TKD, TKD and more TKD

[msmitht]

1. The belt structure, which was created by Jigoro Kano Sensei (founder of Judo), was white, blue, brown and black. Some schools argue that he put purple in between blue and brown but we are not here to argue that point. When TKD was brought to the US there was :
White
Yellow
Green
Blue
Red
Black
2. Most school's used a stripe on each belt to separate gup/kup levels. In the 80's it became popular to give more stripes/belts so that it would take longer for children to reach BB and to keep them from feeling stagnant.
3. I knew a GM who made each BB "test" at regular intervals. It is not a bad Idea as it forces students to follow a clear, structured program. The problem is with the money that is charged and the extra stripes/stars/patches you will get/have to buy. If it was free (Minus cost of breaking materials, of course) then I would say it was ok.
4. Paying 600 dollars for a 2nd dan test is ridiculus. It costs 120 to order the 2nd poom/dan from KKW. What is the extra money for? I can see 50 for a new embroidered belt. Maybe another 100 for a new Do-Bok. 20 for Wood etc...

 

[Twin Fist]

jhoon rhee didnt use red, so NO, when TKD came to the us, there was no red.

rhee's belt system was white, green, brown, black

 

[padre]

I just this weekend tested up from white to "high white", but the certificate handed to me reads "9 Kub", so I don't concern myself too much with what color is strapped around my waist.

I'm became a TKD junkie pretty fast. When I burned my feet yesterday (2nd degree on the ball of each foot, so the doc, whose wife is 4th dan, says no TKD for a while), I thought, "Bugger, how long is this going to take me out?"

I then dropped to my knees and started working on fingertip push-ups and abdominal routines, figuring I'll work around it. heh

I was never this motivated before TKD.

 

[CDKJudoka]

leave, leave and never look back

It's a different situation when its your boss that has implemtened the price structure...

Yes very true. I may leave after my 2nd dan if I can find a legit Hapkido dojang in the area, but they are few and very far between. If I can't find a HKD dojang, I may leave KMAs altogether to either get into ken(m)po, or kyokushin.

That is a year down the road anyway.

Actually, the thing that annoyed me even more than the money was messing up nice embroidered black belts with all that tape. I don't do it at my school. We do have tips on color belts though for techniques, poomsae and knowledge to show the student is ready in the corresponding area for his test. There's no charge for the tips, of course.

Fortunately, sbn has implemented a chevron for the ranks in between chodan and eedan that goes on the dobak, so no ruining the pretty belt.

 

[TKD_Father]

I thought I read something General Choi wrote about 9 being a special number, so there were 9 Gups.

 

[msmitht]

jhoon rhee didnt use red, so NO, when TKD came to the us, there was no red.

rhee's belt system was white, green, brown, black

Was Jhoon Rhee the 1st tkd instructor to come here? I always thought that there were others who came b4 him. The ITF system was w,y,gr,bl,red and then black.

 

[dancingalone]

Was Jhoon Rhee the 1st tkd instructor to come here? I always thought that there were others who came b4 him. The ITF system was w,y,gr,bl,red and then black.

The two earliest I thought were Jhoon Rhee and S. Henry Cho. Rhee arrived in the US in 1959, and Cho came in 1961 according to these two sources, although the Cho article is a bit ambiguous whether he arrived in 1961 or whether that was just the date he finished his graduate studies in the US. Someone name some names if you can think of any earlier.

http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=1012
http://www.henrycho.com/hcho.html