I have a concern about the attitudes of people in martial arts classes. I know taekwondo is an individual undertaking. In a sense, there is no team. It is something you do. It is for your own self-improvement. But in another sense, we don't do it alone.
We all have teachers. I know there are a lot of books on the martial arts and you can learn a great deal from books. But books have limitations. You need the help of an instructor to learn taekwondo.
We also have classmates who help us. They help teach us and they are our partners during one step sparring and prearranged sparring. They challenge us during free fighting. In all this, we have friends who help us progress.
But there is an individual mentality that seems to permeate the martial arts schools. When I was learning (and I still am learning) I studied on military bases under American instructors who taught us to fight. They pushed us hard. But through it all we had a sense that we were all one class. We were a family and our classmates were our friends. We trained hard and we fought hard against each other, but when we bowed out at the end, we went home friends. We had no desire to hurt one another and made no plans to cause someone to get hurt. Even in our free fighting we had no desire to either hurt or to get hurt. We were friends. We fought hard but we watched out for each other and took care of each other.
I am afraid a lot of fighters today are forgetting that. They are in it for themselves and they forget to take care of their friends.
We all know that we are taekwondo fighters ... fighters ... when you step into the ring there is always a chance that we could get hurt. I see fighters today who take a good in the side of their head and immediately go back to do as much damage as possible to the person who hit them. We forget that we are friends and having fun so it is easy to get angry and want to hurt the person who hurt us.
My friends, anger, revenge, cheap shots, wild shots, these things have no place in the taekwondo dojang. Our master is our father in the art. The senior instructors are our older brothers and sisters. We are all each other's brothers and sisters. Inside the dojang, we are a family. We are friends. My dad would say "kinfolk." We watch each other's backs. We take care of each other. We are surprised and saddened when we hurt someone accidentally. And we never ever go out to intentionally inflict pain and suffering on one of classmates ... one of our kinfolk. I suggest we all have a heart check about where our minds and hearts are really at when we step onto the practice floor. We really need to think about what we are doing.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Friends and Family
I have thought a lot about how a tae kwon do school is run. I think there are some things the Chinese can teach us here. In the kung fu schools (kwoons) there is a mentality about the school that I think is worthy of of imitating.
In many kung fu clubs or schools the sifu (teacher) is looked on as the father (or mother if the sifu is a woman) of a family. The students then, are the children within the family. The senior student is the oldest brother (or sister) and the rest of the family knows it's place by seniority within the school.
This family mentality has a lot of advantages to how the school is operated. Let me name just a few.
First, we are all friends. I know that growing up I fought sometimes with my brothers and sisters. But at the end of the day we were all still family, kin as my dad would say. There was a way of treating kinfolk that was different than how we treated outsiders. Even during our worst fights we were still kin. We are all friends.
Second, kin watches out for kin. We go to class to learn how to fight better. All of us are there to teach and learn. We help each other grow in the art of tae kwon do. Even though we want to do well for ourselves, we want to help everyone else succeed too. So we help each other. We watch out for each other. We protect each other.
Third, there is respect for our older siblings. Our father takes care of us and teaches us and we give him the honor and respect that is due to him. The same goes for our older siblings in the art. When they speak, we listen. When they give commands, we obey.
Oftentimes in class, when we see a younger student or a lower ranking student struggling with something, we are so caught up in our own "thing" that we pass them by without a second thought. Or when we free fight, we see our opponent as an enemy to be conquered. We pride ourselves on how many people we can defeat and how we get a reputation in the school for being dangerous to spar against. But all these kinds of attitudes work against what the school is trying to accomplish.
I think the agenda of a school can be greatly advanced if we walk into class and see our classmates as our brothers and sisters ... people we care about deeply. We need instructors who see their students as their own children. In such an atmosphere we can practice tae kwon do in safety and enjoyment knowing that each of us is watching out for all the rest of us. Together we can be friends and family. It is an idea worth thinking hard about.
In many kung fu clubs or schools the sifu (teacher) is looked on as the father (or mother if the sifu is a woman) of a family. The students then, are the children within the family. The senior student is the oldest brother (or sister) and the rest of the family knows it's place by seniority within the school.
This family mentality has a lot of advantages to how the school is operated. Let me name just a few.
