Can I transfer to Taekowndo?

[Saltador]

I am a brown belt in Shotokan Karate. Would it be possible to transfer to Taekwondo and retain my current rank?

[Mitlov]

Originally Posted by Saltador

I am a brown belt in Shotokan Karate. Would it be possible to transfer to Taekwondo and retain my current rank?

That'd be a question for a particular instructor. Every school is different in how they treat people with other ranks. Some might let you come over as that rank; many would probably test you to see where you should be under their rank system; some may make you start again at white belt.

[dortiz]

You have a Brown belt in 1 style of Karate. Dont you think that belt is a testament to all the parts of your art that you have learned.
If you say no then the answer is YES go find someone that just ranks on kicks and punches. I am sure that at your rank level you have them down.
If you believe your rank is a roadmap of all the components of your art then the answer is NO.
No, because as you know despite being a great kicker and puncher there are forms and techniques and they are performed in the styles manner. Thats what makes your Martial Art it own. I for one would not want to wear a belt and have a junior ask me to show them something I could not.
Maybe you can fast track and pick up the material. I would hope you would want to learn the style in all its entirety so that you can truly make it yours.

Dave O.

[Griffin]

Well it may depend on your Kata and Their Patterns.. That is to say if they are something like Moo Duk Kwan TKD, then they would be practising Heians with a diff name so you would be up to speed on forms also. If its WTF or ITF they have unique patterns..
I too am a brown belt in Shotokan, my son chose to follow a freind to TKD, so i joined aswell, i found it was a WTF school with the new wtf forms but they also retained the Moo Duk Kwan forms (heians, they call them pyong ahn). There are only a few timing differences..
Within a few lessons i was informed my first grading would be an assesment for grade, so its sort of not starting at white, but in no way am i expecting brown (now Red) to be considered.

I would say the deciding ingredient is your kata/poomse.. Do you know what forms they practise?

[aaron_mag]

I think most instructors would consider it (especially if it is ITF since there is a lot of overlap). We typically just transfer the person in because they have a good base and it isn't all that different.

[Den141268]

I also practised shotokan karate and changed to taekwondo ITF Style, I had reached a high grade in shotokan but wanted to start from scratch in Taekwondo- no short cuts. To cut a long story short, I found the transition not that difficult and reached 1st kuy-red belt-black stripes. The only thing I would say taekwondo is different in many ways from shotokan especially the sine wave, I found this extremely difficult having come from a karate background.

I was also getting marked down on my patterns because of lack of sine wave, that peeved me off a lot, anyway I reverted back to shotokan as I always felt that is where I belonged, in taekwondo I was always known as the guy who had done karate before and always felt it showed through in my taekwondo techniques.

Everybody is different though, but if you decide to change to another martial art and hope to retain the grade you achieved, I would say start from the beginning as it is the basic techniques, especially in taekwondo that are you're building blocks- without a good solid knowledge of the basics how can anyone expect to advance in the art, just my opinion- hope it helps

[Moosey]

Originally Posted by Saltador

I am a brown belt in Shotokan Karate. Would it be possible to transfer to Taekwondo

Does...not...compute...

[aaron_mag]

Originally Posted by Den141268

I also practised shotokan karate and changed to taekwondo ITF Style, I had reached a high grade in shotokan but wanted to start from scratch in Taekwondo- no short cuts. To cut a long story short, I found the transition not that difficult and reached 1st kuy-red belt-black stripes. The only thing I would say taekwondo is different in many ways from shotokan especially the sine wave, I found this extremely difficult having come from a karate background.

I was also getting marked down on my patterns because of lack of sine wave, that peeved me off a lot, anyway I reverted back to shotokan as I always felt that is where I belonged, in taekwondo I was always known as the guy who had done karate before and always felt it showed through in my taekwondo techniques.

Everybody is different though, but if you decide to change to another martial art and hope to retain the grade you achieved, I would say start from the beginning as it is the basic techniques, especially in taekwondo that are you're building blocks- without a good solid knowledge of the basics how can anyone expect to advance in the art, just my opinion- hope it helps

Old school ITF types do not use sine wave. Very strange. The transition is much easier in those types of schools.

[Den141268]

I do agree with you on the old style ITF Taekwondo that dosent use sine wave, is easier to change to from shotokan, I have trained in both, under different taekwondo associations, my point is, making the transition from shotokan to Taekwondo would be easier starting from scratch to give you a more solid foundation and understanding of taekwondo

[TheMadhoose]

Originally Posted by Den141268

I also practised shotokan karate and changed to taekwondo ITF Style, I had reached a high grade in shotokan but wanted to start from scratch in Taekwondo- no short cuts. To cut a long story short, I found the transition not that difficult and reached 1st kuy-red belt-black stripes. The only thing I would say taekwondo is different in many ways from shotokan especially the sine wave, I found this extremely difficult having come from a karate background.

I was also getting marked down on my patterns because of lack of sine wave, that peeved me off a lot, anyway I reverted back to shotokan as I always felt that is where I belonged, in taekwondo I was always known as the guy who had done karate before and always felt it showed through in my taekwondo techniques.

Everybody is different though, but if you decide to change to another martial art and hope to retain the grade you achieved, I would say start from the beginning as it is the basic techniques, especially in taekwondo that are you're building blocks- without a good solid knowledge of the basics how can anyone expect to advance in the art, just my opinion- hope it helps

This is typical of the ITF Instructor from what i have experienced.
I had the same experiecne with the ITF(UKTA) no matter how much i tried to be part of the school i was always that guy who came from the independant assc. The main reason i never stuck with the ITF, even though i enjoyed the actual training. Not much fun being treted differently than the rest of a school just becuase you have a different training background

[aaron_mag]

Originally Posted by Den141268

I do agree with you on the old style ITF Taekwondo that dosent use sine wave, is easier to change to from shotokan, I have trained in both, under different taekwondo associations, my point is, making the transition from shotokan to Taekwondo would be easier starting from scratch to give you a more solid foundation and understanding of taekwondo

I guess I view it differently because we've had several guys from karate transfer over the years and there is no way, in good conscience, I could not transfer them in at rank. I mean you're showing them front stance and their dropping right into it, throwing the technique properly, etc, etc. Meanwhile their truly new counterpart is struggling...

It isn't rocket science and they seem to transition very well.

[Den141268]

HI Kevin

Dennis here. Passed my black belt in karate, 3rd time lucky. Hows the club and everyone doing, catch up with u soon mate:

[TKDMitch]

Originally Posted by Den141268

HI Kevin

Dennis here. Passed my black belt in karate, 3rd time lucky. Hows the club and everyone doing, catch up with u soon mate:

Hi Den,
Not a problem but don't forget you can always drop Madhoose a personal message rather than posting in the thread

Congrats on you BB!

Mitch

[Mike Flanagan]

Why would you wish to transfer grade? Is the grade more important than the art you're studying or what you're getting out of it?

Perhaps it would be better simply to go and train in Taekwondo and leave it to the instructor to consider exactly how and when they wish to grade you.

Mike

[TheMadhoose]

Originally Posted by Den141268

HI Kevin

Dennis here. Passed my black belt in karate, 3rd time lucky. Hows the club and everyone doing, catch up with u soon mate:

Excellent news Dennis im over the moon for ya. Just goes to show 3rd time is a charm.