# Taekwondo club governance and affiliations vs independance



## Bangn (Nov 12, 2016)

Hello,

I would like to find out how clubs are typically controlled/affiliated. I would like to hear some comparisons from around the world simply because I would like to start my own school one day and want to better understand what is a normal situation out there, and what my options are for opening a new school.

For example, am I going to be paying my organisation for grading my pupils, or some sort of club membership fee? Can I be an independant TKD club and still have students obtain black belts at the kukkiwan? How does the relationship with the kukkiwan work anyway?


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## Leo89 (Nov 12, 2016)

I think ATA (songham-style?) and ATF (Ho am-style?) are martial franchises, as where someone studying and teaching under kukkiwon (WTF) and chang hon (ITF) can open their own independent schools, the affiliation is just the head organization of the style (well, technically WTF is a tournament organization that recognizes kukkiwon style as the "official" style), so really if you study the later styles, you won't be paying a franchise fee. 

You students may have to pay you for belt testing, equipment costs, etc. 

But that's all I can tell ya, dirty dog could probably answer this better.


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## Bangn (Nov 12, 2016)

Thanks, it would be WTF style. Where i am the main club is moo duk kwan style, i'm new here but have not encountered them before.


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## Leo89 (Nov 12, 2016)

I really hate my damn phone right about now. 

Technically you're style is kukkiwon, my master also has a moo duk kwan flag in his office, from what little I know moo duk kwan is a kwan (school) that contributed to the rest of the remaining 8/9 kwans, and is a split system between Tang soon do and Taekwondo, but is considered Tang soon do officially, does your school teach the kibon forms? I know those link to the Kicho hyeung, which is found in TSD.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Nov 13, 2016)

From what I have heard, if you want the kukkiwon to recognize their belts, you will need to pay (which means they need to pay). If you want to grade on your own merit, it is entirely up to you. My main art is kempo though, so I do not have much knowledge about TKD beyond what I've learned from others on this forum.

For your statement about being an independent TKD school while having students at kukkiwon. Based on what I have heard, they will not be 'officially' registered without you paying something to kukkiwon. However (assuming you are higher ranking), as long as you view them as having completed the requirements for the ranking, who cares what the international company that doesnt know the person thinks about the advancement. Just run your school as you want, and policies be damned.

If you are your students wish to participate in tournaments though, this idea does not hold. Either enter open tournaments where they don't care about who qualifies the rank, or suck it up and pay the kukkiwon fees,


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## WaterGal (Nov 14, 2016)

You have to pay Kukkiwon a fee for every black belt testing that you register with them.  Then they send you a nice certificate and ID card, and put the students in their database of certified black belts. 

Beyond that....... in some countries, such as the US, you can deal directly with Kukkiwon as long as you have at least a 4th dan, but in others, there is a national organization that acts as an intermediary.  If you deal directly with KKW, the only fees you need to pay them are the black belt testing fees, but a national organization may have different requirements and costs.  Without knowing where you live, we can't give you more information about that.


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## Dirty Dog (Nov 14, 2016)

Bangn said:


> Thanks, it would be WTF style. Where i am the main club is moo duk kwan style, i'm new here but have not encountered them before.



KKW, not WTF. There is no such thing as WTF Taekwondo.

If you want the KKW to recognize/register your belts, then you need someone of at least KKW 4th Dan to fill out the forms and send them to the KKW along with the fee.
That's pretty much it. There are no other fees for the KKW, although they do want you to take various instructor classes and you do pay for those.

If you want to be an independent, then be an independent. Train people, and award them rank within your school.

The Moo Duk Kwan was the largest of the Kwans involved in the unification. Some split off almost immediately, and returned to teaching Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan. The main portion of that branch eventually altered the curriculum and changed the name to Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan, but some remained with TSD. Other groups split off later and teach Taekwondo Moo Duk Kwan. The curriculum in those schools will tell you something about when they branched off from the unification. Ours, for example, split off before the taegeuk forms were developed, so we teach the earlier TKD system using the palgwae forms as our core.


