Thought.  As the late James Brown sang, "It's a man's, man's, man's world. But it won't be nothing, without a woman, or a girl."

Despite claims of unalienable rights, constitutional rights, and rights bestowed by God, the only rights anyone has are those granted by the people in power. And the only reason those in power grant any rights is to help ensure that those in power remain in power. Power comes from physical force or the treat of physical force. Money itself has no power, but it allows people with weak physical force to hire powerful physical forces to protect them. The power to bestow material things, such as jobs or gifts, and the power to bestow abstract things, such as prestige and notoriety, also allows those with weak physical force to get people with a strong physical force to protect them. But this is fine line, since these mercenaries hired to protect may turn on you and take all you have rather than let you bestow some of it on them.

People say that constitutions grant rights. Constitutions are only pieces of paper; they cannot do anything. The rights listed in then are those that society believes should be granted to its citizens and society grants those rights through using its physical powers: the police and military. Elected officials have no physical powers. The courts have no physical powers. Their only power comes from a willing police force and a willing military.
A constitution may grant rights to all citizens regardless of sex, but those rights only exist because the citizens support them. They do not exist by themselves. There is not some right that will stand in front of a woman to protect her; however, society has stated that the woman should be protected.

Women are only safe, because our society protects them. The only thing that allows a woman activist stand and to demand her rights is society as a whole. Otherwise, men would just eliminate her. All the talk about women’s rights is just that, talk. The only rights women have are those allowed by the physically powerful, the men. No matter what your think or feel, men are genetically stronger and more powerful than women. The only way women survive is because society protects them from men.

In martial arts classes, women train to protect themselves. Some are proficient at self-defense and may deter or stop an attack by a weaker man or a man not so intent on harming her. But, the best female fighter in the world is no match against any untrained male who is intent on harming her.

Women have physical and mental endurance and they have a high tolerance of pain, but that does not make them physically able to defend themselves successfully against a determined male. A male who is expecting a defenseless woman make be deterred by a woman who fights back, but if the male is determined to kill her, she will die, no matter how much she resists. The same is true of a male who is attacked by multiple male attackers.

In martial arts classes, women train to fight back and they gain confidence from the training. Fighting back is preferable to letting someone harm you, but, make no mistake about it, when a man wants to kill or seriously harm a woman he will do it. The woman may do enough to make the man back off and leave her alone or she may delay the end until help arrives, but, if neither occurs, she will die, no matter how many black belts she has.

Like anything else, there are exceptions to the rule. In the case where the woman is much larger than the male, the male is incapacitated in some way, or the male is disabled in some way, the woman may win. If the woman has a weapon, such as a firearm or a fighting knife, and knows how to use it, the woman may win.

So what it all boils down to is that women only exist because men protect them from other men and men only exist because women give birth to them and raise them. Like everything else in nature, there is something to be gained by each side, so they work together. The men protect the women from other men and return the women bear and raise the children,

Men are physically more powerful than women, but women have emotional control over men. Although the two forces are not equal, the emotion control is enough to protect women from men most of the time. So a woman’s most powerful weapon against a man is her emotional influence.

When a woman is sparring with a man, she may think she is just as good as the man (and she may be, at least technique wise) but the woman must realize that, if at any point the male opponent decides she must die, then she will die, unless she gets others to protect her. That is neither a male chauvinist viewpoint nor a politically correct viewpoint; it is just the way nature determined it will be.

Comments. None.

Thought. While surfing the web recently, I came across a Kenpo site that explained why the author did not furnish any useful information about Kenpo on the web site. He said it was because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks; that he did not want to reveal the deadly techniques of Kenpo to any terrorists who may visit the site. What a bunch of bull!

This reasoning posits that a terrorist who is willing to blow himself up and kill hundreds of people and go straight to heaven, with no prior training except for how to push a button, will be searching the Internet for some secret Kenpo technique he could practice using for years so he could kill one person, and then have to wait even longer to get to heaven.

