TKD and the people in it.......

[terryl965]

For the most part I have meet some wonderful people inmy TKD journey. When I go out of town it seems I can always find a school to do some training in. They are honest and genuine for a good many of them. Then we have those few that believe only they exsist, that is only there way and everybody else and there instructors are wrong. Over the god many years it seems some of these people get worst and worst and they bring up there students to be this way. What has happen to the common curtest and respect that was the very foundation of TKD? What happen to those days when all student could approach a senior and get a handshake and ask a few question for a minute or two? Remember those that forge the foundation and remember there vision and I am not talking about what the vision has changed too.

I know some will get on here and say the vision as always been the same and my senior is the same as he was thirty years ago and you realy believe this. I talked to one of my seniors last night and he has said the same thing people change, instructor change< master's change and G.M. change as well. Change does not always equal good or bad but change does equal changes. I would hope like my G.M. that one day we could all find that common ground in what we do and that is TKD, whether that is sport, KKW, ITF or USTC or any other org out there. We are brothers just like the military one art with different branches but all under the same banner. Lets respect each other views while we always do not agree on subject matters and the way it was or could be. We all forever will have that one common aspect TKD.

 

[Balrog]

It's not just TKD. You will find that attitude in any martial arts discipline. Fortunately, it is the exception, rather than the rule.

Change does not always equal good or bad but change does equal changes.

Ain't that the truth, bro! Far too many times, I've seen people fix stuff that wasn't broken, just for the sake of changing it.

 

[SahBumNimRush]

Change is change, and everyone and everything is always in a state of flux. If it were not everything would stagnate, no one would have an opportunity to grow. No one would have the opportunity to find their own interpretation; their own philosophy. Taekwondo, as a whole, would still be an adaptation of karate without change.

Change, as you stated, can be good/bad/indifferent, but IMHO, it is necessary for growth.

Certainly we could sit here and agree/disagree on what aspects should/should've/shouldn't've changed.

Personally, I think that the etiquette and moral traditions that have been stressed in Taekwondo should never change, and yet they have become more relaxed in many cases.

Techniques are nearly impossible to be unified, the basic concepts should be the same across the board, but everyone, at some point in their journey, develop their own interpretation of technique. Not everyone is built the same, so no one technique is going to work for everyone. Furthermore, depending on the instructor and his/her lineage, the changes can be more dramatic than others.

Change also happens as society changes. Everyone likes to talk about the "old days" when training was hard. We all know, even if we don't want to admit it, that we remember those days a bit harder than they actually were ("I walked up hill to school both ways in 4 feet of snow" comes to mind). However, they were certainly harder than they are now, because, atleast in the U.S. people tend to be softer than they were 20-30 years ago. Like it or not, if you want to keep your doors open, you have to adapt with the times. I miss the old days in many ways, but they are gone for good, like it or not.. . As an instructor, you are just asking for a law suit if you bring a cane to class to physically correct students.

My KJN used to say a good black belt should always be hurting. By that mark, there are few good black belts. Not many people wish to train that aggressively anymore.. .