Anyone heard about this place? I see his commercials on TV all the time, and every once in a while when I happen to be driving by, I see his students walking around town wearing "Xtreme" rainbow colored uniforms eating ice-cream or whatnot. He has only one dojo/dojang, but apparently has 775 students, charging $150/month. His school is also called the most "successful" in the nation in terms of making money (over 1million a year I believe). I'm thinking about dropping by and watching a class, but I would like some opinions if you guys have any.
I am sorry to tell you that place is a Mc. Dojo if ever. I know the school that you are talking about. Your money is better spent giving it to me. And I can give you all the belts you want. Here is something they will not tell you. There black belt test. You are made to pay close to 2,000.00 for a camp if you want to call it that. And you will go some where in Ann Arbor to do this thing. And you will be there to test. And most of the things that you will end up doing have nothing to do with martial arts or the things on your test. Master(ha,ha!)I am sorry that world should mean something Hafner. Is also a member of the Ed Sells Chung do kwan school. Mr. Sells is in Fl now with his wife. He was known for using all ready broken bricks for demos. In order to get more students in his schools. Also they were in a bit of trouble for a little min. for the fact that they had a black belt that thought it was cute to look at the little girls undress in there locker rooms. But the choice is yours my friend, If I were you I think that I would stick with master kim. that is just me For more info just ask any of the schools in your area that are of korean backgound.
$150!!! Is that above normal for your area? That's pretty steep. For $150/Month, I'd expect lessons in my home and catered after parties! Edit: Are his commercials like this? Rexkwondo
Sure Yes please go check it out its a great experience it exposes you to the opposite of everything you want to be meaning that it should give you a drive to try harder with your school and not allow your school to turn into this mcdojo corporate money bank lol but 1st of all ask your instructor for permission upon visiting this other school just an act of loyality and respect but yea check it out
I don't know myself, but would it surprise you to see yet another TKD school using Karate in their name? I wonder if there are more TKD schools using that in their name than Karate schools.
LOL I wasn't actually thinking about taking lessons there...I'm just wondering what all the "hype" was about. Oh yeah, apparently he does "teach" tae kwon do.
Around here we have SuperKarate/Karate for Kids and Karate America. Both teach TKD. That's half of the MA schools in the book. Drives me nuts! Are these people ashamed of their art? Who knows? Also: TKD Advertised as Karate?
http://www.karateisgoodforyou.com/ Here's a link for those interested. Sounds suspiciously McDojo to me, possibly with fries and supersized... But I don't know - that might just be my perception. Anyone trained with him?
I was just looking at the Sell's Chung Do Kwan homepage and saw a reference for this school http://www.uscdka.com/schools.aspx?ID=1809 Anyone have any experience with any other of GM Sell's schools... there were a lot on the list. Is this a "typical" Chung Do Kwan school?
Keith Hafner's Karate is a McDojang in every sense of the word. I've witnesses a few classes, and it absolutely cannot be taken seriously. If you are interested in taking classes there, take $150 out of your wallet and flush it down the toilet. It will be the same thing. On his website, instead of listing class schedules, photos, background etc-the usual, he talks about how good karate is for kids and how great he is for teaching it to them. Basically it is an overpaid babysitting service for pampered Ann Arborites who obviously think that if they are paying $150/month, the class must be good.
Ed Sell...Conflicting Info! Dear All, I was recently thumbing through another forum and came accross the following link. www.taekwondohalloffame.com Please feel free to review the link posted by Thomas and compare some of the accomplishments of Mr. Sell with the info provided in this link! So, who actually was the coach of the American team in the first World Championships in 1973? "2001 - Successfully passed the examination that proclaims him as the highest ranked Black Belt in the world in Taekwondo outside the Korean nationality!" I wonder if he is familiar with a man named Mr. Charles E. Seriff? TAEKWON! SPooKeY
That Hall of Fame is quite interesting...not sure why some of the people were listed...the US section seemed to be a random cross-section of current and past US Team members. Funny, saw some of my previous (and current) coaches listed
No Michael Daher in the Hall of Fame? No section for Australia? I see Sahyun Moore in there, but that really needs to be updated.
Wow... that's possibly the cheesiest MA site I've ever seen. Whats $150 in British money? And does anyone know why there's a picture of a 70's porn star in a karate gi on the front page?
Mr. Hafner is either a 6th or 7th dan under Sell. Sell is the only non-Korean WTF 9th dan. If you re looking for martial arts for character development for kids and that is your primary interest as a parent, than Hafner's school could well be worth the money. From what I've heard and seen of his students, the physical aspects of the training are a bit lacking. Giving credit where it is due, I've read Mr. Hafner's book, ROCK SOLID KIDS and it was quite good. He also not only charges this amount (which IMO could be considered high for fighting skills, but is quite reasonable IF you are legitimately doing a good job teaching life skills), but his school is in a basement of a downtown building where the only parking is in a paid lot blocks away. So, the people who go to him seem to feel that what they are getting is worth not only the expense, but ongoing inconvenience. I guess it comes down to whether you feel the "tae kwon" or the "do" is more important. Many schools say they teach character and life skills, but really have no systematic way of doing so. The process of weeding out those with weaker character is not the same as teaching or building character. My only comment that could be taken as negative is that I feel an instructor and a school should be able to bring out high levels of both the mental/character aspects and the physical/combative aspects. These are not opposites and this can be achieved. I have noticed that many (but far from all) of the most financially succesful schools often are not as intense on their physical training. I know for a fact that my school would retain a lot more students if the expectations and requirements were not so demanding as they advance. OTOH, if we don't put out a quality product (our adanced students, especially our black belts), then what is the point? Would there be ANY value in getting a black belt if it was not something that forced you to grow and evolve in the process of earning it?
If I remember correctly, the Coach for the U.S. Team at the 1973 World TKD Championships was Richard Chun. Now as for Keith Hafner, basically what he does is turn Tae Kwon Do into a marketable commodity. He is (deleted), plain and simple. It is one thing to make money from Tae Kwon Do. Most Instructors do that. It is quite another to make money your primary focus. Character development? Absolutely. He, on the other hand, tries to get all his students and their parents to buy whatever product he is promoting. I've seen his studio. Essentially it is a big store to buy all the products he sells (books by him, flashy uniforms, weapons, motivational signs etc.). He's not a teacher he's a salesman.