Can you picture bands of radical Muslum terrorists roaming the streets of America secretly killing unsuspecting shoppers using secret Kenpo techniques they learned from a web site? The real reason for not putting free information on the web is that the author wants the public, which could also include terrorists, to pay for the information, either through the purchase of classes, books, or videos. There is nothing wrong with wanting people to pay for your expertise, just don't be afraid to admit it.

Comments. None.

Thought. Instructors shouldn't hold a class back so a slow student may catch up; the class should move along at a steady pace. The slow student should be encouraged to keep up and may need extra instruction, but you do not punish the many for the imitations of a few.

Comments. None.

Thought. Have you seen the demonstrations of Combat -Ki on television. Combat-Ki is supposed to be a way of absorbing punches and kicks so that they are rendered harmless.

As you watch Combat-Ki in action, watch the way the practitioners are struck. First, they are always stuck by another Combat-Ki practitioner. Second, most of the techniques are slaps and pushes. If that is the way Combat-Ki practitioners attack, then I see why they need the ability to absorb punches because they will receive a lot of them. If that is the way Combat-Ki practitioners spar each other, then don't see the reason they need the ability to absorb blows because slaps and pushes are not going to injury anyone.

Watch how the Combat-Ki person who is kicked is knocked backwards. If a person struck by a kick is knocked backwards, it is because the kick was a push, not a strike. A proper kick only penetrates the target 1 or 2 inches, and then is retracted. This means the force of the kick is a strike, not a push.

I have held a body shield for Taekwondo masters who were demonstrating a proper kick. I was not pushed backwards, I was jarred from head to toe by a shocking, shuddering blow that made me think my teeth filings had fallen out or that my eye balls were bulging. One time, I was sweating from a workout when I held a body shield for my instructor's side thrust kick. When the kick stuck, I was suddenly blinded; all the sweat on my whole head had suddenly rushed to my face and into my eyes.

When using a proper kick, the force of the kick is not expended in moving the opponent backward, it is expended within the opponent's body. Just as you see in the punches of professional boxer, the punch does not knock the opponent backward into the ropes, the opponent just suddenly drops to the floor. If a Combat-Ki practitioner tried to absorb a Taekwondo side thrust kick or a karate reverse punch, he or she would be injured, guaranteed.

Comments.

Anonymous said…

The combat ki guys have been tested by Genki Sudo, a fighter from Japan. This is a guy who fights professionally–he’s not your high-flying/jump-spinning/tag-kicking taekwondo guy. He _knows_ how to do a devastating roundhouse kick (a la muay thai). These combat ki guys took it all. I was duly impressed.

Anonymous said…

When I saw the Discovery Channel special where they covered Combat Ki I was speachless. It was the dumbest thing I’d ever seen! ( Until I found the Yellow Bamboo people, that is. ) I guess it’s nice that you can take a hit/push/snap in certain places if you take the time to prepare for it, breath in and out and all of that but…That’s not going to do you any good in the real world if even works at all, which I’m also very skeptical about. It just seems very dangerous to teach this a useful martial art instead of the new-agish garbage that it really is. They’re just asking to get hurt in the real world.

Thought. Ever notice how the people who put down commercialism in the martial arts usually have the least profitable schools. Once again, it is the "have nots" criticizing the success of the "haves." To rationalize their failures, they consider themselves the martyrs of the martial art world. They think they are the only ones who are "true" to arts and thus will not lower themselves to be profitable.

Comments. None.

Thought. I watched the Olympic Taekwondo coverage on television and it was a major disappointment. Why do the WTF patterns have hand techniques in them if competitors never use them when sparring? Why do the WTF rules permit hand techniques in sparring if they are never used in competition, especially when there are so many opportunities to use them? The reason appears to be because you will not receive a point from the Korean influenced judges if you use a hand technique in international competition. Therefore, WTF instructors do not stress them and they have gradually disappeared.

Tae-kwon-do is the way of kicking and punching. The WTF should change the name of its martial art to Tae-do, the way of kicking. In their effort to remove the influence that Japanese karate had on traditional Taekwondo and to create a uniquely Korean martial art, the Koreans in the WTF have indeed created a new art, but one that is totally useless as a martial art. WTF Taekwondo is now a totally different entity from traditional Taekwondo. It is now a pure sport, such as is Greco-Roman Wrestling, and as such, it is now totally useless as martial art. There is no guard, there is no blocking, and there are no hand techniques. All the fighters just bounce around with their arms hanging at their sides and throw kick, after kick, after kick. It reminds me of a production of Irish Riverdance. There are no defensive techniques, only offensive kicks. An armless person could win an Olympic gold medal in Taekwondo.

