changing clubs to GTUK

Discussion in 'Tae Kwon Do' started by SheKicks, Sep 25, 2015.

  1. SheKicks

    SheKicks New Member

    Hi

    I'm new here...I'm currently a 5th kup and training at an independent school (none sine-wave, ITF), only thing is i've become really unhappy there. The atmosphere is very drama filled and very much lacking integrity. I'm thinking of changing clubs and where I live theres a couple that are part of the GTUK...i was just wondering what they are like really? i just want to be able to train without stress and hopefully make some new friends

    It's a big decision to leave my current club and i'm very torn. Any info or thoughts from anyone will be very much appreciated. :)
     
  2. Simon

    Simon Administrator Admin Supporter MAP 2017 Koyo Award

    Welcome to MAP.
     
  3. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    I've been with a non sine wave independent org for years now, and they have their pros and cons.

    What makes the difference for me is the club I train at and the Instructor there; I think it's a commonly held belief on MAP that the Instructor is more important than the organisation he/she happens to be with, and that's certainly something I believe.

    That leaves you with a few choices.

    Express your concerns to your current I structure and see if they can address them.

    Leave the club and transfer to another club within the same org if there is one nearby. This will give you some consistency.

    Leave the club and join another org. It could be GTUK or any other, the main thing is to find an Instructor that is teaching what you want to learn and in an atmosphere you enjoy.

    Do a completely different art. I teach TKD and love it, but I've also enjoyed several other arts; the rule about Instructor and atmosphere applies across arts too.

    Best of luck :)

    Mitch
     
  4. SheKicks

    SheKicks New Member

    Thank you for getting back to me. So my hand was forced this evening, and I am now club-less (for the moment).

    My instructor was fantastic, though some of the other people involved in running the club have added to my stresses, along with some of the other folks that I was training with..well in the end my list of cons far outweighed my list of pros :(

    Unfortunately there are no other clubs in my organisation nearby, and the other organisation with the closest syllabus to what I was learning is the GTI and they have no clubs nearby either.

    So for now I'm just waiting for a reply off a local GTUK club to see if they would potentially let me join (after going along for a look of course). I know i'm going to have a tonne to learn …including sine wave.
     
  5. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    If you don't mind posting a rough idea of your location I, or someone else, might be able to recommend somewhere. :)

    Mitch
     
  6. SheKicks

    SheKicks New Member

    I'm in the south Birmingham area, but willing to travel within reason :) thank you for your help
     
  7. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    Go look at www.tagb.biz, there are a ton of clubs in South Brum. :)

    Beyond that someone else may have more suggestions :)

    Mitch
     
  8. SheKicks

    SheKicks New Member

    I'll have a look at the tagb site in the morning :) was just a bit unsure about them as I'm into sparring (done a bit of competing) and have got my own set of sparring gear...I'm sure I read somewhere that they make you buy their own branded dipped foam stuff?
     
    Last edited: Sep 26, 2015
  9. Earl Weiss

    Earl Weiss Valued Member

    1. The only way to know is try it. Hopefuly you can do this for a month or 2 without long term legal contracts.
    2. Keep an open mind. Any club may have a different way of doing things. Think of this as an opportunity to expand you abilities as opposed to a source of confusion or frustration.
    3. If you find a home, any expense for something like sparring gear will be nominal when factored over time.
     
  10. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    What have you got? Certain makes may be allowed still.

    If not, they sell their own which is similar to the Top Ten stuff rather than dipped foam. It's very good quality kit IMO, but is another expense of course.

    TAGB has a thriving and high quality competition scene if that's what you like, you'll have lots of opportunities to compete.

    Sort it out quickly and I'll see you for the British Champs in Derby in November :)

    Mitch
     
  11. martinnharvey

    martinnharvey Valued Member

    I can certainly recommend the GTUK.
    They are a very friendly, professionally run group.
    I don't think you will have too much trouble adapting to sine wave.
    They have an active competition side as well

    PM me if you need more info.
     
  12. SheKicks

    SheKicks New Member

    So a bit of an update,

    I was all set for my trial lesson with the gtuk. Until my current instructor messaged me. I firmly believe in honesty is the best policy and so I layed out all my issues and fears. He's a top instructor to be honest and the high quality of Taekwondo that he teaches was one of the reasons I was so torn...so I'm going to stick with my current club for the moment. I was probably a bit rash

    I guess our journeys as martial artists are never smooth

    Oh and as a club, we go to a fair few ITF style comps, so I may see some of you there!

    Thanks for everyone's input and help :)
     
  13. Van Zandt

    Van Zandt Mr. High Kick

    Hope to see you there mate! Fingers crossed I'll be up and about on crutches by then. I've been doing sessions with Warren Vice so want to go along and support the club :)
     
  14. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    That would be fab! You have PM :)

    Mitch
     
  15. SheKicks

    SheKicks New Member

    resurrecting an old thread here! Finally made the leap to a GTUK club (after a lot of drama including a spell learning wing chun and finally being discharged from having physio!). Sine wave so far feels very odd and alien, but looking forward to maybe getting back into competing in the future.
    Ah the path to martial arts life never did run smooth (for me anyway! hahaha)
     
  16. Earl Weiss

    Earl Weiss Valued Member

    I was introduced to sine wave formally in 1990. Before the 1980 book came out the knee flexion was addressed in the text and we called it "Spring Style".

    it took about 6 months of working with it before I became comfortable doing it. There are some postings out there addressing how the knee flexion has become more exaggerated over time and perhaps too much.
     
  17. SheKicks

    SheKicks New Member

    i'll have to have a search...at the moment i feel a bit like feet and arms all over the place while i bop about. probably doesn't help i spent the biggest part of the year trying to forget alllll about tkd
     
  18. Knee Rider

    Knee Rider Valued Member Supporter

    I can't help but think that sine wave would make you really really easy to time..? What are the benefits? Is it meant to be a power amplifier and if so is it actually and is it even worth it?
     
  19. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    Can. O. Worms.
    It's been addressed quite a few times but I'm left unconvinced it's anything more than an overly exaggerated movement affectation geared towards visually and aesthetically moving TKD away from its karate roots.
    When you see TKD people spar they don't use sine wave. They just use the natural sinking of weight every style uses when you need to sit down on a punch or drop and move your body weight (Dempsey's falling step).
    If someone actually has to drop/rise/drop every time they need to generate power then I think they really need to look at how they generate power and their training.
     
  20. Smitfire

    Smitfire Cactus Schlong

    It's especially ridiculous when you see them doing it on techniques that require power to move in a direction other than down or forwards.
    Uppercuts require the generation of power to follow the direction of the punch. Upwards. It's why boxers might dip their knees before the punch and whirl upwards as they deliver it. And yet sine wave TKD people drop/rise/drop on an uppercut so the strike is actually being delivered as the body weight is traveling in the opposite direction to the strike. I don't get it.
     

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