, now Yong In University, was among the first to do so. While these schools had such programs, they weren't seen as taking the place of Kwan connections of students. I'm not sure when the change began (my guess is sometime in the 1980s) the MA university program one attended (or one's instructor attended) started to replace the Kwan connection for Taekwondo students. The new crop of masters from Korea (the last few decades) are less connected to a Kwan identity than they to the college of their master.
The pioneers of Taekwondo are much older or have died. It's harder to maintain connections to the Kwan (and to the keepers of the Kwan traditions). With the university TKD programs, a new fraternity has arisen that acts in a similar manner to the way the Kwan acted for the master/student. These university programs incorporate other Arts (Hapkido, Judo, and others) into their curriculum, and allow students to be more well rounded in their training. They can then pass that on to their students.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you see the TKD university programs as an addition to the Kwan system? As a replacement to the Kwan system? Is it good, bad, neutral? Do you think that I'm off base with this & that the Kwan system is still strong? In what ways have you seen the university system act as a fraternity in TKD?
Since the 1940s Korean Arts have had the Kwan system. Loyalty to one's instructor and to one's Kwan was very important. With the advent of Kukkiwon in the early 70s, the intent was to do away with power of the Kwan system and to view them as merely "fraternal organizations." While most, if not all, Kwan still issue rank they are now very much in the background of the Art. There is now something that has taken the place of Kwan connection in Taekwondo.
Dating back to at least the late 1950s, there have been colleges in Korea that offered degrees in MA. Yudo College, now Yong In University, was among the first to do so. While these schools had such programs, they weren't seen as taking the place of Kwan connections of students. I'm not sure when the change began (my guess is sometime in the 1980s) the MA university program one attended (or one's instructor attended) started to replace the Kwan connection for Taekwondo students. The new crop of masters from Korea (the last few decades) are less connected to a Kwan identity than they to the college of their master.
The pioneers of Taekwondo are much older or have died. It's harder to maintain connections to the Kwan (and to the keepers of the Kwan traditions). With the university TKD programs, a new fraternity has arisen that acts in a similar manner to the way the Kwan acted for the master/student. These university programs incorporate other Arts (Hapkido, Judo, and others) into their curriculum, and allow students to be more well rounded in their training. They can then pass that on to their students.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you see the TKD university programs as an addition to the Kwan system? As a replacement to the Kwan system? Is it good, bad, neutral? Do you think that I'm off base with this & that the Kwan system is still strong? In what ways have you seen the university system act as a fraternity in TKD?