i belong to wtf style of taekwondo and i am a real black belt. what i mean is that i trained hard and worked for three yrs be4 i could test not just pay for but test for my 1st degree black belt. when i first started tkd in 1994 not that long ago but long enough i remember it being a very honering feeling to be a black belt, and yet to be a 2nd dan was even that much more honering, and rare. when i would go to tournaments i can honestly say that it was next to impossible to even see a 3rd degree black belt. the only ppl that had any higher degree than 2nd was the masters who had at least a 4th degree which made them infact a master. but i guess everything can not stay the same. now a days im seeing all these 3rd degrees like water running around wand when i ask them how long they have been training, something just doesnt add up. i have co-own a tkd school in lodi and i know of the real prices of dan certificates and i know what the avg the instructors or masters charge, its like an unwritten code. i dont have a problem with that. my problem is the fact that "black belts' and even some "masters" got their certificates through some very shady ways " cough cough paying off the master who is in need of money to give them the dgree they need" and if not they will travel to any teacher with at least a masters number to give them the dan they are looking for. now i heard that in regards to wtf it is no longer possible to pay for a dan certificate in which you have jumped for one degree to the next be4 it was time. i personally dont feel its fair to the ppl who have put in the proper yrs and hard work to earn there degree just to bow and show respect to " masters' and instructors who technically are not even equal to the ones bowing to them. i was wondering if its the same in other styles or is it on the " soly corrupted world tae kwon do federation and ustu" thats just me being sarcastic. please all comment are welcome someone put me in my place.
not worried about it so to speak i just think that it cheapens the "style/ sport" or what ever you will call it. another thing is that in this world you have to respect your higher belts no matter what and its hard to respect ppl you know that hasnt put as much time into the sport as u, but since they have the belt u cant say anything. maybe i do worry to much about it! thanks for commenting
Yes, i know exactly what your talking about with people getting belts they dont deserve. Back when i first started taekwon-do, i remember my first day, as a white belt obviously, and i outkicked and performed half the students in the class, all of which were many belts ahead of me. And though i had previously trained myself and wasnt totally new to it, i thought it strange that they would have that level of belt and be so unskilled compared to me. I see that happening at alot of places. Its sad people dont take it seriously, and that you cant even take a belt anymore as any sign of how good a student is, because he may have not even earned it.
i wonder if this is the same in all styles or is it just or corrupted " wtf/ ustu" federations we have our problems but man i love this sport/ style. once again thanks for commenting.
Hmmm, two points here, I think you're right - there are some Senior TKD'ists offering belts for more money and less time. I heard a while ago about a guy who was offering TKD Black Belt in 18 Months for £1800. That's ridiculous! It is possible to grade ahead of time, but only one way, that's if you score above a certain amount on an ITF grading - you can double grade. I don't think you can so tihs on Dan Grades though. At the same time, I think it's important to remember, the belt, or rank isn't a direct representation of how 'good' you are. There are alot of aspects of a Tae Kwon Do'ist. kicks and punches are one part, patterns another, sparring, self-defence..... And then you have the moral culture side *groan*
thanks for all your comments so far. to answer guerilla fists question. i guess you can say technically speaking there black belt is real, and so is the certificate, what i mean by fake fony black belts it that those black belts were not earned but paid for.
Hi Kareem, After joining MAP and reading posts written by people coming from different countries, I have come to realise that there are so many differences between TKD schools in the world. But that does not mean that all those schools are fake. I myself also worked hard for my Dan ranks and I'm proud to say that my instructor is a person I admire and there is no way he would give you a belt if you don't deserve it. You say that you worked hard for 3 years to get your 1st Dan. Here it is not possible to get the 1st Dan after 3 years. It takes a bit longer than that. But I always say that it is the skill that matters and not the paper. At my school there is an American girl who trained TTA (Traditional Taekwondo Association) in America and got her 1st Dan after 2 years without having any fighting experience. To me that's crazy. My green and blue belts are so much better than her and I am very proud of that. I am pretty sure that we have already discussed this topic, so if you do a search, you can read those posts as well.
I think if you know that you've worked hard for your BB, don't worry about other people. Eventually the cream will rise to the top.
i never said that all school are fake and that all black belts havent earned their belts except me. im sure there are tons of schools that have waited longer then me to get their black belts and worked harder then me. im not worried about the other ppl who have not trained hard to get their black belts. I just dont think its fair that when i see some of the ppl i know didnt earn their belts, prance around like they arethe best thing since toilet paper and aspect the world to acknowledge them and aspect ppl to respect them as if the have accomplished something, just doesnt sit right in my stomach. thanks for posting i really appreaciate your comments.
I don't like injustice either. My parents always tell me that I alone can't fix all the bad things around the world. I know that I can't but I can fix some of them. That is why I am glad to have had a great instructor who didn't give belts like candies. I apply the same rule in my club as well. I am proud of my students and every one of them deserves their belts. They have learnt that they have to work hard for them.
all this talk about black belts and training is making me want to practice. ahhh behold the power of having your very own school in which you can train when ever you want.... i love it.
Man, you're so lucky. I got nowhere but my TKD school every Tuesday and Thursday night. I totally agree with you. Here, that's impossible, everyone has to earn their ranks. Sure my friend, just turned black tag, failed his blue tag grading twice! No matter the level (cept Yellow tag) you can fail. You gotta earn it. But just take pride in your achievements.
once a again thanks for commenting i know that there are alot more tkdoist out there lets show the rest of the styles why we are not to be messed with. jk nothing personal. but i would like to know if these actions are the same in other styles.
Just for the record, I'm a WTF TKDist, and it took me ten years to get black belt. Granted, I started when I was four, so my concentration was a bit off for much of the time.
Hi guys, My current instructor explains the whole belt thing this way. The belts do not show how good you are when compared to other people, it shows your own personal progress when measured against what the other black belts see as your potential. He will not give anyone a black belt that he does not feel is getting very close to their full potential. So some people who are "not as good as you" may be a higher rank just because they are closer to their potential. Which may not be as high as your potential. Does that make sense?
yes this makes perfect sense and im glad that u have made this contribution. what i am trying to say is that some ppl in the past have paid with out the actual training time to get their black belt, and their certificates from kukkiwon, these ppl parade around as if they are king of the world expecting respect from everyone who is lower then them even if that particular person has put more time training and has worked for their black belts
What a good post I am very new compared to most of you to TKD so my experience is low, but every lesson I push myself as hard as I can In hope of one day being able to maybe take a class or give advice to someone. I had a problem though at where I train of two 7 year olds who had claimed a red belt each before the school had been taken over by new leadership. I try my hardest to give everyone there my upmost respect because even if they dont think there teaching me, they are. But the two red belts do not do anything at all but speak when not supposed to and generally mess around, I`ve asked them how they achieved there ranks when they mess around all the time but the reply I get is a sloppy kick aimed at me . Is it because they are so young that they get the belts so easily? -Sean