First, we are all friends. I know that growing up I fought sometimes with my brothers and sisters. But at the end of the day we were all still family, kin as my dad would say. There was a way of treating kinfolk that was different than how we treated outsiders. Even during our worst fights we were still kin. We are all friends.
Second, kin watches out for kin. We go to class to learn how to fight better. All of us are there to teach and learn. We help each other grow in the art of tae kwon do. Even though we want to do well for ourselves, we want to help everyone else succeed too. So we help each other. We watch out for each other. We protect each other.
Third, there is respect for our older siblings. Our father takes care of us and teaches us and we give him the honor and respect that is due to him. The same goes for our older siblings in the art. When they speak, we listen. When they give commands, we obey.
Oftentimes in class, when we see a younger student or a lower ranking student struggling with something, we are so caught up in our own "thing" that we pass them by without a second thought. Or when we free fight, we see our opponent as an enemy to be conquered. We pride ourselves on how many people we can defeat and how we get a reputation in the school for being dangerous to spar against. But all these kinds of attitudes work against what the school is trying to accomplish.
I think the agenda of a school can be greatly advanced if we walk into class and see our classmates as our brothers and sisters ... people we care about deeply. We need instructors who see their students as their own children. In such an atmosphere we can practice tae kwon do in safety and enjoyment knowing that each of us is watching out for all the rest of us. Together we can be friends and family. It is an idea worth thinking hard about.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Representing
It is an awesome thing to be able to teach tae kwon do to folks. The best, to me, is to be the head instructor ... to be the chief teacher in my own studio. I am sure it is that way for other instructors too. But as a school grows it is natural for the head instructor to hire or appoint assistant instructors to help teach the growing group of students.
These new instructors soon find out that they are no longer simply individual students in the school, but now they have a much higher profile. As Peter Parker says in the Spiderman movies, "With great power comes great responsibility." The new instructor now represents the school he teaches at. That can mean a lot of things, but one thing it certainly means is that the new instructor is a public figure and as such, has to watch how they conduct themselves in the public eye.
Many schools have web pages to show who they are to the town they are located in. Oftentimes they will list the instructors in the school. In today's information rich world, you can find out almost anything about anybody very quickly. That means if I am researching a tae kwon do school and want to know about the instructors, I can find them on the school's homepage. Then I can do a Google search and see everything about them on the internet. Then I can look at their MySpace and Facebook pages to see how they behave with other people. In a day or two, I can see a good representation of everything they have written, seen or said in recent weeks or months. An instructor has to stay aware of the fact that all this material also represents the school they teach at.
Ultimately, this all reflects in their instructor. It is really him (or her) more than the school that they represent.
This post is aimed at no one in particular and everyone in general. It is food for thought. If you are a teacher, it is worth meditating on.
These new instructors soon find out that they are no longer simply individual students in the school, but now they have a much higher profile. As Peter Parker says in the Spiderman movies, "With great power comes great responsibility." The new instructor now represents the school he teaches at. That can mean a lot of things, but one thing it certainly means is that the new instructor is a public figure and as such, has to watch how they conduct themselves in the public eye.
Many schools have web pages to show who they are to the town they are located in. Oftentimes they will list the instructors in the school. In today's information rich world, you can find out almost anything about anybody very quickly. That means if I am researching a tae kwon do school and want to know about the instructors, I can find them on the school's homepage. Then I can do a Google search and see everything about them on the internet. Then I can look at their MySpace and Facebook pages to see how they behave with other people. In a day or two, I can see a good representation of everything they have written, seen or said in recent weeks or months. An instructor has to stay aware of the fact that all this material also represents the school they teach at.
Ultimately, this all reflects in their instructor. It is really him (or her) more than the school that they represent.
This post is aimed at no one in particular and everyone in general. It is food for thought. If you are a teacher, it is worth meditating on.
Monday, May 9, 2011
I will respect my instructors and seniors ...
Tae Kwon Do is a pathway. We are all somewhere along the path. There are some who are behind us and there are some who have passed ahead of us. The pathway of Tae Kwon Do is hard and those who have gone before us help us progress when they become our teachers. Therefore, it is good and right that we honor them with the respect that is due to them.
Part of this is built into the belt ranking system and part into the way a class is run.
