I think this is a personal choice, but I have to ask do you think you would like to teach TKD. If so train in both systems, if you are looking to enhance your personal self defense system or just want to eventually teach something else then you may be right. TKD is a good base to grow from and there is nothing wrong with staying and grwoing there.

But expanding your horizion to other ranges is going to be very important to personal growth either starting now or in the future. As U know the choice is yours, 2nd Gup you have a good grasp on what TKD is and only 2 belts away from black belt.

Not being smart a a$$ but my ex-wifes youngest son is a 3rd gup in TKD (he's 24 yrs old) he walks through the house throwing his axe kick, thinking thats impressive. Its a good kick but not much use in a real fight. Unless the guys bent over and on all fours (the safest way to use it IMO).

Phantom,
Did you receive my PM ?

VDJ

VDJ, I just received your PM. I hadn't logged on until now, that's why the late response. Thanks for getting me the information. I'll send your friend an email and we'll take it from there.

Thanks again,
Angelique

Personally, I just want to learn a complete Martial Art that will teach me realistic and useful self defense techniques. Olympic sport TKD just doesn't cut it for me. There are a lot of people at the dojang who like that type of training, but in my opinion, they don't know what they're missing. Like I said before, all we do is train to compete in sparring tournaments. That's the focus of our training. We kick and spar, kick and spar. That takes up probably 85% of our training, we practice forms only 1 or 2 times a month on average. Self defense on an even lesser basis, in fact, hardly ever. The dojang is the definition of olympic sport TKD. For some people that's fine, but not for me. I trained in Karate/Kickboxing for almost 2 years before this and there the training curriculum was much more complete. I guess that's why I haven't been able to conform to Olympic TKD, because I know that it's lacking a lot, at least for me.

glad2bhere, you completely misinterpreted my post. VDJ basically explained it all pretty well. I'm not interested in practicing a martial sport, but a martial art. What I meant by "moving on" was moving on to another more complete style, not abandoning training altogether. I love M.A. too much to just quit. But thanks for your input though, albeit totally wrong.

Sorry to hear that you are having problems. Just remember it isn't the art that is the problem, it's the instructor. I had a Shotokan instructor that was only into kicking and sparring, and he told us that it was TKD!

My instructor now, teaches for free, two days a week, 1-1/2 hour classes, the first 30 minutes is Kicking and punching combinations, the next 30 is Forms, the last 30 is a mix of Hapkido, Small Circle Jujitsu, Pressure Points, and Energy movement(yea yea i know...).

I think i was lucky to find this guy, but even if i had to pay $100 a month to study with him, it would be well worth it.

As for dropping TKD, if you cannot find another instructor that studies the art, not the sport, then start looking at other arts.
Also find an instructor that is NOT of the old thinking when it comes to "one student, one art". Find an instructor that is combining other arts in your training.

Also, maybe start going to seminars, before you find a new instructor. Look for seminars on Dillman, Inosanto, Leon Jay, Chris Tomas, and get a BlackBelt Magazine subscription. Lots of interesting stuff

Good luck! and keep an open mind!

First off, I suggest staying away from seminars. People like Dillman are in it just for the money now. He has closed his school in Reading,PA just to do seminars. Finding an instructor who has a well rounded curriculum and teaches at a school is first and foremost what I would look for. Someone who has law a enforcement or military background is always a plus (my instructor was a N.Y. State Trooper for 10 years and was a self defense instructor at the academy for 3). I also think that Black Belt magazine is a waste. They spend more time on things like 'Madonna adding martial gymnastics" to her show, or what celebrity just started an art, more than they do on tangible info. You can find more on the web for free than Black Belt will ever give you.

Angelique, My friends Hapkido instructor is an ex NYC Cop and will probably have what you are looking for, but talk to him because I know that his TKD instructor is well qualified as well. Good luck and let me know how you make out.

VDJ

Dear F-P:

As always, there is the real possibility that I misunderstood. I am not sure that I thought you were leaving MA training completely. I was thinking more along the lines of not treating MA like switching between makes of cars. Traditional TKD is NOT like Karate. Traditional Karate is NOT like TKD. When you say you are swtiching from one to the other you are saying that you are not only switching what you do physically, but also the way in which you look at MA, its goals, purposes, reasoning and so forth. I think you would grow more as a person if you forced yourself to stay with one art or the other and learn to accept it "warts-and-all", learn to pay the cost of longer commutes to class, and learn to deal with working out the humps and bumps in developing enduring relationships with fellow practitioners. It would be sacrey, grinding and demanding, but I think you would be a better person for it. FWIW.

Best Wishes,

Bruce

VDJ, I sent him an email yesterday. Depending on what he says, I'll have an idea of which style is best suited for me. The fact that the instructor is an ex-cop is great because that's the field I'm gonna be going into after I finish college. That's why I put such an emphasis in learning self defense and techniques that I can use in the real world. I'll let you know how things work out.

glad2behere, what would it take for you to agree with someones decision to leave a school or style? Would the instructor have to rape or murder a student? Or perhaps then you can still attend lessons during visiting hours in prison. What is the problem with him leaving the school? You seem to want people to have an insane devotion to their schools and style. He's done TKD for several years, and has found this is not what he wants in martial arts. He wants something different. Why should you accept something that you can change? He can easily go to a school that will teach him what he wants to learn. How will he grow more as a person by staying in the TKD school? By being miserable, wasting money on something he doesn't like, not getting the training he wants? Is that going to make him a "better person."