5 reasons TaeKwonDo as a system (not individual techniques) breaks down in a Muay Thai ring

[Axiom]

Any of the instructors in my school would teach for free if it were possible but unfortunately there's this thing called 'reality'.

There's a distinction between making a living and a profitable business.

 

[Axiom]

BTW, another reason I still train TaeKwonDo as a red belt is that I'm a retro lover. I love training in a dojang stuck in the 80s. I love music, culture, and martial arts of the 80s.

 

[Xue Sheng]

The fact that this hamster wheel of a train wreck post is on its 24th page is absolutely mind boggling to me....I have one last thing to say...

 

[Axiom]

Any of the instructors in my school would teach for free if it were possible but unfortunately there's this thing called 'reality'.

What is the term used for equal money spent as earned? Cutting even? Anway, whatever that's called in English, is what General Choi was referring to. Anybody who takes in more than they used in is running a business. And I guarantee the TKD instructors you so proudly speak of make profits.

 

[CB Jones]

There's a distinction between making a living and a profitable business.

 

[RTKDCMB]

And I guarantee the TKD instructors you so proudly speak of make profits.

And where do you think the majority of those profits go? Back into the school, fuel for the car, advertising, belts, boards for breaking, training equipment etc.

 

[Axiom]

Deep, huh?

 

[Axiom]

And where do you think the majority of those profits go? Back into the school, fuel for the car, advertising, belts, boards for breaking, training equipment etc.

I guess you didn't get what I meant by profit. Clue: wallet.

 

[TrueJim]

I have answered what commercializing means and how I know it's in effect.

No sir. I did not ask what commercializing means. I asked: What do you mean when you say that Jhoon Rhee degraded taekwondo in the U.S. by commercializing it.

You responded by saying that the president of your federation in Eastern Europe hands out black belts like candy.

When I asked what one thing has to do with the other, you subsequently explained that you blame Jhoon Rhee for the behavior of your president.

Then I asked: wouldn't it make more sense to blame the president of your federation for his own behavior?

Then you said that I was playing the blame game, and misquoted my original question.

Then I corrected you.

Let's go back to the pertinent question: Why are you blaming Jhoon Rhee in the United States for the actions of a mature adult who's running his own federation in Eastern Europe?

 

[Axiom]

And yes, my fellow students have travelled abroad to the United States and visited TaeKwonDo dojangs that turned out to be daycare centers. the instructors spoke openly about it, as if it was a good thing. I want to throw up when I hear that.

 

[MA_Student]

What is the term used for equal money spent as earned? Cutting even? Anway, whatever that's called in English, is what General Choi was referring to. Anybody who takes in more than they used in is running a business. And I guarantee the TKD instructors you so proudly speak of make profits.

Yeah and why shouldn't they make money....they're giving up their time and their own money to teach people and mostly all have another job so they work all day then go out at night and teach so damm right they should make a profit

 

[TrueJim]

What is the term used for equal money spent as earned? Cutting even? Anway, whatever that's called in English, is what General Choi was referring to. Anybody who takes in more than they used in is running a business. And I guarantee the TKD instructors you so proudly speak of make profits.

Yes sir, "breaking even" is how we say it.

As has been previously pointed out, profits invariably go into either:

• Re-investment in the school (for example, to buy new equipment when the old equipment gets too old), or
• Or personal savings for retirement ,or for your children's college fund

In the U.S., the heads of taekwondo schools aren't driving around in Ferraris and living in mansions. The average salary for a martial arts instructor in the U.S. is approximately the same as the average U.S. salary overall. Nobody goes into this business to get rich.

 

[Axiom]

Yes sir, "breaking even" is how we say it.

As has been previously pointed out, profits invariably go into either:

• Re-investment in the school (for example, to buy new equipment when the old equipment gets too old), or
• Or personal savings for retirement ,or for your children's college fund

In the U.S., the heads of taekwondo schools aren't driving around in Ferraris and living in mansions. The average salary for a martial arts instructor in the U.S. is approximately the same as the average U.S. salary overall. Nobody goes into this business to get rich.

Given the amount of kids running around in, I know they make plenty of profit. Kids from the age of 6 "train" TaeKwonDo in my school. They barely know where they are and do other things when the instructor isn't looking.

