Hello.. I'm 16 n currently a 3rd dan and a 2nd dan kukkiwon. When i first started TKD at 3 i went to Jhoon Rhee. I received my 1st dan 6 years later and 2nd dan 3 years after at age 12. Afterwards, I switched TKDs where i heard of Kukkiwon. I received my 3rd 4 months ago and placed 1st in both VA States Jr and Open in Poomses (TaeBaek) in April of this year; however, I just recently received my 2nd dan kukkiwon certified since Jhoon Rhee doesnt do kukkiwon. I'm planning on going to college in 2 years but the minimum wait for 3rd is 3.. How important is getting this kukkiwon certification?
Your 1st Post; Welcome to MAP. I'm sorry, I don't even know why you need to ask us that question. Cheers.
BB certification is not regulated in the USA and standards vary from one TKD style/school to another. Many non-Kukkiwon certified black belts are TKD instructors and a school/club-issued black belt is adequate proof of rank and skill. A Kukkiwon certification is no longer required for black belt competition or other certifications through the USTU's programs as it used to be. The Kukkiwon and the World Taekwondo Federation (and affiliated national governing bodies) are the only TKD organizations supporting the Olympics so if your goal is Olympic-style competition you MUST have a Kukkiwon certificate. "In all fairness" ... it is not as easy as you might believe to get a Kukkiwon certified black belt. In the United States, only a Kukkiwon-certified 4th Degree Black Belt or higher can get you a Kukkiwon certificate through the national governing body, the United States Taekwondo Union. If your instructor isn’t 5th Dan Kukkiwon-certified or above, he or she must arrange to have you tested by someone who does have the proper credentials to certify you. You need to have correspondingly higher-ranking Kukkiwon-certified black belt at your grading panel n order for you to get 4th dan. 3rd dan is quite impressive at age 16 ... what is your hurry?
I thought Kukkiwon wouldn't promote anyone under the age of 16 to 1st dan, 18 to 2nd dan, and 21 to 3rd dan. I could be wrong though.
... that's a very good question that I failed to pick up on () Since I am not familiar nor WTF-affiliated... I researched a bit and came up with this Regulations for Promotion Test
KC, has there been any update of the Kukkiwon certificate selling scandal. I have done some searches and can't find much. Thought you and your bb contacts might know more. The last I heard it was individual instructors who were selling certs, not the kukkiwon itself wasn't it? You can PM me if you'd rather not respond on the board. Thanks.
The scandal which I believe you are referring to is the one involving Kim Un-yong 'accused' of embezzling funds (among a long list of other no-nos) from the World Taekwondo Federation, which Kim has been heading for three decades. There are schools worldwide that sell Kukkiwon certificates (look at ebay!) There are ways to find if legit... International Division Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters) tel: 82 2 563 3339 fax: 82 2 552 3025 e-mail: kukkiwon_wth@yahoo.com kukkiwon@kukkiwon.or.kr website: www.kukkiwon.or.kr
On the original topic A Kukkiwon black belt is nice to have because it gives you international rank recognition that you can use in nearly every country. If you travel around your homeland or abroad, you can pop into any WTF school and take lessons without having to start all over again and some schools will let you train for free for a short period of time. All Kukkiwon holders have been evaluated on the same criteria (as a minimum) and gives a fairly good rough idea of level of TKD training. In short, for the fee I would recommend getting the certification. On the other hand, Kukkiwon certification is merely a piece of paper (and ID card) issued from a faraway organization that is taking the word of the testing board near you, charging you a few hundred $, and giving you a piece of paper. For myself and my students, we do an intensive test beyond the Kukkiwon standards and we are issued rank cerificates through our federation. We also apply to Kukkiwon for those certificates as well. It is nice to have world recognized certification. Additionally, if your plan to to ever teach TKD, the internationally known certification is better (at least for reputation)... and with the minimum time limits involved, you may as well apply for Kukkiwon rankings as soon as you are eligible. ___________________________________ According to Tae Kwon Do Textbook vol. III by Kim Jeong-Rok, Seolim Publishing (in English and Korean): 1994, which contains the rules and regulations of the WTF and Kukkiwon: (1) "Poom is given to those under 15 years old and dan is for 15 years old and above" (p. 371) Students under 15 should wear the red and black "poom belt" and dan holders wear black. (2) Age Limits for Promotion (pp. 370-371) : 1st Poom : less than 15 1st Poom to 2nd Poom: less than 15 years old 2nd Poom to 3rd Poom: less than 15 years old 3rd poom to 4th poom: less than 18 years old (If started at Poom, promotion is as follows: 1st dan to 2nd dan : 15 years and above 2nd dan to 3rd dan: 15 years and above 3rd dan to 4th dan: 18 years and above 4th dan to 5th dan: 22 years and above 5th dan to 6th dan : 30 years and above 6th dan to 7th dan: 36 years and above 7th dan to 8th dan: 44 years and above 8th dan to 9th dan: 53 years and above 9th dan to 10th dan: 60 years and above +++If you start at 1st dan (adult, here are the age limits) : 1st dan: 15 years and above 1st dan to 2nd dan : 16 years and above 2nd dan to 3rd dan: 18 years and above 3rd dan to 4th dan: 21 years and above 4th dan to 5th dan: 25 years and above 5th dan to 6th dan : 30 years and above 6th dan to 7th dan: 36 years and above 7th dan to 8th dan: 44 years and above 8th dan to 9th dan: 53 years and above 9th dan to 10th dan: 60 years and above
Tnxz peepo.. I'm pretty sure it's legit cuz i dont expect my master to be selling frauds. For my kukkiwon certification i had to fill out a form and post my picture. Then afterafter, it was mailed to Korea took bout a month. I'm planning on going to College (In 2 years) however I can't get kukkiwon certified 3rd dan till after I enter college. After my grades dropped from 3.9 to 3.5 I dont feel as though I can get into a prestigious enough school so I figured if I could further myself in TKD, I could plausibly have a future in that area (Possibly go to Yong-In Univeristy and major in Martial Arts? iono just a thought). My dilemma is school interfering with my TKD because if I go to college I could jeopardize my chances for 3rd certification; however, if i stay home and go to a local university such as GMU (George Mason University) I wouldn't receive my fullest education.
