I am a 1st Dan Black Belt in WTF Taekwondo. I am very serious about my training, and would love to improve. My dream is to go to Korea and continue my training over there. I'd like to spend about 2-4 weeks in Korea, training intensively in WTF Taekwondo. Instead of just thinking about it as a dream, what can I do to make this happen? Any advice is very appreciated. And I live in America, by the way.
Different clubs/state organizations arrange trips every now and then ask your instructor he may know some people who he can put you on too
if i get to train with one of my friends this weekend ill ask her about this and get back to you. i wish i could visit N. Korea to train too. sometimes when i work at the border i stare at the landscape an daydream about what it would be like. Malaysian TKD teams are cool. Mongolia TKD is awesome too. any place u may not be able to visit your bound to run into them in Korea at a Hanmadang event or certain dojangs.
N. Korea isn't exactly a vacation spot..... As far as training in actual Korea, is there any reason besides being able to say you trained there? There are some very excellant teachers avaiable in the States. Nothing at all says that just because someone is teaching in Korea they are automatically a better teacher then people in other countries. But here is a group that goes. http://www.dctkd.org/korea/ they do more then just train though. I would go if I were to do other things like the site seeing as well.
Actually, other than being able to say you did it, training in Korea is no better than anywhere else in the world. In some ways worse, because many of the top instructors went overseas years ago to teach, leaving the sub par instructors in Korea. The Kukkiwon/Taekwondo Cultural Center and some of the historical sites are one of the few reasons to go. Don't bother with North Korea.
North Korea is hosting the ITF World Championships this September. I think they've got quite a bit invested in TKD. Though it is not the kind of place that you just visit.
I meant South Korea, not North Korea. My dream is just to experience a different level of Taekwondo. My Dojang and instructors/Masters are very high quality, however I do want to take my taekwondo one step further!
I wouldn't agree that the best coaches have left Korea. It's their national sport! they still are the major powerhouse at most international competitions. That being said. use all the resources available before you spend lots of money going over there, train at the clubs run by your national team coaches/clubs with many national team members etc...once you get all you can out of that then consider going international for more experience
I wouldn't agree that the best coaches have left Korea. It's their national sport! they still are the major powerhouse at most international competitions. That being said. use all the resources available before you spend lots of money going over there, train at the clubs run by your national team coaches/clubs with many national team members etc...once you get all you can out of that then consider going international for more experience
I imagine you could do some searches for Taekwondo Training packages in Korea, maybe you should start by looking at Yong-In University. You might also look in magazines like Taekwondo Times to see if there are packages available. Sometimes the Kukkiwon has something going on. Even regular schools offer classes all day, every day of the week (except Sundays usually). For me, I trained at a couple of local TKD schools that had mostly kids (but a decent sized adult group -something that was tough to find) and I enjoyed the level of training. I found it much more "specific" than the training I do in the US. In Korea, we worked on patterns a little bit and then spent the rest of the week doing paddle drills, footwork drills, and sparring training. I don't recall doing step sparring or self defense training there. Good luck Here's a link to a program through the KNTO http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_4_8_9.jsp Or, if you like a bit of Hankido... here's a great short stay program http://www.sangmookwan.com/ I don't know this one but it looks interesting http://www.dctkd.org/korea/index.cfm
NK is hosting the ITF WCs there this Sept. Malaysia is the 2nd home for TKD, with TKD being introduced there in 1962, when many in SK were using the name Tae Soo Do.
You can not travel to NK form SK, you would have to go through China, but they are holding the ITF WCs there this Sept. Go to their website for info, as they are letting outsiders in. If you have a SK passport it is extra difficult to go.
Korea is the birth place of TKD. NK while the most closed society on earth, does allow in visitors, especially for TKD. They would tailor the trainig to what you request.
Yes they do, as it is a powerful propaganda tool as they are so very successful. They are encouraging people to go this sept for the WCs, but tensions between the 2 Koreas have been high. You can get more info from the ITF-NK website.
Yes I would avoid a regular school as they are mainly for kids & babysitting. Check with the KKW, the tourism agency & the TKD colleges for better training. Why would you say don't bother with NK? One can get inside that country with TKD & can get some awesome & real TKD training, as they would cater it to what you request & it is cheap compared to SK.
Cheap? Actually I think it is very very expensive. I had a friend go there (not for TKD). You had to go on an official tour and guides are assigned to you. And it was anything but cheap. But he had an awesome time (a unique experience) and brought me back some TKD books (ITF ones).
But decades later, that has no real bearing on the level of training available there considering what happened right around the time frame of TKD getting set up. LOTS of very high quality teachers left and went all over the world. So again, besides being able to say you did it, what would the point of going there be?
my friend says if you took a trip her school can accomodate you, you can PM for more details. if theres an opportunity, i think its a good idea to experience training in the country where one's art originated. personally i think my TKD experience has been better in Korea than what i experienced when i moved back to the states from the Caribbean. it was so bad in the states i stopped doing TKD and took Tang Soo Do. things started to look up when i moved to Hawaii though. plenty of good schools in the states but with my luck at the time i ran into bad ones. Many masters left Korea to spread TKD but some of these guys were not masters to begin with an hopped on the plane as a 2nd or 3rd Dan and got of the plane in different countries magically promoted to Master/ Grandmaster. Theres still plenty of talented GMs in Korea who are not sub-par. some of the kids schools are better than adult classes ive seen in other countries lol.