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## Bangn (Nov 14, 2016)

Thanks for your replies, i find them very interesting and useful going forward I have a better idea of things are run. Thanks for taking the time to explain. 
I'm living in mexico currently, it will be another year or so before I open a school but I like to plan ahead with my eyes open!


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## andyjeffries (Nov 15, 2016)

Dirty Dog said:


> That's pretty much it. There are no other fees for the KKW, although they do want you to take various instructor classes and you do pay for those.



Just to be clear (I know you didn't say it this way, but for the OP) they would like you to take the instructor course but it isn't mandatory. I've been twice and loved it both times (posted a diary on my blog both times), it's cheap ($250 for 4 solid days of physical training and lectures), but it isn't required in any way outside of opening a dojang in Korea.

However, depending on the Kukkiwon's feelings, the person recommending people for black belts *may* need to have a Poom/Dan Examiner qualification. I took the course in November 2015 and didn't particularly enjoy it, and since then the requirement seems to have gone quiet but not away.


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## Balrog (Nov 21, 2016)

Leo89 said:


> I think ATA (songham-style?) and ATF (Ho am-style?) are martial franchises....


ATA is not a franchise, although they looked into it at one time.  Each school is independently owned and operated.  We are licensed to teach Songahm Taekwondo, which is copyrighted.  ATA provides us with training, tournament sanctions, and a wealth of marketing material and assistance.


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## TrueJim (Nov 21, 2016)

Balrog said:


> ATA is not a franchise...Each school is independently owned and operated.  We are licensed to teach Songahm Taekwondo, which is copyrighted.  ATA provides us with training, tournament sanctions, and a wealth of marketing material and assistance.



Over the years I've seen a number of ATA folks make a distinction between "franchise" and "independently owned and operated".  I don't think there's a difference? but I could very well be mistaken!

I'm not intending this analogy to be pejorative: most McDonalds restaurants are also _independently owned and operated_. Most McDonalds restaurants do not belong to the McDonalds corporation at all. The owner pays McDonalds a fee to use the brand name, they buy their ingredients from the parent corporation, and they cook the food according to McDonalds guidelines...but the store itself is owned and operated by an individual. A lot of times you can see a plaque beside the cash registers with the name of the owner of that restaurant.

I think? the word _franchise_ means that a business is independently owned and operated, but pays a fee to the parent corporation to use the brand and associated materials....which is what ATA does, I think?

What's the difference between "franchise" and "independently owned and operated" ?  Why are ATA schools not "franchises" ?  I'd sincerely like to understand the distinction.


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## Earl Weiss (Nov 21, 2016)

Franchises are independently owned and subject to numerous requirements, standards and practices imposed by the Franchiser (i.e. McDonalds Corp.)   A Licensor can grant you a license to use certain names and materials etc. for specified purposes and typically involves less regulation.   Franchises are heavily regulated by State Law. Licenses are not. Toward that end some License agreements will impose various requirements but try to stay under the threshold that would make then regulated as a franchisor.   I have seen License and even "Supply" agreements that IMO were disguised franchise agreements evident from the large number of ongoing requirements.  One fuel supply agreement govenred uniforms, hours of operation and all sorts of operational requirements.


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## TrueJim (Nov 21, 2016)

Earl Weiss said:


> ...Toward that end some License agreements will impose various requirements but try to stay under the threshold that would make then regulated as a franchisor...



So it's a question of _degree_. If the ATA parent corporation regulated the individual schools more, the license would probably rise to the level of being a _franchise_.

Got it! Thank you!


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## Gwai Lo Dan (Nov 21, 2016)

Dirty Dog said:


> KKW, not WTF. There is no such thing as WTF Taekwondo.
> 
> If you want the KKW to recognize/register your belts, then you need someone of at least KKW 4th Dan to fill out the forms and send them to the KKW along with the fee.
> That's pretty much it. There are no other fees for the KKW, although they do want you to take various instructor classes and you do pay for those.



