Interesting visit?

[opr1945]

One of my grandsons, age 12, is taking Tae Kwon Do lessons. I visited the Dojang for his last testing. The Dojang is owned by a man who appears to be Korean and speaks with a strong accent. The sign on the building clearly states Tae Kwon Do. His Dojang is connected somehow to a Dojo abut 20 miles away. This Dojo has a sign that says Karate. The woman in charge states she is a black belt in Karate. Both schools have a shared web site and the same phone number and email address.

Recently, the Tae Kwon Do location was shut down and all the students were directed to continue to train at the Karate location. I went to the new location to see my grandson participate. The dojo had 3 large rooms, about 30' x 30' with a 15' doorway connecting them. There were about 35 students. They were divided into groups of 3-5 students. seemingly by age. Each group was being taught by a young person appearing to be a few years older than the students they were teaching. e.g. 5-7 year old students being taught by a 10 year old and so on. The owner was there but just watching. Obviously I am guessing on the ages. Only about 1/3 of the students had a belt on. And everyone was wearing a Karate tee shirt, most with the name of the Dojo. Other than the owner I did not see any adults involved.

The web page is titled "Karate" but all the text mentions is Tae Kwon Do.

I think what struck me was the young students teaching even younger students. Looked to me like a lot of choas. Many of the under 12 or so students appeared to me to be marching to someone other than their teach. All of the other programs I have visited had only 1 or 2 groups being taught by an adult, over 21 years of age.

I left very confused.

 

[Stuarto]

One of my grandsons, age 12, is taking Tae Kwon Do lessons. I visited the Dojang for his last testing. The Dojang is owned by a man who appears to be Korean and speaks with a strong accent. The sign on the building clearly states Tae Kwon Do. His Dojang is connected somehow to a Dojo abut 20 miles away. This Dojo has a sign that says Karate. The woman in charge states she is a black belt in Karate. Both schools have a shared web site and the same phone number and email address.

Recently, the Tae Kwon Do location was shut down and all the students were directed to continue to train at the Karate location. I went to the new location to see my grandson participate. The dojo had 3 large rooms, about 30' x 30' with a 15' doorway connecting them. There were about 35 students. They were divided into groups of 3-5 students. seemingly by age. Each group was being taught by a young person appearing to be a few years older than the students they were teaching. e.g. 5-7 year old students being taught by a 10 year old and so on. The owner was there but just watching. Obviously I am guessing on the ages. Only about 1/3 of the students had a belt on. And everyone was wearing a Karate tee shirt, most with the name of the Dojo. Other than the owner I did not see any adults involved.

The web page is titled "Karate" but all the text mentions is Tae Kwon Do.

I think what struck me was the young students teaching even younger students. Looked to me like a lot of choas. Many of the under 12 or so students appeared to me to be marching to someone other than their teach. All of the other programs I have visited had only 1 or 2 groups being taught by an adult, over 21 years of age.

I left very confused.

That sounds like a very interesting experience. I don't think a 10-year-old has the maturity level or experience to be teaching. Perhaps older teenagers/young adults but certainly not that young. I think most schools have an age requirement before a student can even begin to help instruct.

 

[HighKick]

One of my grandsons, age 12, is taking Tae Kwon Do lessons. I visited the Dojang for his last testing. The Dojang is owned by a man who appears to be Korean and speaks with a strong accent. The sign on the building clearly states Tae Kwon Do. His Dojang is connected somehow to a Dojo abut 20 miles away. This Dojo has a sign that says Karate. The woman in charge states she is a black belt in Karate. Both schools have a shared web site and the same phone number and email address.

Recently, the Tae Kwon Do location was shut down and all the students were directed to continue to train at the Karate location. I went to the new location to see my grandson participate. The dojo had 3 large rooms, about 30' x 30' with a 15' doorway connecting them. There were about 35 students. They were divided into groups of 3-5 students. seemingly by age. Each group was being taught by a young person appearing to be a few years older than the students they were teaching. e.g. 5-7 year old students being taught by a 10 year old and so on. The owner was there but just watching. Obviously I am guessing on the ages. Only about 1/3 of the students had a belt on. And everyone was wearing a Karate tee shirt, most with the name of the Dojo. Other than the owner I did not see any adults involved.

The web page is titled "Karate" but all the text mentions is Tae Kwon Do.

I think what struck me was the young students teaching even younger students. Looked to me like a lot of choas. Many of the under 12 or so students appeared to me to be marching to someone other than their teach. All of the other programs I have visited had only 1 or 2 groups being taught by an adult, over 21 years of age.

I left very confused.

Understandably. I like the model of having three large rooms and (some) segregation of age, but there would need to be some form of isolation between rooms to avoid the visual/audible overlap and distraction. Add to this the fact that the average kid has the attention span of a squirrel and it is ripe for chaos.

Was there a Senior instructor overseeing the classes? Even if there was, the ages you mention are just too young to lead groups. Maybe one on one to help someone learn an individual skill, but a whole group or class? No.
Hopefully this day was a 'special class' to show the 12-year-olds how hard it is to teach.


I am not trying to bash a school I know nothing about, and I hope any school of good intent can stay afloat (it's hard). I suggest talking to the instructor and expressing your concerns (they are legitimate). If you do not get a good answer or things progress the same, I suggest you audit the other schools in your area and find one you like.