This is what is wrong with TKD

[Twin Fist]

http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_032012427.html

Methuen 7-year-old earns black belt in Taekwondo

Most children are learning just the basics of a sport around the age of 7, but not Rayna Rodriguez.
A Methuen resident, she was officially declared a black belt in Taekwondo on Jan. 23. A practitioner of the art since the age of 5, she's also the youngest to attain the rank at Y.K. Kim's TaeKwonDoe Research Institute in Lawrence.




WTF!?!?!?!?!?!

 

[arnisador]

Eh...what exactly are they researching there???

 

[exile]

There are so many things wrong with what's in that interview that it's hard to know where to begin. A BB at seven, started at five... that's, um, two years to BB, after starting not too much past the toddler stage. Nice work if you can get it, eh? 'It's great sport and exercise'... uh.... 'but breaking is the hardest part'... uh...

Some things are rant-worthy... but not this. This is just something to have another beer about, and cry into it...

 

[Twin Fist]

and people wonder why i want to take up Kaju...........

 

[exile]

and people wonder why i want to take up Kaju...........

No, I understand completely.

It's gotten to the point where mockery is pointless—no satire can be as cutting as the plain facts about what happens in these belt factories. I'm waiting for news stories about some five year old getting to Shodan after six whole months of 'training'. Speaking of which, sometime down the line, some child who's not completely potty-trained is going to be awarded a BB. And the really awful thing is, no one will think that there's anything in the least strange about that.... :erg:

 

[Carol]

Dang. It took her until she was 7?

A 6 year old that trains at a school near my mom already has her 2nd dan in TKD.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/1518167/


/sarcasm

 

[Carol]

.....and before anyone thinks I'm bashing TKD, I'm not. 5 minutes in person with Exile or Terry will leave no doubt that their TKD has plenty of martial rigor.

However, I am very disturbed by the plethora of schools (not only TKD) that essentially award rank for showing up. Show up, follow the direction of the instructor, don't cause trouble in class, and *poof* you get your rank as soon as you put in the required hours on the mat and pay your tuition in the process.

 

[Twin Fist]

i got some rigor for ya Carol...........

 

[terryl965]

I see it everyday around me, so this means nothing to me anymore. Thanks Carol my TKD would not allow her to be a BB, lets see three times a week for an hour and two years later a BB. So 312 hours which is about 6.5 weeks at a job and she is a BB, throw in about 1/3 of the time stretching and you got what 4.7 weeks and a BB. At a real job you are barely there long enough to know where the bathroom is.

I am glad her parents understand this NOT!!!!!:rofl:

 

[Cirdan]

Yea giving people what they so stupidly want is good for business.

Not for the arts tho.

 

[Sylo]

My son is almost 2.. and when he is old enough to start taking classes (older than 5.. but we'll see how he progresses)He'll put in the work, AND the time.

There is no feasible reason why anyone this young should be this rank. ever.

 

[searcher]

Don't give up on the style. We have to do what we can to let people and parents know that what they here is not reasonable and is not how all schools are. We need to produce high quality students at the proper rank and let the world see what true TKD is.

 

[Aefibird]

Eh...what exactly are they researching there???

How best to extract money off the gullible I think. Certainly isn't researching TKD!! Well, not the TKD that I know anyway.

 

[BrandonLucas]

Honestly, I've given up caring about this. TKD gets a bad wrap for its SD aspect. It probably will from here on. The only thing we can do to combat this is to continue to learn and teach the effective SD that TKD has to offer.

It's just like drugs...it would be wonderful to get them off the street, but you have to be realistic at some point. The streets will never be completely cleaned. All anyone can do is to fight against them in every way possible. But everyone should realize that this fight is never ending.

TKD is the same. McDojangs are going to exist. Period. Crying and complaining isn't going to solve the issue. The best thing we can do is to continue doing what we do everyday, which is to provide the option for students to learn valid SD through a valid cirriculum.

But, everyone should understand that this is always going to be an issue.

 

[seasoned]

I think this is true in many MA. I know the thread is on TKD particularly, and that is to bad, but not an exclusive by no means.

 

[CDKJudoka]

Wouldn't that be considered a POOM rank, not a DAN rank? They advertise as being a WTF and AAU school, which would mean that she has a Poom rank, not a dan.

 

[hkfuie]

http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_032012427.htmlY.K. Kim's TaeKwonDoe Research Institute in Lawrence.

What do they research? TaeKwonDough!

I used to have a little student ~8y/o on ADHD meds. Her guardians told me they were taking her out of my class so they could take her somewhere where she would get a BB in 2 years b/c...and they kept stressing this...it's an ACADEMY! That's why she can get her BB in two years bouncing off the ceiling, paying more attention to dust motes than instructon. It's an ACADEMY!

Alas...

 

[searcher]

What do they research? TaeKwonDough!

I think it is Tie Kuwon Doh!!!

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/0/0d/Butterfinger-karate.jpg

 

[mozzandherb]

Well I got my BB in 3 years and I was 9 years old, so I guess I fall into the younger age bracket, I agree that some people do not deserve their BB, but I also see that there are a ton of adult BB who do not deserve their BB's either and that their are many kids who have their BB who deserve it more than the adult. So the question I ask is where do we draw the line?

 

[searcher]

I agree that some people do not deserve their BB, but I also see that there are a ton of adult BB who do not deserve their BB's either and that their are many kids who have their BB who deserve it more than the adult.

I see it all the time, when I am asked to sit on a testing board. It is scary for me to see some of these peope testing for a rank, when they don't deserve the rank they currenty l have. When I am there, they fail their test.