So you don't first have to register a school with the KKW? So long as the BB is 4th dan, he is good to go? For example, could you be a 4th dan at a club that is not yours (i.e., you are not the owner/master/GM), and promote others to 1st dan that are not at the club you attend? If so, what would you put in the "dojang" box?


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## Dirty Dog (Nov 21, 2016)

Gwai Lo Dan said:


> So you don't first have to register a school with the KKW? So long as the BB is 4th dan, he is good to go? For example, could you be a 4th dan at a club that is not yours (i.e., you are not the owner/master/GM), and promote others to 1st dan that are not at the club you attend? If so, what would you put in the "dojang" box?



Whatever you want, I suppose. There are places online that will register your KKW rank for you, and there have been high ranking KKW people here who have offered to do the same for people, including people who never actually trained in the KKW system (the KKW has long endorsed this practice of awarding crossover rank -  it's one reason I call them the Borg...).
Maybe @andyjeffries or someone else who spends more time dealing with KKW-stuff can add something?


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## Archtkd (Nov 21, 2016)

Gwai Lo Dan said:


> So you don't first have to register a school with the KKW? So long as the BB is 4th dan, he is good to go? For example, could you be a 4th dan at a club that is not yours (i.e., you are not the owner/master/GM), and promote others to 1st dan that are not at the club you attend? If so, what would you put in the "dojang" box?



 To be eligible to recommend your students for Kukkiwon poom/dan promotion you have to be a 4th dan at the minimum and in addition be registered as an individual member of the Kukkiwon Membership System (KMS). When applying for KMS membership an instructor must also provide the Kukkiwon with a copy of a state/local government business (dojang) registration and address. If you operate a club within an organization like the YMCA, you have to provide the Kukkiwon with a copy of an approval letter to operate the club, issued by that organization. Mind you all that only applies to so called Category 1 countries like the U.S and some Europeans  countries, and probably Canada. In countries that are not Category 1, only the Member National Association (MNA) of the World Taekwondo Federation in those countries can recommend taekwondoin  for Kukkiwon dan/poom certification. The loose defination of non Category 1 countries used to be those countries where the WTF MNA controls at least 70 percent of taekwondo bodies and private instructors.


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## TrueJim (Nov 21, 2016)

Gwai Lo Dan said:


> For example, could you be a 4th dan at a club that is not yours (i.e., you are not the owner/master/GM), and *promote others to 1st dan that are not at the club you attend?* If so, what would you put in the "dojang" box?



This is a very insightful question. This is exactly the problem that the Kukkiwon Examiner's Course (new in 2015) was intended to address.

If you're a 4th dan, and the student is one of yours, then you can promote the student...as long as you've taken the Examiner's Course.
If you're a 4th dan, but the student _is from another club or school_, then you're supposed to convene a panel of judges for the test.
This is what caused all the controversy earlier this year. All of a sudden, high-dans were saying, "Wait, what? I've been promoting people for 20 years based on my own judgment, and now I need to convene a panel?"

And of course this raised the second question: _Well what's to stop somebody from lying about somebody being their student?  _As Andy Jeffries reported earlier in the year, Kukkiwon is trusting that people won't lie about that.

But then for those who actually thought this through, this raised the third question: _But wait, if somebody was willing to lie about a student's ability, why would they not also lie about who their students are?"
_
In my opinion, Kukkiwon didn't think this new policy through very well.