I have been neutral in the WTF vs. ITF battle in the past, viewing the two arts as merely two different ways of accomplishing the same thing. However, that view has now changed. WTF Taekwondo is now purely a sport and does not deserve the title of martial art; it should be called leg fencing.

A martial art is defined as a method of self-defense. WTF Taekwondo is useless for self-defense. A WTF fighter would be slaughtered by any street thug, not an experienced street fighter, just an ordinary neighborhood thug. In a real fight, you cannot drop your guard, ignore hand attacks, and ignore kicks just because they will not score. Nothing can be ignored in a real fight, since the purpose of every attack is to hurt you.

You fight as you train. If you train in the WTF style, then, in stressful self-defense situation, you will fight that way. Likewise, if you train in the ITF style, you will fight that way. As explained in TKDTutor, the only difference between ITF sparring and a real fight is range. In a fight, the overall range is merely decreased by one or two inches so techniques are delivered with full-contact instead of a light touch. In a fight, a WTF practitioner that fights as he or she spars would be slaughtered. A street attacker is used to getting hit and getting kicked, so after blocking or absorbing a kick, the street fighter would be all over the defenseless WTF practitioner.

All this would not be a problem except that the two styles share the same name. If WTF Taekwondo had a different name, it could be considered a separate sport and be treated as such. But, because of the Olympic exposure, the world now thinks that the Taekwondo they witnessed in the Olympics is what Taekwondo really is all about. That is sad.

Update

In the the spring of 2005, the WTF rules changed so that hand attacks to the head are now permitted. Time will tell how this will affect the course of sport Taekwondo.

COMMENTS.

Anonymous said

I think WTF TKD (and other arts) teach techniques that are not used in competition. For example, in Koryo, there is are two grabs to the ballsac and a few throat grabs. Surely you do not suggest these be allowed in sparring competition?

I saw something funny on another site you might like:
http://www.realfight.org/photogallery/photogallery%203/TKD%203.jpg

It was captioned, “At least he protected his knees.”

TKDTutor said

In class, students learn many specialized self-defense techniques, but no technique is useful for self-defense unless it is practiced until it become instinctive. In the Koga Method of police tactics, officers learn just one technique, a one wrist lock, but they practice entering it from every conceivable position until its use becomes instinctive.

In an unexpected attack, you will react in the way you have trained. If you train in basic blocks, hand attacks, and kicks; that is what you will react with when attacked. If you free-spar a lot, you will react in the manner in which you free-spar. If you do not block or use hand attacks when you free-spar, you will not use them effectively in the street. The bottom line is—you will react in the way you have trained. Olympic style sparring will cause you to not block, not use your hands to counterattack, and to throw kicks that are usually impossible to properly execute under the conditions you will find yourself on the street. Olympic style sparring is useless for anything other than Olympic style sparring.

Anonymous said

I totally agree! Wisdom that is.

outoouglysucka said

honestly I've seen traditional tae kwon do and I've practiced itf and wtf. Honestly i like wtf over itf. Because in wtf im allowed to hit the person hard and actually go for it and get a knock out. And I've been able to defend myself in reality. But when I was in itf my teacher (grandmaster hk lee of herndon VA) always said “light contact.” I respect the safety aspect but i don’t think that getting in the habit of pulling punches will ever help you unless teaching a novice. I now study wtf and Shotokan. I see wtf as the sport/physical/competitive/flashy/fun part of my martial arts and Shotokan as my fighting/self-defense art. And i like kata over poomse any day out of the week. Plus a lot of the poomse i see in both tkd’s there timing is always off. Even in Korea then step in front stance, wait until they stop the movement and then punch. When everything should be at the same time. Why get all that momentum going to stop it and then punch. Some also telegraph by tensing up there arms when they kick and flail them. Someone needs to tell them that in order to attack you need your hips and leg strength not your arms.

