A letter to the head instructors at my school.

Dear, Board of Instructors

When I first started in this school I was severly impressed by the board breaking and stretching curriculum. Both aspects of your school have helped me tremendiously.

However I feel that a certian aspect of your curriculum is severly lacking. That aspect is sparring. I feel that your style of sparring (no contact, no kicks or punches to the head) is as crippling to the progress of students as the removal of the stretching/boardbreaking curriculum would be. I understand that you have chosen this style of sparring for legal reasons. However I believe that it is just as possible to suffer serious injury from boardbreaking, and regular practice of general techniques. In fact I have taken two falls during my time at this school. Were I not in such good physical condition I could have been easily injured. I would like to suggest that you talk to your legal advisers about the possibility of adding freestyle light contact sparring with pads on, to your Brown Belt-Black Belt curriculum.

I would also like to request that you post this letter in an area where other students can read it, and offer their opinions on the matter.

Thankyou for your time- Anonymous


Ok so what do you guys think? Am I overstepping my boundries on this one? Would I somehow infuriate the instructors by sending this letter?

Why didn't you put our name on it?

A couple of points;

1. What grade are you and how long have you been at the school? If you're a junior grade and have been at the school for less than a couple of years, you won't have an opinion of value, and even if you're a more senior grade and been there a while, it's iffy.

2. Have you spoken to the instructor? Let's be honest, if you've got a problem with the way the place is run, go speak to the guy. He'll either explain the reasons (or not) and you can then either accept them or leave.

3. Putting a letter like this on the bulletin board at the club is simply bad manners.

4. If it's something you really believe in and you've spoken to the instrucor already then send him the letter. At least have the balls to sign it. Anything given with Anonymous at the bottom goes straight in the bin where it belongs.

I agree with with Joel. If you are so outraged, why would you not put your name on it?

Why don't you just leave if you don't like it?

I think that if the school does not satisfy your needs that you need to either find another school or reassess your reasons for being there.

I think that there are a lot of lousy schools out there, and even more lousy students. Your desire to post a letter is vindictive, and wouldn't change anything for the better.

I suggest that you appreciate what you have learned so far, and seriously consider what you want to learn and why. My version of that letter would be:

http://www.fightingarts.com/ubbthreads/s...ue#Post15812467

Never being one to sugar coat things...

You are absolutely over stepping your bounds.

If you dont like the school, leave, but it is completely out of line to send this kind of letter.

G

I have to ask LDH, what ever happened to the first two tenents of TKD, Courtesy and Integrity?

To be blunt, you've been slagging off everyone at your dojang since you joined the forums and suggesting only you are the real deal. Well maybe technically you are as great as you say, however maybe the others have a bit more of the tenents about them.

In another post on another thread you went on about being contraversial and how the old vets couldn't take it. Well prove yourself as the real deal, show you have the tenents about you. If you are unhappy with the dojang then speak to the guys who run it. maybe they will agree with you, maybe they'll see if there is something they could change, maybe they'll realise that others might feel the same way and reassess themselves.

Alternatively they might ask you to leave, but then you've already said you don't want to stay, so sending the letter would be pointless anyway.

If you DO send it, put your name on it. Show your face. Be a TKD MAN, not some whiney literary 'ninja' wannabe.

PS, there's no comma after "Dear, "

It should be "Dear Board of Instructors"

It's like joining a Judo class and suggesting they do more kata.

honesty and being up front is always the best way...no sucker punches in the dojo.

Apparently in traditional Judo dojos practising thows is considered kata.

I agree with everyone else. Sending a letter like this is highly disrespectful, especially if you don't sign it. You could talk to your instructor directly - maybe higher ranks do more contact in sparring, I don't know. But with most of your posts it seems you really don't seem to like the school you go to. Why don't you just leave and find another school? There are plenty of schools around that allow more contact, why not find one of those? btw being a martial artist is a lot more than having the best flashiest highest kicks or who can break the most boards. Respect is incredibly important and you appear to have none for your school, instructors, or your training. My advice, talk to your instructor about this like an adult face to face, or find somewhere else to train.

