ITA (International Taekwondo Alliance)

Discussion in 'Tae Kwon Do' started by ClumsyFoot, Nov 12, 2003.

  1. kwang gae

    kwang gae 광개 Sidekick Specialist

    I don't know much about the ITA, their website is here http://www.itatkd.com/ and it looks pretty cheesy, but then again so do most TKD org websites :bang: .

    In the final analysis it's the school not the org. Go to the Dojang and try a class or two, see what you think. Try several different schools if they're conveniently located to you and pick the one that fits your needs the best. :D
     
  2. Alexander

    Alexander Possibly insane.

    Afraid not! Wrong ITA. The International Tae Kwon Do Alliance Website is here.
     
  3. Incredible Bulk

    Incredible Bulk Eat-Lift-Eat-Sleep-Grow

    also found here
    http://www.taekwondoplus.co.uk/

    out of date because Mr Greenway (the guy doing the side kick) was kicked out of the ITA for speaking up.
    Every year a high ranking black belt from America (ITA's birthplace) to hold a bootcamp for the black belts. It costs a lot of money to attend as you are in effect funding the flights and accomodation.

    One year the American ITA master cancelled so the UK master held the event instead... but still charging the expensive fee.

    Mr Greenway was told to get out of the ITA for raising an issue with this fact and hence, the ITA lost its club in Poole.

    The ITA has also just lost its Chichester club
     
  4. kwang gae

    kwang gae 광개 Sidekick Specialist

    Good Gawd. Won't someone please re-unify the ITA. LOL. :D
     
  5. AndyTKD

    AndyTKD New Member

    @Taekwondo Guy - Interesting point about Mr Greenaway, I used to train at the ITA Club in Cowplain and Portsmouth but left about 3 years ago at 2nd Degree level.( I now train at an ITF club)

    One of the reasons is because it felt like they were only after your money, testing every 2 months adding probational, decided and senior to the black belt grades and having to pay about £50 each testing, not being alowed to use you own sparring gear even though it was exactly the same make it just didnt have ITA Logo on it.

    The other reason was that, most of the leasons were being taught by 15-16 years olds who had just got there black belt & trainee instructor.
     
  6. stoneheart

    stoneheart Valued Member

    From personal experience, I can tell you I visited an ITA studio. It was a mixed class with both adults and children with all ranges of ranks. There was one instructor only for about 16 students and he was probably 24 years old at the most. The class ended with - you guessed it! - dodgeball for the kids AND adults.

    I wasn't impressed. The ITA is another one of those money-making TKD groups that teach in 45-minute classes in my book. Gaudy uniforms with lots of patches and stripes and your name prominently stencilled on the back. I'm sure you can find good instruction from an ITA school... just not from the one I visited.
     
  7. tkdbb3

    tkdbb3 Valued Member

    most ITA schools dont have mixed kids and adult classes... now some of the Smaller schools may i'm not sure. The ITA is like eveyother org. there are good schools with great teachers and there are some that are not, its like saying the ITF stinks b/c i went to my local ITF school and it sucked. is it perfect no but what org. is??
     
  8. stoneheart

    stoneheart Valued Member

    I understand what you are saying. However, I believe some of the organizational and teaching methods found in the ITA (and similar groups) help to water down a school. 45 minute classes, dodgeball games, teaching methods more focused to teaching and encouraging children rather than self-defense, cheerleader instructors who may only have 3 years training experience, etc.

    Any one of those things taken alone is not necessarily bad, but having them all together is a poor recipe for quality martial arts in my book.

    I truly don't mean to offend you if you're an ITA member, and I hope you can see I am offering serious discussion.
     
  9. Donna

    Donna New Member

    Hi i'm new here, i don't actually practice tkd but the rest of my family do and I spend just as much time there watching them. My husband is and 2nd degree, my daughter just tested this weekend for her 2nd deggree and is a trainee instructor and my son tested for his 1d L4, my youngest is in the tiger cub program and has just tested for her white with red stripe belt.
     
  10. tkdbb3

    tkdbb3 Valued Member

    no offence taken... a few points though

    i am a ITA school owner
    i do teach 45 min classes... but my students come 3-4 times a week or more
    what's the problem with Dodgeball??? something wrong with reaction skills and its fun when you are teaching kids you have to throw in some fun stuff for them or you will have a very empty school.

    Self-defense- the #1 reason for a kid to be picked on is low self esteam helping kids build that is a good thing right???

    Never really heard of a cheerleader inst. but i have assistant instructors who have been training for 3-4 years so what??? do they teach the classes, no I do

    I heard a master once say that you have to ask yourself when you are teaching are you helping or hurting your students??
     
  11. stoneheart

    stoneheart Valued Member

    I don't believe a 45 minute class is sufficient to warm up properly, practice a full set of basics and provide correction to every student, and still give a decent block of time to teach kata, kata applications, self-defense, or even throw in some sparring. Part of the martial arts is overcoming adversity. When classes are so short, students just aren't tested physically or mentally to stay focused and directed to the work at hand.

    While self-esteem is important for avoiding bullying at school, I prefer more of an actual self-defense practice: What a child should do when confronted by an adult out to do him harm. I understand where you are coming from, but there's grimmer scenarios in life than just Little Johnny having his lunch money taken away by the school bully.

    In the ITA class I visited, the instructor was all alone by himself. He was possibly 22 at the oldest and he was most definitely did not have a senior instructor overseeing him. He was unable to answer my questions in a coherent fashion about how his school did things. Worse, he was a second degree BB, and I felt he was overranked for his level of knowledge.

    Thanks for the discussion and please excuse me for being so tardy with my reply.
     
  12. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    45 minutes for the entire training session, starting from warming up till cooling down??? :confused:
     
  13. stoneheart

    stoneheart Valued Member

    Yes, indeed. 45 minutes from start to finish. I understand the reason for it. You can teach 3 classes in one evening instead of 2 or even 1 longer class.
     
  14. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    i personally wouldn't want to train in a 45 minutes class. you can't warm up properly and stretch in 2 minutes...
     
  15. tkdbb3

    tkdbb3 Valued Member

    at my school we do 45-50 min classes for Jr's and 55-60 min for adults. But i have 6 classes every afternoon to make the classes longer, i would have to combine some groups together and i dont want to do that.
     
  16. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    if you have a 45 min class, how much time do you spend on warming up, how much on strechting and how much on cooling down/relaxing at the end?
     
  17. tkdbb3

    tkdbb3 Valued Member

    after we bow in we do a pre-streach warm up for 3 min. then DYNAMIC STRETCHING for 7 min. after we go into target drills then one steps, sparring, and forms, after rank testing we focus mostly on forms for the first week and then back to a wide range of topics
     
  18. stoneheart

    stoneheart Valued Member

    tkdbb3,

    I understand the ITA has changed your forms again. What the scoop? Do you still use the Chang Hon forms but have changed them again, or do you have entirely new patterns? Thanks.
     
  19. neryo_tkd

    neryo_tkd Valued Member

    you do all that in 35 minutes or in different classes?
     
  20. tkdbb3

    tkdbb3 Valued Member

    yes the forms have changed again, they are again a bastardized version of the Chang Hon forms... i dont like it but its not up to me so. but we do about 7 min of target drills or one steps. Then 15 min forms, 10 min sparring and last 3-5 we play dodgeball.
     

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