Rise of MMA Prompts TKD Schools to Start Teaching Better Classes

From my experience, and from my observations of others, the tendency in TKD has always been to water it down. Now I don’t think this is any one side that can be blamed or any school in particular even, however instead I believe it to be a collective phenomenon.

The problem did not start with the organizations: I can’t imagine a conversation in the board room at WTF headquarters where they were like, “I think we are getting too rough. Time to tone it down boys.” And if you have had the opportunity to spar against good WTF guys, they are kicking hard. And vies-versa, I don’t see a conversation of all the ITF schools going like this, “We can’t be teaching kids to hurt other kids with the moves from the Poomse, we should focus on just the sport.”

By the collective what I am identifying is that over time, everyone, students and parents of students included, moved away from the forms and focused on the sport. The argument seemed to become “who had the better sport style, ITF vs. WTF”.

Many years, or perhaps 4 decades of the conversation go by and here we are with a borderline unless sport. I played that sport for many years and where did it get me? That question is rhetorical, it got me nowhere. There was no money in it and the only way to make money in it was either to conform to the Olympic style or go to kick boxing. Kick boxing does not make you that much, unless your just the exception, and then what? Well if you were marketable for the Olympics then you could probably get some sponsorships and after it’s said and done funnel your clout to your school. Which leaves us with the only real way to make money in TKD, being the owner of a school. Now keep in mind I understand Billy Blanks and other exceptions have found money in TKD other ways but they are a very select few.

I bring this up because this is what we are up against now. The rise of MMA. If you fail to realize this or its significance then you are sadly going to wake up one day and wonder, “where did all my students go?”

http://www.wrestlingpod.com/wrestling-news/w3579/violence-discipline-mma-gains-popularity-among-kids/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Amateur-Wrestling-News+%28Amateur+Wrestling+News+at+WrestlingPod.com%29

American culture has become more and more desensitized to the idea of a violent sport and with that shifting of the pendulum I feel we need to hone back into what TKD is all about. It’s about the forms. I learned the Tuls, but have also studied the TaeGeuk, and PalGwe and I can tell you right now, TKD has some real good stuff to be teaching.

I read somewhere once, and I don’t know where, but if I find it I will post it for sure, that when asked, General Choi said that the moves were not to be limited to the instruction of the forms but instead by one’s own imagination. Now that’s me paraphrasing what I read, it was years ago, but the point I make is this; TKD forms, on both sides of the fence, have very good moves and are very diverse. If instructors start influencing the forms for their defensive purposes instead of how to win a trophy in a forms tournament, then maybe the rise of MMA will work to our advantage. 

I have taught many types of classes and each one had specific goals. Some were geared towards fitness, some self-defense, some sparing, some correction of forms, but the main thing was everything I taught I was able to pull from a form. 

There once was a preacher who bought a dumpy warehouse. He then took a bandit sign and wrote “church Sunday 11:00am, bring your own chair”, on it and nailed it in the median across the street. That Sunday 6 people showed up. He kept the sign out there and told everyone that if they like the church then tell at least one person to come next week.

The next week came and sure enough the 6 from the previous week brought 6 more and the sign drew in 6 more. After that Sunday every weekend his congregation grew double in size for a whole year. Eventually the fire marshal came and kicked everyone out and shut the place down because he had too many people and no permit. (Although my number a probably wrong, this is based on a true story)

The local news caught wind of this and when they asked him how he got so many people to come, he laughed and answered, “I don’t know, for the whole year I preached every sermon out of the book of Deuteronomy.”

If you have never familiarized yourself with that book, it’s kind of boring to most people.  But he was able to take the truth out of it and apply it in so many ways that he managed to captivate everyone’s attention.  That man was Rob Bell.

The reason I say this is simply put, you can take tuls like Dan-Gun or Do-san and create classes out of them that are capable of spanning a year at least. Not only is this the best way to teach what TKD is about but, it’s also pretty easy. All it takes is a little forethought and a pinch of imagination. 

I taught many classes like this, where I would take a move that is found I a form and break that move down as many ways as possible. This method I found would not be accomplish-able in one hour, so I would have to move it over to the next class, and like rollover minutes, the classes kept including move break downs from the Tul.

I hope you can catch my drift, and that although I enjoy tournament style sparing, I firmly believe TKD schools need to step up their game quickly. The instruction in TKD schools should be at a point now where the public can again find it revolutionary. The time is now and MMA students will start coming to you. 

Peace.