The colored belts tell us where we all stand in relation to one another. If you are a green belt you can walk into a class, even a foreign class, and tell immediately where you are in the line of students. It is the same way among the black belts. First through third degrees are experts. Fourth through sixth degrees are masters and seventh degrees and above are grandmasters. To achieve such ranks means that one has earned the respect of the underbelts by virtue of the work involved getting to such a position.
But respect is not only awarded, it is also earned. In the class itself we have people who teach, who give of themselves to pass the art of Tae Kwon Do on to those who are coming after us. It is also right to give respect to those who give themselves to us.
The second line of the student oath "I will respect my instructors and seniors." This tells us that respect is given to those to whom respect is due. White belts respect yellow belts, because the yellow belt is senior to the white belt. Yellow belts respect the orange belts and so on. Everyone honors their instructors. And the instructors honor those who taught them. It is the way of Tae Kwon Do to give such respect.
You show that respect in dozens of ways. How you bow, how you speak, for example, your tone of voice are two ways respect can be demonstrated. How well you pay attention and follow instructions is another way. Certainly, if you are reading this you can think of other ways to show respect to those who are your seniors and teachers.
The second line of the Tae Kwon Do student oath, it is part of the Tae Kwon Do way.
Part of this is built into the belt ranking system and part into the way a class is run.
The colored belts tell us where we all stand in relation to one another. If you are a green belt you can walk into a class, even a foreign class, and tell immediately where you are in the line of students. It is the same way among the black belts. First through third degrees are experts. Fourth through sixth degrees are masters and seventh degrees and above are grandmasters. To achieve such ranks means that one has earned the respect of the underbelts by virtue of the work involved getting to such a position.
But respect is not only awarded, it is also earned. In the class itself we have people who teach, who give of themselves to pass the art of Tae Kwon Do on to those who are coming after us. It is also right to give respect to those who give themselves to us.
The second line of the student oath "I will respect my instructors and seniors." This tells us that respect is given to those to whom respect is due. White belts respect yellow belts, because the yellow belt is senior to the white belt. Yellow belts respect the orange belts and so on. Everyone honors their instructors. And the instructors honor those who taught them. It is the way of Tae Kwon Do to give such respect.
You show that respect in dozens of ways. How you bow, how you speak, for example, your tone of voice are two ways respect can be demonstrated. How well you pay attention and follow instructions is another way. Certainly, if you are reading this you can think of other ways to show respect to those who are your seniors and teachers.
The second line of the Tae Kwon Do student oath, it is part of the Tae Kwon Do way.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
I am a third degree black belt
Now don't get me wrong, this is not bragging nor is it pride. It is awe. I grew up in the suburbs of Washington D.C. I was the skinny nerd the whole time I was growing up. I have absolutely no athletic ability at all. None. Everything I have learned to do I have had to learn through blood, sweat, and tears. When I arrived at Air Force basic training in the summer of 1975, seven days after graduating from high school, I was 5' 10" tall and all of 132 pounds. The Air Force sent me to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa in the spring of 1978 and I soon signed up for Judo classes. But I had very little upper body strength and spent a lot of time staring at the ceiling. A year later I had a chance to switch to tae kwon do and I did. I have been there ever since. It is said that a person who attends classes on a regular basis, and sticks with his or her studies, can expect to receive their first degree black belt in 2 1/2 to 3 years. It took me 5. When I was promoted to first dan (1st degree black belt) I thought I had arrived. It was an incredible feat for someone like me. I never thought I'd get that far. I had not been in many fights in my lifetime and the ones that I had been in always had me coming out the loser. I promised myself to learn not to be anyone's victim ever again. I thought I'd study enough karate to not have to be a pushover for anyone. I was so proud when I made that 1st degree promotion. It was December 1984 when I got my first degree. Now it is March of 2011 and I get my third degree. I never thought I'd go so far. But I would have done nothing without the friendship and support of my teacher and friend Grandmaster Richard Osborn Jr. and his group of black belts and students at Next Level Sport Karate in Springfield, Missouri. Without their help and encouragement I would still be sitting on the couch watching movies and thinking how neat it would be to get back involved in taekwondo. Without them all I would be nowhere near where I am now. A few notes about the test. They did not make me do as many things as they could have but the things they made me do pushed me to my limits. I have never seen a group of instructors who were so fond of push ups. It has been 4 days since the test and I am still sore in places I did not know I could be sore in. A funny moment occurred while I was performing the form HwaRang. In the beginning of the form I managed to punch myself in the side of my head. I am amazed I have gotten this far. I will be forever grateful to Master Richard and his staff and students for the great favor they have honored me with. I will not forget what they have done for me. All I can say is "Wow!"
