chrispillertkd
Senior Master
I have KKW Dan rank, so I guess I have... sort of...
I actually do know the KKW curriculum, though my personal preference remains training with the Chang Hon Tul. That may well be simply because that was my earliest training, but nonetheless I prefer them.
Could be. I learned a few of the KKW poomse in college and found that I really prefered the ITF tul, which I had already known. I was training at a KKW/WTF club at the time and they were fairly in line with KKW standards so I actually was doig the Taeguks and Koryo with the correct stances, blocking preparations, etc. I just prefered the ITF method of executing techniques.
In order to enforce standards, the KKW would need a staff of people who regularly travel between the KKW and the various schools issuing KKW rank. They would need to supervise Dan gradings. You'd get a lot of frequent flyer miles, but it would still be costly.
Is the KKW funded by the ROK government at all? If so it's conceivable that prices could be kept low. If not then yes they'd have to raise prices, at least somewhat.
And therein lies the problem. Any attempt at enforcing standards from on high would result in schools telling the KKW to go stuff themselves and either joining another org or forming their own. Look at all the schools now that, despite their KKW affiliation, issue in-house Dan ranks to their baby black belts so they can wear a real BB instead of a poom belt.
But, ultimately, that might not be a bad thing. If the goal is to get and maintain high standards then having people who don't meet those standards leave isn't necessarily bad. If the goal is simply high membership then yes, it must be avoided. I think the KKW attitude lies somewhere in between. They want people to adhere to their standards but they also want as many people as they can get to be certified by them. Whether they have chosen a good way to meet these goals is a matter of debate and each person's opinion on the matter.
Edit: If the KKW is interested in technical standardization then they would do well, IMHO, to set the bar if not high at least at a medium level and expect people to meet it. If the KKW is more interested on unity amongst Taekwondoin then they should at least explain why unity is itself desireable and, more to the point, what they mean by unity in the first place. Can a martial art have any sort of meaningful unity without a technical standard that the majority of its members meet? If it's just a matter of being united to be united it then becomes a matter of what people are going to get out of that. Personally, I'd feel much stronger ties to a certain Kwan than to a huge organiztion, but that's just me.
What is required to obtain and retain that certification?
Actually, not too much. You have to attend an International Instructors Course and pay the fee to be certified. And be a IV dan.
Back in the day IIC's were longer and I personally wish they would go back to being a week in length. But the fact is the IIC's were longer when less people were familiar with the ITF's technical standards. You were having people who had never trained with Gen. Choi or any of his instructors attending and the IIC's were used to get them on the same page for techniques, learn to perform the tul correctly, etc. Now it is acceptable to have students as low as 2nd gup attend what is, really, a course for instructors. And these are often students that train regularly uder instructors or Masters (in the ITF that means you're a minimum of VII dan) who themselves have attended many IIC's. In other words, the technical standard now is much higher than it was in the early 70's. My own instructor, for example, has attended IIC's under Gen. Choi as well as with his son GM Choi, Jung Hwa and is very clear about what he wants and doesn't want as far as techniques go. Speaking as a non-member, it seems to me like the KKW is trying to do now what the ITF was trying to do in the early 70's. They're just on a slower time table.
Pax,
Chris
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