I'm leaving a McDojang to go to legitimate school

Discussion in 'Tae Kwon Do' started by blackbelt92, Oct 30, 2013.

  1. blackbelt92

    blackbelt92 Valued Member

    It did come off harsh, but I think that this may have been a misunderstanding. When I said "fight" I was referring to the Olympic Style (WTF) Taekwondo, which is a sport. I was not necessarily referring to fighting on the street. I have always been interested in taking up Taekwondo as a competitive sport and so that is partly why I began Taekwondo. For years, I trusted my school that I was getting the instruction I needed (and was told I would receive...) to compete in Taekwondo sparring competitions as a black belt. Once I felt ready enough to compete, I entered into my first outside competition as a black belt. I was whipped good.... It was eye opening.

    Once I realized that my sparring skills were not up to black belt standard, I started to research which school to switch to. I found a great school now that I just started at, and I love it. I am a bit embarrassed about my sparring skills, but it is not my fault that I wasn't taught the sport correctly. As for my self defense and form skills, I am very proud of those and I am at a black belt level with that. The instructor is allowing me to keep my rank, and will only allow me to test for my 3rd when he feels I am ready. Which will be a while, and I'm not sure if I want to test anytime within the next few years.

    If I continued to stay at my old school, then it would be my fault. However, I switched very soon after it became clear to me that my sport sparring skills needed much improvement.

    Anyway, I am also a BJJ white belt. Do you still take boxing or any form of stand up martial arts anymore?
     
  2. blackbelt92

    blackbelt92 Valued Member

    It took me almost 7 years to get to 2nd degree. It took me 3.5 years to get to black belt, 1 year to get to 2nd degree, and now I have been a 2nd degree for 2 years. Actually, right before I moved school a couple weeks ago, my previous school was trying to get me to test for 3rd degree. They didn't care what degree I was, they just cared about all the money they would get from the black belt testing fees.

    The black belt testing fees were ridiculous. I'm not sure why they even called it a "test" anyway. You passed whether you knew your stuff or not. I always knew my stuff(at least the stuff they taught me), so I wasn't one of those lazy students who just got their belt because they paid. I truly love martial arts and I genuinely want to better myself.

    I'm interested in cross training in some sort of boxing or kickboxing, but I don't think I have the time or money right now. The BJJ lessons are almost free, because its a club at my college. I don't think I can take up anything else right now. But what I have been doing so far is training in my home gym. I have a punching bag set up and have been working my techniques whenever I am not at the Dojang.
     
  3. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    Honestly, if you're interested in competing you don't wait until black belt to do it. You should be out there doing it from straight after your first grading. How else do you learn?

    By the time you get to black belt the other competitors have been competing for years. They understand how to prepare mentally and physically for competition, they understand how to deal with the stress of the actual day and most importantly they understand the difference between sparring at a tournament with people you don't know who really want to win vs sparring in your own club with people you do know and who are thinking about work, the kids, etc. It's night and day.

    I'm not surprised at all if you were whupped if your first experience of tournament sparring was as a black belt. Frankly I'd be amazed if you could compete at that level with no experience and do well.

    Mitch
     
  4. 47MartialMan

    47MartialMan Valued Member

    But, are we to incorrectly think that someone "waited to black level to spar-compete"?

    And we must realize, it was a McDojo to start of with and some people stick it out in bliss without "knowing any better"

    Not to give excuses, but to further explain;

    A McDojo looks for opportunity-customers (not students)

    It may somewhat be "brainwashing" people and also keeping them from competing in non-school competitions "until after black belt"

    This way, they already have made money after years of student investment

    The OP had a "wake up call" and they seem to be on the right track to correct themselves. It is never too late to improve
     
  5. blackbelt92

    blackbelt92 Valued Member

    Haha no need to apologize :) I get referred to as "sir" many times in the dojang because there just aren't many females who take up martial arts.
     
  6. blackbelt92

    blackbelt92 Valued Member

    Yes you are completely right. I jumped into my first competition without any sort of practice, while my competitor had been competing for many years. I did not know any better. I was told by the school that taking part in outside tournaments should be done once I reached black belt. Til then, I had only been doing the "tournaments" that my school holds within itself...

    As I said before, I am excited that I have now switched to a better school. I am improving already. I'm excited to take part in more tournaments both as an athlete and a supporter. Tomorrow I have a tournament, and I am sparring in the intermediate level(with my master's and the director's permission) rather than black belt. I will update you guys on how it went tomorrow.
     
  7. Giovanni

    Giovanni Well-Known Member Supporter

    sadly, only sticking to gi/no-gi grappling for now. 2 kids makes it hard to train in multiple arts. i compete in bjj so i need to give as much time as possible for that.

    good luck on competing!
     
  8. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    We have about as many women in my school as men. It is pretty even, maybe a very slight edge to more men.
     
  9. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    That bad advice is the main problem. Exposure to other competitors and their training from an early grade would have made a big difference I suspect. Did you not have any contact with any martial artists outside your dojang?

    Best of luck with your new school :)

    Mitch
     
  10. blackbelt92

    blackbelt92 Valued Member

    Thank you! And maybe I should move this to the Jiu jitsu forum, but do you prefer gi or no gi? I absolutely hate the gi.
     
  11. blackbelt92

    blackbelt92 Valued Member

    I guess it depends on the school. My former school had mostly males. This new school I'm at now has more females, but still mostly guys.
     