I'm really sorry to break what I said about not ever posting agian. But oh well. I've gotta say my peice on this one... Then I'll leave once this topic is dead.


Since a very long time ago I've had it in my head that being a BB was about pushing yourself to your limits, and achieving great talent in your MA. Unfortunatly this is not reality, nor is it how most people see the level of BB.

In reality being a BB means nothing more than being an official member of a club. Show up to the meetings (class) for three to four years and show a decent desire to improve and your made a BB.

You don't have to be able to make a proper fist, and you don't have to do amazing flashy kicks. You just have to prove that you wanna be part of the club and you're in.

I'm not even going to send the letter now, because I'm pretty sure that the people at my school would say, "What the hell? Why's this guy wanna be so hardcore about it? I bet he wants to be able to smash 1000 boards too."

I now realize that a BB's ability to defend oneself varies from practitioner to practitioner. I'm sure that there's just as many BB's out there that can't fight well at all, as there are that are good fighters.

The thing that [censored] me off though is that almost every MA school uses the self defense B.S. as a way to lure you into their club. It wouldn't [censored] me off if self defense was a large part of their curriculum, but it's not. It's something that everyone throws on the back burner.

So what am I going to do? I don't really know. I would join a MMA class, but I prefer flashy kicks to ground grappling, and boxing. Perhaps I could find a teacher, or school that holds the same values as me (I seriously doubt that). What I'll most likely do it this... Continue attending class, and let the B.S. people be B.S. people. I'll work on improving myself and ignore those that want to do it for fun, or to stay in shape. Then one day when I'm doing amazing backflips, and tornado kicks I'll be able to hold my head high and say... "I'm an awesome athlete. Few else can do the things that I can do. Yayzors and etc.".

Edit: (Add on) I'm fine with other people doing MA as a hobby, or for fun. For now I show respect to the BB's at my school. This is because most of them are better at it than me. But what happens when I get to be a BB, and I surpass them by leaps and bounds? They will still be demanding the same unquestioning blind respect as before. Except now there only aurguement will be "Well I've been here longer than you". To me that's like a fifty year old retired boxer that never got a single win, walking up to the current heavyweight champ and saying "You must show me unquestioning respect because I've been boxing longer than you".

I believe in showing respect. However showing unquestioningly blind respect is another matter entirely. Showing that kind of respect to someone is a good way of getting conned. This is the kind of respect that republicans have for our president. It is also the kind of respect that cultists have for their cult leader.

I believe my letter was entirely respectful. I did not call them names or call them retarded or anything like that. I merely offered up my opinion on the matter and made a polite suggestion. Nothing else.

If God were to run a TKD school he would have the humility, and grace to hear my suggestion without taking it as an offence.

Heck even I have shown that kind of humility and grace. I remember newbies used to make horrible statments about card games. Many would flame them. I however took their statments with a grain of salt and guided them in the right direction. Oh well.

Open your own school, teach what you want.

Until then zip it! It's not your school. With the short time you have been training, it's not even your art.

The fact that this is even occuring suggests that you have learned little anyway. Time to move on.

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Open your own school, teach what you want.

Until then zip it! It's not your school. With the short time you have been training, it's not even your art.

The fact that this is even occuring suggests that you have learned little anyway. Time to move on.

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It is more my art than most people's because I take it seriously. Unlike them.

Oh and I have learned little? What was I supposed to learn? Was I supposed to learn the tenets of TKD? I am not a fan of having someone else's philosophy pushed on me. I believe in perseverence, integrity, and indomitable spirit. They all basically mean the same thing to me. Tbey mean don't give up and have some self respect. Courtesy I agree I could work on. I am not courteous at all. I never give anyone the benifit of the doubt, and I constantly question the competence of others. I do this mostly because I have learned in life that 90% of the people on this earth are dumbasses. As for self control I have none of that as well. I don't believe in it. If someone wrongs me I believe in making them pay. I feel that if I don't the world will walk all over me.