Yes, I have been demoted. I changed school last week because my other school wasn't giving me what I wanted. I changed to a school that is called Il Shim. My instructor is Bomsa Sang Kwon Park. He is a very good instructor. Mr Park was a world class competitor in Korea and was the coach of Spain in Barcelona's 92 Olympic Games. I really like it there. People are nice, a lot of very skilled black belts. I was demoted because I need to revalidate my black belt in order to get my Kukkikwon certificate. That is so cool. I have to train daily and besides train at home so I can do my black belt exam as quickly as possible. I am very happy with my new school. A friend of mine from my other school also changed to Il shim with me. That's cool too.
Congrats.... I realy hope this one fits you better and provides training better for you. As for the "demotion", I like your attitude of "it doesn't really matter because I'll work hard and get promoted again from a group I respect and trust." All the best!
Good for you, you saw a problem and did something about it even though it cost you dear, hope you do well in the future.
Thats good!! And very honourable that you take demotion like a man!! A lesser person might have quit or joined an "easier" club. Good for you!!
My thoughts exactly. I trained with an idiot for a while and then moved to a great instructor. Wish I had him around now!
Yep - I train with a great instructor who is knowledgeable and when someone dosen't understand something the first time, he would explain again in a different way without making you feel stupid. And if you still don't get it - he'd explain some more in yet another way. In my 3 year's of training with him I won't say things have been plain sailing, and I admit I have considered other clubs for various reasons. But I choose to continue training with this instructor because he is still better than most.
Demoted but not demotivated - nice one. (Personally though, I thought a grade was for life, so it should be illegal within the organisation to downgrade somebody?)
Congratulations on making the change Pulp! Having the right instructor is soooo important. Rank can be revoked even within an organization. I believe TKD's founder Gen. Choi ran into that situation himself when some of the Kwans were unhappy when he moved the ITF to Canada, they "attempted" to revoke his rank. Anyway since Pulp's at a different Dojang, and now wants a Kukkiwon certification his BB testing will have to be redone according to Kukkiwon rules, and one of those is that it be performed by a certified Kukkiwon BB. No worries though because with a great attitude like Pulps got that will be a walk in the park.
Unfortunatly true and used moreso as a political tool to 'punish' someone who has left as per your example perhaps! That said, demotion as well as promotion has (in theory at least) always been an option at a grading if you hadnt inproved significantly. Grading's once carried this fact that it wasnt simply placing yourself in front of a panel to either promote or fail (a rarity now in some places also), but it could go one of three ways - pass/promote, stay the same, demote down. Actually it may be a good way for clubs to allow those that dont train very hard and whinge when not allowed to grade by their instructors to take it and learn a valuable lesson Well done to 'Pulp Fiction' for viewing it like he has. As long as your happy with it all, thats what really matters in the end. Stuart Ps. When I first started teaching I demoted people based on my schools standard, but my views have now changed to keeping them at whatever rank they attained and the onus being on them to put in the work to catch up and thus grade further. PPs. If you simply change school you rank should be honoured IMO, if you change styles you should start back at white and perhaps if you grasp things quickly promote a bit quicker, but as all arts have different tactics and systems above and beyond just pure technique (plus of course their minor differences even in techniques that seem the same) it shoudlnt be expected in the least.
When I was doing TKD in Surrey I met four Korean guy's who told me that me and my class were rubbish (we did suck), they were going to (not certain if they stayed here in the UK ) set up a DoJang. Me and my mate trained with these guy's and they taught us allot about kicking correctly and gave us more confidence, they then suggested we slowley left our club and joined their's where we would have to start from white belt. My friend was a BB and was pretty reluctant to allow them to take it from her, she told me that my ex master had said it didn't matter what belt you were on as it is only a hobby and not to be taken seriously. At this time I was getting frustrated as I was quite rubbish on my current belt and felt I didn't deserve it, but my friend just said that I shouldn't worry as I was too old to fight and also TKD was more for kids. She decided then to drop my masters class which confused me as she went and joined the Korean guy's at their DoJang, she managed to convince them to allow her to stay as a BB and that she would have to learn three more displines mostly with weapons. This made me interested and so I asked her whether I could join too, she said yes and that she would get the price list. To do TKD and learn the art of nunchku beating it would cost me £90 a month...I thought that was a wee bit pricey and so I left my class and joined one in London where I used to work, I was never asked to down grade and was told that I would be trained so I was able to be on the belt I was on. So it was a fair price to pay to keep training on my belt rather then spend £££'s on grading. When my teacher thinks I am strong enough he will grade me which is very fair. If I was you I think I would have been tempted to train up to my belt rather then down grade, it is up to you as we all choose our paths in life but there is a choice in what you do if you feel or your teacher feels that your not worthy. It is hard but if your willing to drop belts that is certainly brave! Tans
