that will be beneficial to me?
3. Does the senior instructor teach the class, or does he have his students teach the class?
4. Are the beginning students treated with respect?
5. Are the white belts (beginners) at the school left to learn the techniques completely on their own, or are there advanced students helping them on their way?
6. How long has the school been in business?
7. Is the school affiliated with a large taekwondo governing body, or is it teaching an independent style?
8. Is the school's primary focus on self-defense or competition?
9. What are the belt promotion standards for the school (how long does it take to advance between belts, and what is the price of promotion)?
10. Do I have to sign a contract when I join the school, or are payments made on a month-to-month basis?
The Hype
When you go to watch a class for the first time, you will probably be given the hard sell by the instructor or one of the senior members of the school. They will usually attempt to convince you that their school is the best in the area, and that all other schools are not up to their level of expertise. This is a very common practice, so it is essential that you do not allow yourself to be drawn into a school that you do not truly wish to attend.
Some schools allow you to take a free introductory class. This is an exceptional way to decide if a school is right for you. With a free class you get to actually experience a school's method of training.
The Instructor
An obvious selling method in taekwondo is for an instructor to list all of his accomplishments. A taekwondo instructor's credentials are, obviously, an essential element in making your decision about where you will train. Accomplishments, however, do not necessarily mean that a particular taekwondo instructor is a dedicated teacher or the right instructor for you. Just because an instructor tells you that he is a "World Champion," "Ninth-Degree Black Belt," "Supreme Grand Master," or "Olympic Coach," don't assume that he is a competent instructor. When seeking out a school of taekwondo, you must weigh the instructor's accomplishments against his teaching ability.
It is essential to keep in mind that many taekwondo instructors have relocated from South Korea. Taekwondo training in South Korea is vastly different from what one commonly experiences in the West. It is much more intense. For example, the average Western student would not appreciate being struck with a bamboo shaft when he performs a technique incorrectly. This, however, is a very common occurrence in the schools of taekwondo in South Korea. Some teachers bring this training method with them, so you must find a school where the instructor meets your specific training needs. The only way to do this is to observe the class.
The Contract
Schools of taekwondo are martial arts businesses. In recent years it has become a common practice for schools to require new students to sign contracts. These contracts cover a prescribed period of time—anywhere from three months to three years.
Commonly, the longer you sign up for, the less your monthly payments. Although this sounds good, it does have a downside.
The student contracts presented at a martial arts studio normally specify that you must pay your monthly membership fee whether you attend classes or not. If you spend a few weeks at the school, discover that you hate it, and quit, you will still be responsible for paying the monthly fee until your contract has expired.
Ideally, before entering into any contract, you may want to sign up for a month to get a clear picture of what the school's training program actually entails and to see how much progress you make in that time. If the school management refuses to let you do this, it will give you a clearer idea of the school's motivation—money, as opposed to true taekwondo training.
SEVERAL FORMALITIES have been incorporated into the curriculum of taekwondo, to encourage students to express respect for the art, their school, their senior practitioners, and their teacher. The first thing one notices in a taekwondo class is the uniform.
The Dobok
The dobok is the training uniform a taekwondo student wears during classes. It consists of loosely fitting pants, a loosely fitting top, and a belt.
The beginning student of taekwondo wears a white dobok. As the student of taekwondo is just beginning his journey through the art, he also wears a white belt with his dobok.
The novice taekwondo student is taught from the very beginning that he must respect his dobok. He must keep it clean and fold it appropriately after training.
Wearing the Dobok
Showing respect for the dobok demonstrates respect for the art of taekwondo, for one's school of taekwondo, and for one's instructor. For this reason, the taekwondo uniform should never be worn on the streets. A student should arrive at class with plenty of time to change from his normal street clothing into his dobok. By doing this, the student honors taekwondo by keeping this essential element of the art from inappropriate environmental exposure.
The dobok is designed to be the ideal garment to wear during taekwondo training, so the student is never allowed to make modifications to the uniform. Modifications even as trivial as rolling up the sleeves on a hot day are not allowed. It is understood that altering a dobok in any way expresses disrespect for taekwondo. Therefore, this is never done.
The Taekwondo Belt System
Taekwondo practitioners wear different colored belts to symbolize the level of expertise they have achieved in the art. There are nine steps and five colored belts in the promotional system of taekwondo. The belts are: white, yellow, blue, red, and black. Although these are the formalized belt colors of taekwondo, some schools have added additional colors as a motivational tool for the students.
The colors of the belts are symbolic of taekwondo's philosophic basis. At the root of this idea are the beginning and ending belts: white and black.
The student of taekwondo begins training as a white belt. He progresses through the rank system from ninth gup, or "grade," to first gup. This descending manner of ranking symbolizes that the taekwondo student is ascending toward black-belt status.
The white belt and the black belt symbolize um and yang. This ancient philosophic concept is more commonly known as the Chinese principles yin and yang.
The concept of um and yang describes the interlinking diversity of this universe. White symbolizes day, while black symbolizes night. White represents lightness, as black represents fullness. White is purity, whereas black is knowledge, and so on.