A summary of the whole kerfuffle is provided here: Kukkiwon Promotion Rules (2015-2016). It's this controversy that inspired USA Taekwondo to create a separate process for issuing their own dan certificates: U.S. National Dan Program


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## Archtkd (Nov 21, 2016)

TrueJim said:


> In my opinion, Kukkiwon didn't think this new policy through very well.
> 
> A summary of the whole kerfuffle is provided here: Kukkiwon Promotion Rules (2015-2016). It's this controversy that inspired USA Taekwondo to create a separate process for issuing their own dan certificates: U.S. National Dan Program



That's misleading. What new policy?


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## TrueJim (Nov 21, 2016)

Archtkd said:


> That's misleading. What new policy?



The March 2016 policy requiring 4dan+ to take the Examiner's Course if they want to promote past 2nd dan. The one described here: Kukkiwon Promotion Rules (2015-2016)

Like I said, it relies on an "honor system" to enforce the idea that you won't _by yourself_ promote somebody from another club or school (you'll only promote your own students). But if somebody was already dishonest enough to take money in exchange for promoting somebody who hadn't earned it, then why won't that same person also be dishonest enough to lie about somebody being their student in the first place? To me it doesn't seem like the new policy actually solves anything.

P.S. It was previously discussed here: Kukkiwon Promotion Rules changes


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## andyjeffries (Nov 22, 2016)

As far as I know though, the new policy isn't law yet (for want of a better way of phrasing it). The course has been delivered a few times, some people are qualified, but as far as I know it's not a requirement at this point in time.


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## andyjeffries (Nov 22, 2016)

Gwai Lo Dan said:


> So you don't first have to register a school with the KKW? So long as the BB is 4th dan, he is good to go? For example, could you be a 4th dan at a club that is not yours (i.e., you are not the owner/master/GM), and promote others to 1st dan that are not at the club you attend? If so, what would you put in the "dojang" box?



You have to register a club/school/dojang with the KKW when you join KMS (Kukkiwon Membership System - http://kms.kukkiwon.or.kr/usr/main.do). However, there is no checking that the club exists, so you could register with KKW using "Gwai Lo Dan Taekwondo" and get a KMS login. Then you could promote people to up to 3rd Dan (in your situation where someone was a 4th Dan).

That's the current state of play.

The proposed state is that you would need to be an examiner, and on an honour-based system only promote your own students (to up to one rank below yourself). If you wanted to promote someone else's student, you'd need to convene a panel and the class of the examiners on the panel would need to be high enough for the rank you want to promote them to (I think this was 3rd Class can do up to 3rd Dan, 2nd Class can do up to 5th Dan, 1st Class up to 7th Dan).


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## andyjeffries (Nov 22, 2016)

Archtkd said:


> To be eligible to recommend your students for Kukkiwon poom/dan promotion you have to be a 4th dan at the minimum and in addition be registered as an individual member of the Kukkiwon Membership System (KMS). When applying for KMS membership an instructor must also provide the Kukkiwon with a copy of a state/local government business (dojang) registration and address. If you operate a club within an organization like the YMCA, you have to provide the Kukkiwon with a copy of an approval letter to operate the club, issued by that organization. Mind you all that only applies to so called Category 1 countries like the U.S and some Europeans  countries.



I don't remember ever having to supply any of that?!  It was a single form faxed over to Kukkiwon giving the club details, no government paperwork or letters required. Maybe it's different in the US.


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## TrueJim (Nov 22, 2016)

andyjeffries said:


> As far as I know though, the new policy isn't law yet (for want of a better way of phrasing it). The course has been delivered a few times, some people are qualified, but as far as I know it's not a requirement at this point in time.



*1. *I agree; I haven't heard of any examples of the March 2016 dan policy being enforced....and here it is November!  One would think the Kukkiwon would feel obliged to say SOMETHING about the status of the policy, wouldn't one? 

It's a bit of a slap in the face for masters who did bother to travel and take the course, at not inconsiderable expense! The course my kwanjangnim attended here in the US was basically just a grueling review of poomsae, which he really didn't need (he's a Kukkiwon 7th dan and was one of the earliest K-Tigers...he knows his poomsae.)

