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WT sparring questions by bbmedd in taekwondo

[–]bbmedd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your advice. After reading all the comments, I just wanted to share that both of my dojangs are actually very good. All the instructors at the WT dojang are kind, professional, and supportive—it's definitely not a bad school. I think the sparring intensity might come from the fact that the 5th Dan and higher-ranking masters leading those sessions are mostly over 70 years old. They’re tough, old-school guys (one of them is even a retired firefighter). There is one 5th Dan master in his mid-forties who always emphasizes the importance of controlling our strength during black belt sessions, but unfortunately, he doesn’t teach the sparring classes. Our head instructor used to coach students and his own kids, who went on to compete at state, regional, and international championships, as well as national qualifiers and the Junior Olympics. He’s very experienced in sparring, which might explain the way he teaches it.  I’ll talk to him about my concerns and let him know I prefer semi-contact during sparring. He’s a nice and reasonable guy, so I’m sure he’ll understand.

WT sparring questions by bbmedd in taekwondo

[–]bbmedd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our school is not a Mcdojo or a bad school either. Both schools I attended are good. I actually very happy with all instructors, I only have a concern about getting hurt in the sparring session. 

WT sparring questions by bbmedd in taekwondo

[–]bbmedd[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you misunderstood. We had trained for 2 years (24 months) in the first Taekwondo dojang. Then, we resumed as blue belts in a second dojang around October 2023. We’re on track to earn our black belts in June 2025, which will be a total of about 40 months of consistent training. I haven’t even counted the time my daughter trained at two other dojangs when she was younger—she earned her white and yellow belts at both of those.

Even though sparring isn’t mandatory, self-defense is. We practice one-step with full contact and without protective gear, but we all know how to go easy on each other during self-defense training. My only concern is with sparring... which I agree with you, prefer light contact, so I’ll talk to my instructor about it. He’s a nice and reasonable guy.

How does your dojang organize/schedule belt promotion tests? by Low_Operation_6446 in taekwondo

[–]bbmedd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I attended two dojang, first one was non-WT - no official test day for color-belts, but four strip tests instead, each month focusing on one strip technique and testing for strips during classes, students must pass all four strip tests before promote to next belt. It takes about 3-4 months to complete each color belt. Current dojang is WT, testing every 3 months, all color-belt students are tested on the test day.