Tevong said

Tkdtutor, according to your logic, training for light contact sparring is only useful for light contact sparring, as a real full contact fight is and feels completely different. You cannot feel the ineffectiveness of your attack in light contact sparring. If sparring is supposed to increase your effectiveness as a fighter in self-defense situations as you believe then sparring should allow leg grabs, arm locks and throws or the martial artist will not consider these in his attacks. At least WTF tkd doesn’t pretend sparring is synonymous with real life situations and emphasizes the difference between the sport aspect of sparring techniques and the martial arts aspect of self-defense techniques. They are two separate things. Sparring is to be practised as a fun sport, a game, a means of testing your kicking techniques’ speed and accuracy on opponents trying to do the same. I don’t see anything wrong in this, a martial art is not entirely about self-defence, but self-improvement. A modern day swordsman can train in both kendo for the chance to practice full contact in an unrealistic situation for the fun of full contact competition and iaido and kenjutsu for the most effective means of realistic self-defense. If one is worried about reacting in the way one trains then one should do away with sparring completely.

TKDTutor said

There is nothing wrong with sparring as a sport. The problem I have with the WTF is that they have created a sport but still proclaim it to be a martial art, and they still use the name of the martial art of Taekwondo. They do not even call it Sport Taekwondo. Other sports have variations but the variations do not confuse the issue by using the same name as the sport upon which they are based. For example, let us consider baseball. Softball is a less dangerous form of baseball, but it does not claim to be the equivalent of baseball and it does not call itself sport baseball. T-ball is a watered-down form of baseball for small children, however, it does not claim to be similar to baseball, nor does it use the baseball name.

Although a modern day swordsman may train in both kendo, for the fun of full contact competition, and also practice iaido or kenjutsu as a means of self-defense, this does not make the practice advisable. The two arts are too similar. In a self-defense situation, you must react instinctively. Your first reaction will be that in which you have trained the most and that is related to the situation. If you train in two similar martial arts, in a self-defense situation there will be an instant of indecision and that instant may result in your death or serious injury. A motorcycle and a car are both motor vehicles that are operated on the highway, but they are very dissimilar. So in an emergency situation while driving a car, a motorcyclist does not have the instinct to squeeze suddenly both sides of the steering wheel and press down with the right foot. However, a person who regularly drives a car in both the United States (on the right side of the road) and in Great Britton (on the left side of the road) will have confusing instincts with faced with an emergency driving situation. If a baseball player plays with one league that runs the bases counterclockwise and also plays with another league that runs the bases clockwise, when the player acts instinctively in a game, the action taken has a good chance of being the wrong action.

The WTF should not call its version of Taekwondo a martial art if it does not emphasize the martial (combat) aspect. Self-improvement is a byproduct of a martial art, not the purpose. The purpose of a martial art is to make you a better warrior, not to make you a better person. This may occur though the training, but it is not the purpose of the training. If what you are doing is only a small part of a martial art, do not claim that what you are doing is the martial art.

Although the WTF version of Taekwondo is based the original martial art of Taekwondo, it should rename its art so the public is not misled. From the media, the public knows karate and Taekwondo are fighting arts used in combat, so when they enter a Taekwondo school, they expect it to teach a fighting art. So using the name Taekwondo for a sparring sport is misleading. Even though Taebo movements are based upon Taekwondo movements, Billy Blanks did not call his exercise system Exercise Taekwondo and he did not proclaim it to be a martial art.

Anonymous said

There is nothing wrong with sparring as a sport. The problem I have with the WTF is that they have created a sport but still proclaim it to be a martial art, and they still use the name of the martial art of Taekwondo. They do not even call it Sport Taekwondo. Other sports have variations but the variations do not confuse the issue by using the same name as the sport upon which they are based. For example, let us consider baseball. Softball is a less dangerous form of baseball, but it does not claim to be the equivalent of baseball and it does not call itself sport baseball. T-ball is a watered-down form of baseball for small children, however, it does not claim to be similar to baseball, nor does it use the baseball name.