*2. *Here in the US, the Kukkiwon representative is "Kukkiwon America" (affiliated with the World Taekwondo Masters Union, WTMU). I don't see any new Examiner's Courses scheduled on their website. Kukkiwon America WTMU, the official MOU organization with Kukkiwon  They too seem to have gone silent on this. 

*3. *Meanwhile USA Taekwondo (USAT) delegated their new dan promotion responsibilities to the US Taekwondo Grandmasters Society (USTGS), with the promise that there would be more news forthcoming about dan promotion events sponsored by the USTGS. And we haven't heard a peep out of them either! Home


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## Archtkd (Nov 22, 2016)

TrueJim said:


> The March 2016 policy requiring 4dan+ to take the Examiner's Course if they want to promote past 2nd dan. The one described here: Kukkiwon Promotion Rules (2015-2016)
> 
> Like I said, it relies on an "honor system" to enforce the idea that you won't _by yourself_ promote somebody from another club or school (you'll only promote your own students). But if somebody was already dishonest enough to take money in exchange for promoting somebody who hadn't earned it, then why won't that same person also be dishonest enough to lie about somebody being their student in the first place? To me it doesn't seem like the new policy actually solves anything.
> 
> P.S. It was previously discussed here: Kukkiwon Promotion Rules changes



Truejim: I am sure you know that was a proposal that failed, but can't figure out why you keep insisting it is a policy that exists. It was a proposal engineered or pushed foward by a handful of grandmasters in the U.S, Americas and Europe, who thought they could create centralized Kukkiwon affiliated entities to control the issuance of Kukkiwon poom/dan certification in select countries and profit from the same. The bulk of senior grandmasters/dojang operators  and Kukki taekwondo orgs in the U.S and UK rejected the flawed proposal and the Kukkiwon dumped it. And that is not the first or last Kukkiwon proposal to fail. There have been several ideas that the Kukkiwon -- under influence of GMs in the West -- has come up with over the years and then quitely withdrawn following wide external and internal dissent or leadership changes at the organization.


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## Archtkd (Nov 22, 2016)

andyjeffries said:


> I don't remember ever having to supply any of that?!  It was a single form faxed over to Kukkiwon giving the club details, no government paperwork or letters required. Maybe it's different in the US.



It's a policy that's been around since March 2015. I didn't have to go through it -- even though I met all requirements -- because I was in the first batch of KMS applicants back in 2009. See this Kukkiwom notice:

*




*

In order to be approval KMS Membership

2015/03/25 17:34:1

As you have done KMS application, there are some required documents to approve your membership as follows;

1. Copy of Business license (If you can’t due to teach in School, Sports complex etc. it would be replaced with an approval letter from your government or municipal to let you teach in certain place.)

(It must includes your Dojang name, address, and your name)

 2. Copy of your ID( driver's license and Kukkiwon Certificate)

 3. Send it to the person who in charge

Pan America and Oceania: kukkiwonmaster1@gmail.com

Asia, Europe, Africa : cjstkd61@gmail.com

K.M.S Unifying the world with Taekwondo We are the KUKKIWON family


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## andyjeffries (Nov 22, 2016)

Archtkd said:


> It's a policy that's been around since March 2015. I didn't have to go through it -- even though I met all requirements -- because I was in the first batch of KMS applicants back in 2009. See this Kukkiwom notice



Thanks for the info mate. I was approved sometime between you and the new policy (in the middle maybe, around 2012?).


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## Dirty Dog (Nov 22, 2016)

Archtkd said:


> It's a policy that's been around since March 2015. I didn't have to go through it -- even though I met all requirements -- because I was in the first batch of KMS applicants back in 2009. See this Kukkiwom notice:



Seems like this would pretty much rule out an awful lot of non-commercial schools. The classic garage dojang, for example.