 

[TrueJim]

And yes, my fellow students have travelled abroad to the United States and visited TaeKwonDo dojangs that turned out to be daycare centers. the instructors spoke openly about it, as if it was a good thing. I want to throw up when I hear that.

We are dismayed to learn of your nausea sir. On behalf of the U.S. overall, we fervently hope that the shoddy quality of your martial arts instruction causes you no further distress.

In the U.S., we commonly believe that engaging children in sports is a good thing, whether the sport is futball, basketball, or martial arts. It is not uncommon to enroll children in summer camps and after-school programs where they practice these sports. Candidly, the quality of the instruction is uneven: some are very good, some not so much. 'Arguably, this is true for all types of instruction everywhere, from kinder-care to university.

In any case, please be assured sir that the uneven quality of our martial arts instruction is no reason for you to feel physical distress! Please take care of your health, and do not make yourself overly anxious about the quality of our taekwondo instruction -- your health is important sir.

 

[Martial D]

If this isn't a parody thread, it ought to be. So many good laughs.

 

[Axiom]

Yeah and why shouldn't they make money....they're giving up their time and their own money to teach people and mostly all have another job so they work all day then go out at night and teach so damm right they should make a profit

It erodes the purity of the art.

 

[MA_Student]

It erodes the purity of the art.

All martial arts would be dead today if the instructors didnt charge. Because frankly barley anyone is going to pay out hundreds of their own money on rent, electricity, supplies or any of that stuff without making anything back.

 

[TrueJim]

Given the amount of kids running around in, I know they make plenty of profit.

My heart is filled with sincerest joy to learn that your master's taekwondo school is profitable sir!

May I ask: how much profit does your master make? You say "plenty" but I would be curious to gain a better understanding of what you mean by "plenty". Does your master live in a luxurious mansion? Does he have his own private jet?

Could you possibly give us some quantitative estimate of what you mean by "plenty"? Please feel free to respond in your own currency, as my proficiency with Google currency calculations is the stuff of legend.

 

[TrueJim]

It erodes the purity of the art.

Yes sir, I agree! My own master and I discuss this all the time:


Me: "Master! I have learned that some schools charge for taekwondo instruction. Have you ever heard of such a thing?"

Him: "Ahhh, grasshopper. I feared this day would come. Please, sit. Share some hot tea with me."

<My master never eats. His only sustenance is hot green tea and the joy of teaching. I pour the tea and sit on the discarded burlap sacks that we use as chairs.>

Him: "Yes grasshopper, it is true. Some schools charge for taekwondo instruction."

<My master's body shudders as he utters these fateful words. For myself, I can feel only a cold chill in my spine, as if somebody has just crossed my grave.>

Me: "But sir, what about the purity of the art?"

<My master's voice rises with a sense of righteous outage.>

Him: "These other supposed masters...these visigoths...these gutternipes! They care only for paying the rent and buying food. They have no concern for the purity of the art!"

<My master's voice falls into a hushed whisper, as if telling me a deepest, darkest secret. What will he say? I wonder, will he finally tell me now the secret of the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique? But no, after a long pause, he finally speaks...>

Him: "It is said that at some of these schools, they even teach taekwondo....to children."

<The world falls away from me as my heart stops beating. My head is spinning as my sense of reality shatters like my enemy's sternum in the onslaught of my fearsome roundhouse. Shocked, I gasp...>

Me: "No sir! This cannot be! How did this come to pass! Who is to blame for this foulest of evils!"

<My master bows his head in weary dismay. He says the name slowly, one word at a time.>

Him: "Jhoon. Goo. Rhee."

From that moment on, I launched myself on a righteous crusade. I have dedicated my life to finding and destroying JHOON...GOO...RHEE!!!!!


So you see, Axiom, you and I are entirely on the same page here.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Jhoon's side was big. It was a Bowling alley. My side was not very big. May be 1500 sq ft. I only paid $275 per month back in 1973.

Sounds like the side you were on was about the same as the first NGA dojo I trained in. It was a duplex, too, though the other side was actually smaller (the dojo moved there briefly, before moving to a new building). Nothing so interesting as a topless (or topful, for that matter) bar next door - was a styling salon, IIRC. Behind that building was not a monastery, but a housing project.