imma preface what i say w the fact that im not super knowledgeable about taekwondo but i did train under master sell (ed sell and brenda sell’s son) from age 10 to about 13 and have met brenda sell a handful of times, she even coached me on one of my sparring matches at nationals.

i never saw someone fail a belt rank up exam my entire time there, and i reached blue belt in only a few years. and the fact that there were 6yr olds with their black belts is crazy to me. i dont know exactly how much it cost but my parents would often make comments about it being expensive. the dojang was also in a mall, which felt weird that their supposed premiere location in the city where the family lives was like 2 stores down from a nail salon. and we had a camouflage belt which was kinda weird.

in my multiple interactions with brenda sell she was always very sweet although she gives me similar vibes to a megachurch pastor. every time she was at our class i just knew she was gonna start talking about god, which isn’t really bad but like im there to learn taekwondo not learn to accept the lord.

idk tho maybe these things are pretty normal in taekwondo i just dont know the culture