Although a modern day swordsman may train in both kendo, for the fun of full contact competition, and also practice iaido or kenjutsu as a mean

Tevong said

I understand where you are coming from, but it has to be emphasized that the sport aspect of WTF Taekwondo is a small subset of the martial arts side. Certain people and certain clubs may train more on the sports side, but WTF in general is primarily a martial art. Whether individual clubs are more sports-oriented is not a fault of WTF. If practised properly, WTF taekwondo should not let sparring interfere with your ability to react instinctively in real life situations. WTF and ITF both have sparring, both of which do not reflect proper real life situations. Had ITF been the more popular with sparring competitions displayed on TV at the Olympics, WTF would have equal claims to say ITF is masquerading its sport as a martial art, as ITF sparring develops false instincts which may be hazardous in real life situations. The truth is neither is any less of a martial art than the other, one is simply more popularized by its entertaining sparring aspect. The martial arts have always been represented to the mass public through unrealistic show-off representations like movies and demonstrations. The North Korean ITF taekwondo demonstration featured several highly choreographed, completely unrealistic demonstrations of girls being attacked and having to defend themselves. It is hypocritical to complain that WTF is confusing the public about the martial arts nature of Taekwondo and hence should change its name.

TKDTutor said

Taekwondo is a martial art. A martial art is a method of combat and self-defense. This means that the blocks must be instinctive and effective, and the attacks must be instinctive and potentially deadly. When we train in a martial art, we are training for combat, but we do not want to injure our training partners, so we control our techniques. In a block or attack, the only difference between a technique that touches and a technique that kills is range. In touch sparring, a full power technique is used but the range is adjusted so the focus point of the technique is the opponent’s skin. In combat sparring, the range is adjusted so the focus point is 1 to 4 inches beneath the skin. Other than this range adjustment, touch sparring and combat sparring are identical.

There are many styles of martial arts and many variations of Taekwondo. My original comments were directed at Olympic style sparring that is controlled by the WTF. No matter what individual WTF affiliated instructors teach in their schools, when their students spar in WTF competitions, they must spar under WTF rules and in a way that will help insure their victory in eyes of the WTF judges. When fighters train for and fight in WTF competitions, they seldom block and seldom use hand attacks. They just throw kick after kick after kick. Hoping that one will strike with enough force to score upon or disable the opponent.

To win in this type of competition, you must train in this type of competition. In combat, you will react as you have trained. You will not have the time to think about blocking or punching or kicking. If you do not train to block and punch, you will not block or punch in combat.

This closest thing to a combat situation in sparring is when under a blitz attack, when the opponent is attacking with a flurry of hand and foot attacks. There is no time to think, you must react instinctively. When Olympic style fighters are under a blitz, they retreat, or let the kicks strike, and then counter kick, just as they have trained. No blocks, no punches. In a combat situation, you can only retreat so far until you back into something and must defend against the attack.

Humans use their hands for everything; work, play, expression, defending, and attacking. When you are attacked on the street, it WILL be some type of hand attack. A martial artist must train for this type of attack. If you only train for leg fencing, you WILL get hit and you WILL lose.

The original posting criticized the WTF sparring methods as witnessed in the Olympics. This is not hypocritical. I could have criticized any of the martial arts or versions of Taekwondo that use similar sparring methods, but they were not in the Olympics, televised for the world to see. I advocate truth in advertising. If you are a sport and an exercise program, and want to entertain the public, then advertise yourself as such, but do not call yourself a martial art and advertise yourself as such just because you were originally based upon one.