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## WaterGal (Nov 23, 2016)

Archtkd said:


> It's a policy that's been around since March 2015. I didn't have to go through it -- even though I met all requirements -- because I was in the first batch of KMS applicants back in 2009. See this Kukkiwom notice:
> 
> *
> 
> ...



We had to do that in 2014, though I think it must have been a brand-new requirement at the time, because we registered on the KKW website, heard nothing from them for at least a month, and then contacted KKW a couple times before finally getting told that we had to e-mail them the business license to the first e-mail listed above. At which point they sent us our KMS login credentials in a plaintext e-mail.  SMH.


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## WaterGal (Nov 23, 2016)

Dirty Dog said:


> Seems like this would pretty much rule out an awful lot of non-commercial schools. The classic garage dojang, for example.



Someone operating as a sole proprietor might have a hard time, yeah.  I wonder if they'd accept a certificate of liability insurance instead?


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## Leo89 (Nov 23, 2016)

What if someone wanted to make their own organization and teach a new style of TKD?

I assume mastering a previous style would be part of the first step.


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## Dirty Dog (Nov 24, 2016)

Leo89 said:


> What if someone wanted to make their own organization and teach a new style of TKD?



Gosh, that's never happened... 



Leo89 said:


> I assume mastering a previous style would be part of the first step.



You'd like to think so, but no. An awful lot of orgs have been started by people with low rank and limited knowledge/understanding of their source art.


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## Balrog (Nov 24, 2016)

TrueJim said:


> Over the years I've seen a number of ATA folks make a distinction between "franchise" and "independently owned and operated".  I don't think there's a difference? but I could very well be mistaken!
> 
> I'm not intending this analogy to be pejorative: most McDonalds restaurants are also _independently owned and operated_. Most McDonalds restaurants do not belong to the McDonalds corporation at all. The owner pays McDonalds a fee to use the brand name, they buy their ingredients from the parent corporation, and they cook the food according to McDonalds guidelines...but the store itself is owned and operated by an individual. A lot of times you can see a plaque beside the cash registers with the name of the owner of that restaurant.
> 
> ...


The predominate difference is that, although we are all licensed to teach Songahm Taekwondo, we teach it in different ways.  Some do straight curriculum, some do rotating block, some only teach a subset of the weapons, some include XMA, some include Krav Maga or Jiu-Jitsu, etc.  In addition, our schools follow a common style, but they are not identical.  We'll all have flags on the wall, we'll mostly have either a red/black or red/white/blue trend, etc.  If we were franchises, we would be cookie-cutter schools.  

To use the MacDonald's analogy, every MacDonald's looks the same everywhere.  The food is the same, etc,  Or to use another analogy:  we're not identical twins, we're fraternal twins.


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## TrueJim (Nov 24, 2016)

Balrog said:


> We are licensed to teach Songahm Taekwondo, which is _copyrighted_...



I've always found this interesting. My best guess is that Songahm poomsae fall under US copyright law in the same way that dance choreography does: 

How to Copyright Choreography

"Note that copyrighting your choreography will not prohibit others from performing the dance under the fair use principle. Fair use allows for limited personal and educational use, so that people may perform your dance in their own homes and in other arenas covered by limited personal and educational use. However, if you copyright your choreography, others cannot sell the dance or claim it as their own creation."
So for example on the wiki, if I'm reading that right, I could write my own description of the Songahm poomsae (in my own words, not copying the ATA PDFs verbatim of course) and that would likely be considered fair use. I've never put this to the test (it would be a lot of work to rewrite the PDFs in my own words, and to what end anyway?) but I think the idea of copyrighted poomsae raises a lot of interesting questions. Like...could a college club teach Songahm poomsae as long as it was for free? Could a person make (non-monetized) YouTube videos of Songahm poomsae?


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## Balrog (Nov 25, 2016)

TrueJim said:


> I've always found this interesting. My best guess is that Songahm poomsae fall under US copyright law in the same way that dance choreography does:
> 
> How to Copyright Choreography
> 
> ...