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Ozark Mountain Nationals Open Karate Championships
This past weekend I attended and competed in the Ozark Mountain Nationals Open Karate Championships. It was a tournament hosted by the owner of Next Level Sport Karate dojang (training hall) in Springfield. Richard Osborn Jr. did an outstanding job hosting this event.
Richard hopes this event will grow to become a large regional event. This past weekend had just under 100 competitors. The event was well run and went smoothly. I have little doubt that, in time, the event will grow. In my opinion, it ought to. It is well worth every person's time to attend.
I started this post to say something nice about Richard's tournament. It was a good tournament. If you missed it this year, don't miss it next year. Not to have this tournament on your calendar is your loss.
For myself, I was my division so I won by default. Cool huh? Until you realize that made me eligible to fight for grand champion. My fight was against Derek Gillis, a fourth degree black belt from Richard Jr's school. I have sparred against him before in class. It was funny, before the fight he gave me a hug. I took it as an apology in advance for the beating he was about to give me. In retrospect, I think I was right.
Derek is about 6 inches taller than I am, about my weight and feels like an Abrams tank when he hits you. The most memorable hits were the shot to the forehead, the knee under the ribs and the reverse punch to the rib cage. I was on the receiving end of all those shots. I got two in of my own but I was happy when the timekeeper called "time!" (may the Lord bless him). Suffice it to say, I don't have the grand champion trophy at my house. Nonetheless, I would not have passed up that fight for anything.
Next year, be there. You gotta love this stuff.
Richard hopes this event will grow to become a large regional event. This past weekend had just under 100 competitors. The event was well run and went smoothly. I have little doubt that, in time, the event will grow. In my opinion, it ought to. It is well worth every person's time to attend.
I started this post to say something nice about Richard's tournament. It was a good tournament. If you missed it this year, don't miss it next year. Not to have this tournament on your calendar is your loss.
For myself, I was my division so I won by default. Cool huh? Until you realize that made me eligible to fight for grand champion. My fight was against Derek Gillis, a fourth degree black belt from Richard Jr's school. I have sparred against him before in class. It was funny, before the fight he gave me a hug. I took it as an apology in advance for the beating he was about to give me. In retrospect, I think I was right.
Derek is about 6 inches taller than I am, about my weight and feels like an Abrams tank when he hits you. The most memorable hits were the shot to the forehead, the knee under the ribs and the reverse punch to the rib cage. I was on the receiving end of all those shots. I got two in of my own but I was happy when the timekeeper called "time!" (may the Lord bless him). Suffice it to say, I don't have the grand champion trophy at my house. Nonetheless, I would not have passed up that fight for anything.
Next year, be there. You gotta love this stuff.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
An Endorsement
As the owner of Lionheart Taekwondo, I endorse Delores Uhl and Forever in Time Professional Photography Studio as the sole photographers for the Lionheart Studio. They are our sole source of publicity photos and sports action photos for the school. Forever In time operates out of the Poplar Bluff area. If you need a photographer, find Delores and Forever in Time on Facebook. We do.
Monday, January 17, 2011
I am a student of Tae Kwon Do
That is the first line of the student oath. It says a lot.
It tells us first that we are people who study Tae Kwon Do (TKD). TKD is a martial art studied for sport and defense. It is taught to combat troops. It is dangerous. Therefore we need to be constantly aware of what we are doing. We need to be cognizant of ourselves and our surroundings. That is one benefit of studying tae kwon do. Focus, discipline, concentration, awareness ... these are qualities that are developed by studying something potentially dangerous.
The line also reminds us that we are students. We are constant learners. It doesn't matter if you are a white belt, black belt, master or grandmaster. No one, no matter how good he or she is, knows everything. There is always room for improvement. We are humans, therefore, we are imperfect. And since perfection is always just out of our reach, we can keep pressing to become better and better. None of us have reached that lofty pinnacle wherein we have nothing else to learn. Even the grandmaster is just an advanced student. We are all learning.