Tevong said

I accept your criticisms on the WTF sparring system as an ineffective means of self-defense training, but that is not its intended purpose: It is a sport. But WTF taekwondo as a whole is a martial art, and is taught as such, with all the moral and philosophical concepts that implies. The sparring is only a part of a bigger whole, and fair enough that part would make you a less effective martial artist if too much attention is given to it. The way I see it, in WTF there are sportsmen and there are martial artists, a path you can choose for yourself.
Of course the sparring is what entertains, that is what people want to see, and it has always been so. Movies don’t show realistic fighting, yet that doesn’t make Bruce Lee any less of a martial artist. ITF demonstrations involve flashy choreographed self-defense with highly unrealistic kicks but that doesn’t mean they are falsely advertising themselves as a martial art.
If WTF was all about sparring I would agree with you, it is a sport just like boxing or fencing, but it is only a small part of a bigger whole. Where I have trained the sparring aspect was virtually non-existent, but the option was there. It is a matter of individual opinion whether it is wrong of WTF to encourage those that consider sparring their primary concern, and advertising it in the Olympics, but it has the right to call itself a martial art because it is more than just sparring.
I do think that a lot could be done to improve WTF sparring and at the same time make it more realistic and enjoyable to watch.

TKDTutor said

I am of the “old school” that thinks a martial art should be a “martial” art, the way of the warrior. Not that modern day martial artists need to be actual warriors, but that they need to be schooled in the way of the warrior. A warrior does not seek battle, but is prepared for battle. Being a student in many of today’s martial arts makes you a sportsman, not a martial artist, or a warrior. A warrior has no false illusions about his abilities or the consequences of battle.

Being a black belt in most of today’s main stream martial arts does not make you a warrior; just as being in the armed services does not make you a warrior. For example, look at the so-called soldiers in Iraq who, when faced with the possibility of being injured, refused to go into battle, and instead called their mothers on their cell phones and had them to call the media to complain. The question for any martial artist should be, “When facing a streetwise thug intent on killing you, are you properly trained to survive?” The thug does not care how many kicks you can throw, how high you can jump, or how fast you can move. The thug cares about pain, either his pain received from you, or your pain that he has pleasure in causing.

Many of today’s martial arts, Taekwondo included, have evolved into businesses that only concerned with the bottom line. Instead of staying true to their roots and only accepting those few who are willing to accept the way of the warrior, they have changed their product to make it more palatable to the general public so they may increase their customer base and thus increase their revenue. The result is watered-down martial arts that are only weak imitations of true martial arts. A black belt is awarded for staying in the program and trying your best (which is relatively easy to achieve), not for achieving a high level of perfection and being able to defend yourself in almost any situation (which only a few may achieve). A black belt used to be a rarity because of the level of dedication and hard work it demanded. Now, there are hundreds of thousands of black belts in just the United States. Every public school has numerous high rank black belt students. Instead of being prepared to win a battle against an attacker, most of today’s main stream martial artists are under the false impression that their black belt training will offer them adequate protection.

As I stated before, this false advertising is not just limited to just the WTF. Other martial arts organizations do the same thing, as do other combat organizations, such as the armed forces. Whereas the WTF advertises a fun, competitive sport as being a martial (combat) art, the military advertises its combat job as a fun place to be. If you watch the advertisements, you see how the military allows you to see the world, earn money for college, gain leadership experience, work on an exciting flight deck etc. But there is no mention of your commitment to die if necessary to complete your mission or the 18 hour days you spend on that exciting 130 degree scorching fight deck in the Persian Gulf. My argument is that you should advertise what you really are and not gloss over the truth. The Marine Corps advertises itself as a tough, combat organization. If you join the Marines, you know what you are getting into.

If you want to train in Olympic style leg fencing or flashy, entertaining kicks, and are aware their limitations and that they have no usefulness for self-defense, that is your choice. And there is nothing wrong with teaching these techniques to those who want to learn them The problem is when organizations call their systems “martial arts” just because they are based upon a martial art. Other sports use qualifiers when referring to their watered-down versions. The watered-down version of boxing is called amateur boxing. The watered-down version of football is called flag football. The watered-down version of kick boxing is cardio kick boxing. A person may be a champion in the watered-down version of a sport, but get slaughtered in the full version. If you teach a watered-down version of Taekwondo, at least qualify the name of your sport by using an appropriate qualifier, such as Sport Taekwondo or Taekwondo Lite, or better yet, give it a new name such as Combat Gymnastics. Then the public is not deceived into thinking what they are seeing is the martial art of Taekwondo. A student of the sport of Taekwondo is a sportsman or woman, a student of Taekwondo is a warrior.