I'm not an expert on copyright law, but I do know that in the past, ATA has successfully defended its copyright under a variety of circumstances.  I don't think that they have to do it quite so much these days.


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## TrueJim (Nov 25, 2016)

Balrog said:


> I'm not an expert on copyright law, but I do know that in the past, ATA has successfully defended its copyright under a variety of circumstances...



I suspect that those were cases where *for-profit* organizations were teaching Songahm taekwondo, in which case the doctrine of_ Fair Use_ wouldn't apply. For example if I were an ex-ATA instructor, I couldn't go out and start my own school teaching ATA taekwondo but skip the licensing deal from ATA.

In the US, Fair Use basically says that small excerpts for educational purposes that aren't primarily profit oriented and don't significantly impact the profit of the author are generally okay. So for example the Harry Potter books are copyrighted, but you can still make a _free-to-use_ wiki about Harry Potter. Harry Potter On the other hand, if you started _charging money_ for access to the Harry Potter wiki, Fair Use probably wouldn't apply and J.K. Rowling would have you shut down. That's why the wikia collection of websites can get away with having content about everything from Harry Potter to Minecraft to Pokemon without being sued into oblivion.

It's kinda funny if you think about it: an instructor can become very expert at ATA taekwondo, but he can't ever teaching it to anybody without permission (i.e., a license) from ATA. I would think that would be a weird feeling. Like...learning math or biology, but not being allowed to teach it to anybody without getting permission first.


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## Balrog (Nov 27, 2016)

TrueJim said:


> I suspect that those were cases where *for-profit* organizations were teaching Songahm taekwondo, in which case the doctrine of_ Fair Use_ wouldn't apply. For example if I were an ex-ATA instructor, I couldn't go out and start my own school teaching ATA taekwondo but skip the licensing deal from ATA.


I'm pretty sure that's the case.  The Songahm forms are the intellectual property of ATA and are the core of the organization.  And the example you gave is one of the more prevalent types of defense that they have had to do.


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## Gerry Seymour (Nov 27, 2016)

Dirty Dog said:


> Seems like this would pretty much rule out an awful lot of non-commercial schools. The classic garage dojang, for example.


I'm pretty sure it would rule out many teaching in a school or rec center. The policy states you'd need a certification from your municipality allowing you to teach, but I can't imagine what it would take to convince someone in Hendersonville's government to issue such a document, when there's literally nobody for whom that's part of their job.


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## Gerry Seymour (Nov 27, 2016)

Balrog said:


> The predominate difference is that, although we are all licensed to teach Songahm Taekwondo, we teach it in different ways.  Some do straight curriculum, some do rotating block, some only teach a subset of the weapons, some include XMA, some include Krav Maga or Jiu-Jitsu, etc.  In addition, our schools follow a common style, but they are not identical.  We'll all have flags on the wall, we'll mostly have either a red/black or red/white/blue trend, etc.  If we were franchises, we would be cookie-cutter schools.
> 
> To use the MacDonald's analogy, every MacDonald's looks the same everywhere.  The food is the same, etc,  Or to use another analogy:  we're not identical twins, we're fraternal twins.


That's an accurate description of the difference between a franchise and independent outlets sharing a brand, in general.


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## Gerry Seymour (Nov 27, 2016)

TrueJim said:


> I've always found this interesting. My best guess is that Songahm poomsae fall under US copyright law in the same way that dance choreography does:
> 
> How to Copyright Choreography
> 
> ...


If I recall the rules of Fair Use correctly, you could also perform part or all of a Songahm poomsae to discuss it for educational purposes. So you could demonstrate the Songahm poomsae and one of your own, then compare and contrast them.

Educational use doesn't entirely eliminate the protection, so I don't think even a not-for-profit club could use the copyrighted poomsae in their curriculum, any more than a non-profit is allowed to use copyrighted music without paying.


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