# Kukkiwon Certification



## terryl965 (Apr 5, 2006)

This thread is about the Value we as TKD'ers put on them. What are some of the motivating reason's for them.

What is the real deal for the Kukkiwon Certifications?
Why is it so important to have one?
What makes them so valuable?
Does it really matter in America?

Terry


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## IcemanSK (Apr 5, 2006)

terryl965 said:
			
		

> This thread is about the Value we as TKD'ers put on them. What are some of the motivating reason's for them.
> 
> What is the real deal for the Kukkiwon Certifications?
> Why is it so important to have one?
> ...


 
It has a great deal of meaning if one wants to compete on the Olympic level. There is also the connection to the tradition (albeit not a very old one) with Korea. If one looks at it in terms of a college, a Kukkiwon certificate is the higher, more pretigious college than the one founded by so & so master down the street. It has more weight to it than others. Is there abuse? You bet. But it still has a great deal of value.


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## wynnema (Apr 6, 2006)

it helps but does not irradicate bad schools and bad instructors.  any idiot can start up a club but you need a link to the Kukkiwon to get certificates.  I would never train at a school that didnt have kukkiwon registered instructors.  also your ranking gets recognised if you visit clubs abroad


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## TigerWoman (Apr 6, 2006)

It does seem to matter.  I went to visit another school within 30 minutes and without Kukkiwon certification, I would have been a white belt to a blue belt.

My daughter had a similar problem in a school in Arizona.  They did tournaments heavily so it would have been important.  They asked for it, to recognize her black belt, as they didn't know our instructor/master.

So I got the Kukkiwon certifications...it does matter especially for the younger man/woman who moves to a different city and years later, rejoins TKD and the previous organization could be extinct.  Its just another way to document your rank.  TW


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## Last Fearner (Apr 6, 2006)

Olympics aside, I think this issue speaks to all Martial Art Black Belt certification. Just as many other professions have standards of certification, and unions to protect the consumer (IE: Lawyer's Bar Association, Cerified Electricians and Plumbers, Licensed Doctors, etc.). This does not prevent all improper conduct, but it reduces the ability of a completely untrained, and unskilled individual from posing as a qualified professional, and provides penalties for those in violation of guidlines.

As to the Kukkiwon Certificates, I've heard some older Koreans say things like, "I was a Taekwondo Master before the W.T.F. was ever created, and before the Kukkiwon was built and established as the World Headquarters. Nobody in the W.T.F. taught me anything! What do I need a Kukkiwon Dan Certificate for?"

Well, in my opinion, they don't - - Unless they want the official authority to offer Kukkiwon certificates to their students, and future generations do need something to verify authenticity of the rank they claim, and credibility of the material they teach if they call it "Taekwondo." (Most of these older Koreans have the Kukkiwon certificate, they just want to make a point that they don't feel they need it.)

*"What is the real deal for the Kukkiwon Certifications?"*

*"Why is it so important to have one?"* To set a standard for the quality of instructors, athletic coaches, Olympic officials, and to verify to the public that the instruction material is authentic Taekwondo. It makes it harder for amateurs to buy a Black Belt, make their own computer certificates, and defraud the public

*"What makes them so valuable?"* Taekwondo is a Korean Martial Art. The certification becomes more authentic, and less suspect, if it is issued by an international governing body in Korea - - "Kukkiwon Dan" vs. "Kinko's Dan" or "Crackerjack Dan." Joe Blow's Taekwondo Academy Black Belt certificate should not carry as much weight in the minds of the consumer, nor the mainstream Taekwondo experts as a Kukkiwon Dan rank."

*"Does it really matter in America?"* I think it is important. Can a person live, learn, and even teach without it? Yes, but I believe it is to our advantage to support a system that requires certification, and removal of credentials for those instructors who claim ranks they have not earned, are not trained and qualified to teach, or who abuse their position as an instructor. This is an area where all Taekwondo credentials needs improvement in the future - - like a international "Better Business Bureau" for Taekwondo schools everywhere.

This is my opinion on the subject.  
CM D. J. Eisenhart


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## Gemini (Apr 9, 2006)

First and foremost, because when I move, I'll be acknowledged as a certain level and won't have to reinvent the wheel. I can go to any Kukkiwon certified school and pick up where I left off. If I choose to start a whole new art, then so be it, I'm a white belt and have no problem with that. In TKD, I will not start in a new school spending months being taught what I already know just because an instructor wants to pull rank. There are other reasons, but that's definately number one.


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## Kacey (Apr 9, 2006)

Well... I belong to a previously-ITF affiliate, so Kukkiwon certification has never really meant anything to me - but the same argument exists over ITF certification, because without it, you can't compete in international competition... but how many people do that, or even want to do it?  The arguments remain the same - if someone comes to my class and has an ITF certificate, then I know, with a fair degree of certainty, what that person knows; without it, I have to watch you and see - but just because you don't have that piece of paper, doesn't mean you don't have the knowledge; requiring the piece of paper is laziness on the part of the instructor who won't observe a student and decide in individual cases.

That is what I did for one of my current students, who moved to Denver from England - I observed him in class - after which I accepted his I Dan without qualms or qualifications.  He knew the same material, to the same standard, as the students who began with me as white belts - there were some stylistic differences, but nothing to prevent me accepting him as a black belt.  His only certificate was from an unaffiliated Ch'ang H'on class, but he knew what he needed to know; reducing his rank because of a piece of paper (or the lack thereof) would have been silly.


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## wynnema (Apr 10, 2006)

If there is any doubt on a students level, e.g. they cant prove it then they should be asked to re-test for their existing belt.  At the most this will put them back 3 months until the next grading.  It will be obvious to the instructor if a student is at the level they claim.


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