Sparring (fighting) is the primary purpose and the original intent of a martial art. Fighting is the reason martial arts were created. Some sports are based upon fighting arts but they identify themselves from the start as being a sport, Judo for example. Although its techniques may be used for self-defense, that is not its purpose and it does not purport to be a fighting art. It states up front that it is a sport that you play. Sparring may only be small part of the overall picture of the WTF style of Taekwondo, but since it is the most publicized part and, to the public who see it in the Olympics, it appears to be the biggest part.

Tevong said

Agree with everything there, you don’t have to convince me about the ineffectiveness of sparring, but what makes WTF taekwondo different from judo, boxing, taebo etc… is that the sparring is only one part of it, so whether or not it is right to include the sparring sport and popularize it - WTF as a whole is still a martial art. Maybe they should split into two organizations, one for the sport of sparring and the other for the martial art, in which case you’re right the organization in charge of the sport shouldn’t call it a martial art, but right now they are one and you can’t discredit the martial art because it includes aspects which aren’t entirely relevant to self-defense.

CharliePATpk said

A former student of my dojang (WTF), a 2nd Dan, has recently relocated from Pennsylvania to Montana. Her new instructor has repeatedly chastised her for well-developed sense of keeping her guards up. It seems they are more interested in training potential Olympic athletes than they are well-trained students of Taekwondo.

I had read some time ago the reason Taekwondo was accepted by the IOC as a competition was because the WTF designed the sport to be kick-oriented. In that way, it distinguished WTF from Judo or other Martial Arts, and was in no comparison to Boxing.

Thought. Egotism is the anesthetic given by a kindly nature to relieve the pain of being a damned fool -Bellamy Brooks

Taekwondo, as well as most other martial arts, is overrun by people with egos that are larger than their intelligence or abilities can support. Since most martial artists, and thus most senior black belts, are male, this egotistical behavior is expressed by machismo. You find instructors who say they support the tenets of Taekwondo and they tell their students to be humble and gracious, but then they act as if they are Taekwondo royalty. An example that comes to mind is Eternal Grand Master H.U. Lee, the founder of the American Taekwondo Association. Lee is only one example, there are many, many more grandiose Taekwondo masters. Being a high ranked black belt or being considered a master of the occupation of Taekwondo is not enough for some; they feel the need to be called grand master, supreme grand master, or eternal grand master. What is next, "Supreme Grand Master of Taekwondo in the Milky Way and Other Galaxies Far, Far Away."

What is a master of an occupation? He or she is merely an expert in the occupation. There are master electricians, master craftsman, master masons, etc. but there are no grandmaster electricians or supreme grandmaster carpenters. In an occupational, master is a description of the skill level of a person who is a expert in that occupation; it is not the person's name. A brick mason may tell people his boss is a master mason but you will not hear the mason calling the boss "master." If a mason did, he or she would probably be looking up at the boss from the ground.

All martial art masters are instructors, since one who has not been an active teacher of a martial arts for many years cannot become a master. A mere practitioner of a martial art cannot become a master in the art. Therefore, a more appropriate title for a senior instructor should be Teacher, Sabum (Korean), Sensei (Japanese), or Sifu (Chinese). Actually, a more appropriate title should be merely Sir or Ma'am or Mr. or Ms. Donald Trump is called Mr. Trump, not Grandmaster of Real Estate Trump.

Having an ego is not a bad thing. Everyone has some degree of an ego; it is what makes us feel unique in a world full of people. An big ego is valid if it is backed up by a lot of talent and ability, but many people maintain a large ego in an effort to hide their lack of talent and feelings of inadequacy. People who know they have an ego are usually not a problem because they try to suppress it, since they consider it a weakness. It is the people who deny having an ego who are a problem. They tend to have large, out of control egos that make the lives of those around them miserable.

Some psychologists believe that individual self-interest is the motive of all conscious action. They call this trait egoism. But this should not be confused with egotism (an exaggerated sense of self-importance).