  12. blackbelt92

    blackbelt92 Valued Member

    Thanks! And no, I did not have any contact at all with any other martial artists outside of my school. I'm 21 now, and I started when I was a young teen. I was pretty naive, and took what my old school had to say as the "end all be all". I regret that now. My first contact with other martial artists was this past spring. That's when I realized my sparring skills aren't at the level of a black belt. Since then, I have been meeting up with other taekwondo practitioners to practice. After much research, I finally switched schools.

    I don't want to come off as if I absolutely hate my old school. There is one instructor there who truly is a good martial artist. Ironically, this instructor supports my decision of leaving the school... It is sad.
     
  13. Giovanni

    Giovanni Well-Known Member Supporter

    I love both. Different games but equally as fun. That's just me though.
     
  14. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    I also wonder if certain styles attract more or less of particular genders. I watched my sister's BJJ class once and watched one of their tournaments. It was overwhelmingly male- very few women.

    This conversation has me thinking of one of the other students at my school. He left his TKD school and came to ours. He is in his early 20's-actually may be an older teen. He looks older but doesn't drive and lives at home.

    He never said why, but I get hints of a similar reason you left from talking to him. He is supposed to be a black belt in his TKD. And frankly, he doesn't seem like it. And he seems aware of it. And he talks about how much more challenging our school is compared to his old one. His conditioning is suprisingly difficult for a young fit looking male.

    And he just didn't have much power generation in his moves. The thing is, we get former TKD students from time to time. Usually, their kicks look great! I can usually tell former TKD students because of the quality of their kicks at beginning levels, but not him. They aren't terrible, but they certainly aren't black belt/ sash quality.

    I looked at this young man's stuff and thought to myself. "McDojo/ McDojang." And I am glad he found his way out of that. Because he is a nice guy and takes his MA seriously. He practices a lot and is very enthusiastic and obviously loves doing it.

    Anyways, I am rambling a bit. But, as I said, your tale made me think of him.
     
  15. blackbelt92

    blackbelt92 Valued Member

    Yup. The guy you are talking about sounds similar to me. Except, my kicks are very good. I am also great with paddle kicking, self defense, and poomsae (by the judgement of my new master/instructor). However, my sparring is extremely lacking. Sometimes I get embarrassed about it, but nobody has harassed me or put me down because of it. I just try to stay humble and I try to learn from everybody whether they are a white belt or black belt.

    Also, I do think that certain styles attract different genders. I believe that BJJ attracts mostly males because it is very close contact. It is so close contact, that many females feel uncomfortable with it. I don't, because I grew up with two brothers who always loved to rough house with me. So far, I've only had one incident where it was obvious that the guy I was rolling with felt uncomfortable. He accidentally touched my boob, and he said "oh sorry" and then avoided me for the rest of the class. It makes me feel really bad when people don't want to work with me just because I'm a female. It also makes me feel bad when the guys go too easy on me(in Taekwondo and BJJ). If someone attacks me on the street, they sure as hell aren't going to go easy on me. So why should people go easy on me at the gym? Not saying I want people to beat me up, but I do like a good challenge.
     
  16. blackbelt92

    blackbelt92 Valued Member

    ^in my previous post, when I said my kicks are good, I was referring to the kicks that are involved in poomsae/forms. That is one thing that my former school was good at teaching. My kicks in sparring is a different story. I have to work on my speed.

    Does anyone have any suggestions for how to work on speed? A 4th degree black belt (who is obviously much better than me), told me "I can see your kicks a mile away". How can I make my kicks in sparring fast?
     
  17. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    I honestly doubt your self defence skills are very good if all you have studied is WTF from a sparring point of view :)

    I think you might look at a couple of things.

    Firstly, telegraphing your kicks. What do you move first when you kick? Foot? Knee? Hip? Shoulder? Head? The earlier you telegraph, the "slower" your kicks are.

    Secondly, work on speed :) So, get a padholder to stick a paddle out and kick it as fast as you can. Make it a reaction to the pad, a reaction that drills speed. Do this with all the major kicks, moving backwards and forwards, in combinations that make sense to your sparring. There are some good Youtube clips for examples, but you need to do it with a partner who presents the pads and makes you react to them, not just wail on them in a set rhythm.

    Finally, always work to your paradigm. WTF demands very specific things, so always work towards those goals. People on MAP will tell you to be more rounded, as may people elsewhere, but if your goal is WTF competition, ignore them completely. Talk to Liero on MAP and he may be able to help. This goes back to my first point, because WTF sparring is nothing to do with self defence, :)

    Best of luck :)

    Mitch
     
  18. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    You might pick up some ideas from Paul Green on Youtube, among others :)

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwWaMrMEM6s"]Olympic Taekwondo Coach Paul Green Kicking Speed And Power - YouTube[/ame]

    Mitch
     
  19. Mitch

    Mitch Lord Mitch of MAP Admin

    Some other obvious tactical stuff. Front leg side kick is your jab, use it to control them.


    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjHqvKkcIXo"]Olympic Taekwondo Tactics with Paul Green and Gareth Brown - YouTube[/ame]

    Mitch
     
  20. blackbelt92

    blackbelt92 Valued Member

    Thank you very much for the help! And yes, you are probably correct with the self defense thing. Right now, my goal is to compete and that's what I should be focusing on. Maybe one day if my BJJ skills get any better then I can claim good self defense haha ;)

    Alright everyone, this has been a great thread. Thanks for all the advice and I will update on how my tournament went tomorrow. I've been training a lot for it lately, and I hope it goes well.
     

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