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toddswift
Joined: 26 Jan 2007
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:45 am Post subject: QUESTION ABOUT MARTIAL ARTS...... |
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| Have any of you become black belts here? Did you have to learn Korean in order to pass the tests? Thanks for your input, Todd |
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the_beaver
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Yes. Probably not but learned enough anyway. |
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Tarmangani
Joined: 17 Apr 2006
Location: the Calm
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| Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Yes, two blackbelts and counting. You have to learn the terms and how to count, that's it. Bring a notebook and write everything down at the end of class. |
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kimchi_pizza
Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Location: "Get back on the bus! Here it comes!"
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| Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 5:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Tarmangani wrote: |
| Yes, two blackbelts and counting. You have to learn the terms and how to count, that's it. Bring a notebook and write everything down at the end of class. |
That's right! I'll have my cho-dan in another month (hopefully!). |
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mole
Joined: 06 Feb 2003
Location: Act III
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| Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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My son earned his black belt in Korea with less than a year in-country.
He had to learn to count, the names of moves, right/left, up/down, etc.
They were always forgiving during his tests when he was wrong.
I suppose it's technique, not the learning of Korean that matters there.
Though the latter surely happens.
He studied KyugTooGi. (or however it's romanized) |
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kimchi_pizza
Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Location: "Get back on the bus! Here it comes!"
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| Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 5:50 pm Post subject: |
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| mole wrote: |
My son earned his black belt in Korea with less than a year in-country.
He had to learn to count, the names of moves, right/left, up/down, etc.
They were always forgiving during his tests when he was wrong.
I suppose it's technique, not the learning of Korean that matters there.
Though the latter surely happens.
He studied KyugTooGi. (or however it's romanized) |
From what I gather, receiving a black-belt or cho-dan means you have LEARNED all the techiniques, but it doesn't mean you have any SKILL using them. That comes later as you try to reach 2nd or 3rd degrees or dans. As you progress it becomes much, much harder. From what I was told you practice 1 year to get 1st dan, then after that 2 years to get 2nd dan and 3 years for 3rd dan. It can take up to 7-9 years to reach 4th dan to be able to become an instructor which is kind of my goal. I may be wrong on this and also depends on how seriously you practice and your skills improve.
And the kind of person you become! It's also about improving yourself physically, mentally and spiritually. Discipline is a must. |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 7:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Does anyone ever have personal instruction? I am sure that would probably cost an arm and a leg. I am better off one-on-one than in a class. Or, I suppose I could try Tai Chi instead. I go at my own pace. |
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EMKAYES
Joined: 04 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:28 pm Post subject: |
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Yes got my black belt after 1 year here. (I was already a blue belt before I came) You dont need to speak Korean to pass. Just complete a pattern and some fighting.
You will naturally pick up the Korean for all the stances/kicks etc after 1 year any how.
It helps if your instructor can speak English. Mine did not.
I have 1st Dan. Dont know about later Dans and if Korean is needed. I would expect somewhere down the line it would be. |
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Jarome_Turner
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
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| Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 11:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Adventurer wrote: |
| Does anyone ever have personal instruction? I am sure that would probably cost an arm and a leg. I am better off one-on-one than in a class. Or, I suppose I could try Tai Chi instead. I go at my own pace. |
I did TaeKwonDoe my first year. There were two instructors who ran the gym where I studied. They were very friendly. I started out going to regular classes, which was not that great because it was basically me, my buddy, and 30 elementary/middle school kids running around for 30-40 mins, and then doing some basic kicks for 20 mins or so.
After a couple of weeks it got better. I think the instructors realized we wanted to take it seriously, so it gradually became more and more tailored to our advantage. One instructor would run the lesson with the kids, and the other would take us to the back and give us some one-on-one instruction on kicks, routines, etc... They even let us strap on the sparring gear on numerous occasions and have a go at each other (under strict supervison of course), which usually is limited to those with at least a black belt.
By the end of the year, when we got up to brown and red belts, the instructors invited us in on Saturday mornings to do some private tutoring on our routines (pooms sp?) so we wouldn't muck them up during the tests. My only shame is that I never completed my black belt, had I of stayed for another month I would have been able to.
Oh, and to answer the question - my Korean at the time I first joined was non-existant (with the exception of hello, good-bye, thank you) and my instructors were at about the same level with their English. I actually learned a lot of Korean during the year from my instructors, and they likewise improved their English a great deal. |
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willneverteachagain
Joined: 17 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:24 am Post subject: |
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| i got my black belt in 4 months my 2nd year in korea |
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toddswift
Joined: 26 Jan 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 2:43 am Post subject: |
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| thanks all! |
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Ryst Helmut
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
Location: In search of the elusive signature...
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| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:44 am Post subject: |
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Sad to say...TKD training, on the whole, is sorely lacking for lay-people. Yes, black belts are given away here like candy on Halloween, so no worries on getting a black belt whilst here...but is that really a goal?
As for latter dans...no, you really do not need to speak Korean (however, my essay <10 pages> for my 4th...way back when...was asked to be written in Korean). My 5th isn't much different, but then I prefer Korean over English in TKD soooooo...
As for gaining a 4th in 9 years...technically feasible in 8282 Korea.
Horribly sad.
!Shoosh,
Ryst |
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Oreovictim
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:53 am Post subject: |
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Why do you have to be a black belt? Do you want to put it on your resume? You know, you can be a kick-a$$ martial artist and not have a black belt. You can also be a black belt who isn't a kick-a$$ martial artist.
Trust me, in Korea, they're all about unnecessary promotions. At my hagwon, we don't give kids anything lower than B's. The parents might get mad and go to a different hagwon. So you have some kids who keep moving up, but their English(e) isn't good.
It's the same with the Tae Kwon Do schools here. Instructors kiss up to their students' parents by giving the kids unnecessary belt tests. It's probably just so that parents can say, "Oh, your son's a black belt? My son's a THIRD-DEGREE black belt." Don't get me wrong, some of the kids are good, but I've seen some lousy black belts. |
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Oreovictim
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 9:10 am Post subject: |
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I forgot; listen to this scam.
I took Tae Kwon Do back when I was 16. At our school, you had a belt test every three months. The first test fee was about $50.00, and every time you passed, your fee would go up $10.00. Pretty much everyone passed.
Our (Korean) instructor would add extra levels between colored belts. It was just a piece of colored electrical tape that he would wrap around your belt. Here's how the levels went.
white
yellow
yellow with a green stripe
green
green with a blue stripe
blue
blue with a red stripe
red
red with a brown stripe
brown
brown with a black stripe
black
And then when you wanted to go to a higher black belt level, the fee would accrue $100 each time. My instructor got mad because I stopped signing up for tests after green-belt level. |
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willneverteachagain
Joined: 17 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:00 pm Post subject: |
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black belts arent handed out like candy. U have to know the material and pass infront of judges (3) sometimes 4.
When i was 15 in canada i took karate and we have the same stupid tape system. It was worse than 1 stripe, sometimes it was 3 or 4 on one belt which was rediculous and took way to long to ur black belt. Everytime someone quit the owner (who was white) couldnt believe it and it was $130 every 3 months and that was only 2 classes a week |
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