Egocentric masters look for ways to make themselves appear better than everyone else regardless of the consequences. They wear gaudy uniforms. They make the simplest techniques seem complicated and then proclaim themselves the ultimate experts in the techniques. They seize on every martial arts myth and exploit it to the hilt. They portray traditional arts as the enemy and consider any student that consorts with the enemy a traitor to their art. They tend to hangout with egotistical masters of other arts and, as a group, they consider themselves the true leaders of the martial arts world. They have no authority or power in any other aspect of their lives, so they make themselves the supreme authority in their schools and make students "worship" them.

If you meet any of the "old" masters of martial arts, they wear a basic uniform, they are humble and unassuming, and they offer assistance instead of commanding respect. A true master has a modest ego. Like the true hero who does not think he or she is a hero, a true master does not think of him or herself as a master. A true master thinks of him or herself as merely an experienced teacher who has seen and learned a lot in his or her lifetime and is willing to share this knowledge with others.

If you want to be a great martial artist and maybe even be a master in your chosen art someday, maintain a healthy ego. All masters have egos, but the great ones never show it.

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Thought. Pain is only in your mind. An incapacitating injury will prevent you from taking action no matter how much you try. Howecver, an injury that only hurts, but will not be further injured by use, should not be an hindrance to action. You may sit and whine about the pain or you may get up and do something. People with broken legs walk out of the wilderness.

A hiker with an arm pinned under a rock for days cut the arm off with a pocket knife and walked out of the mountains. Professional ball players are expected to play with pain. But there are also people who quit when they get a bruise. You can sit on your butt and complain about the pain or you can suck it up and get going. If you can't stand the heat, stay away from fire.

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Thought. Why are there so many ardent followers of weird beliefs, off-the-wall religions, cults, and strange martial art styles. It is because some people feel a need to succeed at something, since they cannot succeed at anything in the real world. To be a success, they have to invent something in which they may succeed. Then they seek other losers to join them. This type of people rejects the normal and accepts the abnormal as being the truth since they feel this will make them feel important. Since there are few followers of the weird and there is little legitimate literature on the weird, it is easy for a loser to become an expert on the weird. The more abnormal something is, the more an idiot will believe it. This is one reason why there are so many "styles" of martial arts.

Comments.

Anonymous said…

indeed, anyone who dismisses the things that he does not believe instead of truly understanding them is lost. Tutor needs to realize that there are some people that find Taekwondo “Weird” because they have never looked into it for themselves.

TKDTutor said…

Weird beliefs are not only stupid; they can kill you. I recently received an email from a lady whose teenage son was found hanging dead in his closet. There had been no indication that he was depressed or was considering suicide. However, he was infatuated with the martial arts and had bragged to friends about how his instructor had told him that ”masters” could take themselves to the brink of death and them revive themselves. The mother was concerned about how a martial arts “master” could teach children this sort of thing.

What is “weird,” is people who accept some unconventional idea as TRUE without investigating it. When you have some unconventional belief, it is not up to me to disprove it before believing it is weird. It is up to you to prove the idea is true. Anyone can make up some strange belief, such as a pyramid shaped object placed over a dull blade will make it sharp again, or hot water in an ice cube tray will freeze quicker than cold water. If I, or anyone else, attempt to disprove every weird idea that is put forth, it would be a never ending job. The Amazing Randi has made a living from disproving charlatans and he has an infinite source of new weird ideas to choose from.

Just because I do not “understand” people who believe reincarnation does mean the belief is less weird. How may I understand something that cannot be understood? People who make the claims do not understand their own belief, which is why they cannot substantiate their beliefs. They merely “believe” in the concept and then condemn non believers as not bothering to understanding them.

Some people may consider Taekwondo weird because they do not understand it, but Taekwondo may be understood. Its concepts may be proved and are widely accepted in the martial art community. Your idea may be different from the mainstream, but if you cannot prove it and if the general censuses of experts in the field is that the idea is weird, then the idea is weird.

Thought. When hearing about some ancient, unknown martial art that is the ultimate fighting system, accept it with a grain of salt. If one had a secret punch that could incapacitate with just a poke, or some way of training that would allow a person to take direct punches with no harm, don't you think professional fighters, or player in all kinds of sports, would be using them. A person with this training could make millions as a professional boxer. Use common sense and don't be a sheep that follows a wolf wearing a shepard's robe.

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