One last thing I notice is this ... that (at least) in English, "student" is a unisex word. It is neither male nor female. All of us, men and women, who have taken up this study, are students. I have trained with men and women in various dojangs and gyms and I have found both sexes to be very capable students of tae kwon do. In our class, our school, we are all friends, even family. There is no room for a sexist attitude. There is no reason for someone to begin to think they are superior to anyone else by virtue of the gender they were born with. We are all there to help ourselves and to help each other grow in the art of tae kwon do.
The first line of the student oath says so much. "I am a student of Tae Kwon Do." Yes, I am.
It tells us first that we are people who study Tae Kwon Do (TKD). TKD is a martial art studied for sport and defense. It is taught to combat troops. It is dangerous. Therefore we need to be constantly aware of what we are doing. We need to be cognizant of ourselves and our surroundings. That is one benefit of studying tae kwon do. Focus, discipline, concentration, awareness ... these are qualities that are developed by studying something potentially dangerous.
The line also reminds us that we are students. We are constant learners. It doesn't matter if you are a white belt, black belt, master or grandmaster. No one, no matter how good he or she is, knows everything. There is always room for improvement. We are humans, therefore, we are imperfect. And since perfection is always just out of our reach, we can keep pressing to become better and better. None of us have reached that lofty pinnacle wherein we have nothing else to learn. Even the grandmaster is just an advanced student. We are all learning.
One last thing I notice is this ... that (at least) in English, "student" is a unisex word. It is neither male nor female. All of us, men and women, who have taken up this study, are students. I have trained with men and women in various dojangs and gyms and I have found both sexes to be very capable students of tae kwon do. In our class, our school, we are all friends, even family. There is no room for a sexist attitude. There is no reason for someone to begin to think they are superior to anyone else by virtue of the gender they were born with. We are all there to help ourselves and to help each other grow in the art of tae kwon do.
The first line of the student oath says so much. "I am a student of Tae Kwon Do." Yes, I am.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Forgotten Words
From the time I was a young (in the art) student of tae kwon do at Hill AFB in Utah, my instructor made us recite a student oath at the end of every class. I visited several other classes over my Air Force years and all of them used the student oath or a variation of it. I have even seen it mentioned on various websites and in a couple of tae kwon do magazines. It goes like this ...
I am a student of Tae Kwon Do.
I will respect my instructors and seniors.
I will never misuse Tae Kwon Do.
I will be a champion of freedom and justice.
I will help to build a more peaceful world.
I had a long lay off in tae kwon do since the early 1990s. Since I have been back, I have not seen the student oath hardly at all. I wonder about that. A friend mentioned to me tonight about seeing tae kwon do students on some websites who seem violent and angry and threatening to hurt other people or to "kick their ***". I wonder if they are being taught that tae kwon do is for defense not attack. I wonder if they know that our ultimate aim to build a better self and a better world through peace.
I wonder if the student oath is being forgotten. I hope not. As I read it, I realize, they are good words. I hope they are not forgotten words.
I am a student of Tae Kwon Do.
I will respect my instructors and seniors.
I will never misuse Tae Kwon Do.
I will be a champion of freedom and justice.
I will help to build a more peaceful world.
I had a long lay off in tae kwon do since the early 1990s. Since I have been back, I have not seen the student oath hardly at all. I wonder about that. A friend mentioned to me tonight about seeing tae kwon do students on some websites who seem violent and angry and threatening to hurt other people or to "kick their ***". I wonder if they are being taught that tae kwon do is for defense not attack. I wonder if they know that our ultimate aim to build a better self and a better world through peace.
I wonder if the student oath is being forgotten. I hope not. As I read it, I realize, they are good words. I hope they are not forgotten words.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Hello to the World
Hello everyone. I am John Sneed and I am the owner and chief instructor at Lionheart Taekwondo. Currently I am in Springfield, Missouri. Later this summer, I will be operating in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.
I will be using this blog to chronicle the happenings at the school and with me as I get ready to open and bring the school into full operation. I am currently training with Grandmaster Richard Osborn Jr. in Springfield. I have a date shortly after Easter to test for my third degree black belt.
For now, it is enough that the blog is up and running. Stay tuned, there is a lot going on.
I will be using this blog to chronicle the happenings at the school and with me as I get ready to open and bring the school into full operation. I am currently training with Grandmaster Richard Osborn Jr. in Springfield. I have a date shortly after Easter to test for my third degree black belt.
For now, it is enough that the blog is up and running. Stay tuned, there is a lot going on.
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