ha ha ha. i can't believe that a blue belt, with what, 6 months training is telling a psbn with, say, 10+ years of hard work and dedication that he should practice more! lol kickalot, if you are currently not a kuk sool student then what right have you got to bring a private issue between two highly respected instructors to a public forum? could you not see that it would start an argument? i do not have an alliegence(sp) to either party but obviously some people on here will have and of course they are going to be offended by whay you have said and done. your actions mirror those of tabloid journalists and paparazzi photographers who think nothing of those who they upset by prying into their business.
Whoa! Ok, thats me out of this thread. I probably taught you at Lakenheath somewhere along the line kickalot.
With all due respect, PSBN, I have to disagree. I think any system that utilizes a belt ranking system is going to involve politics at all levels. Take my situation, for example. Before I get started let me preface this post by saying I'm not slagging the art. I train hard and practice it because I enjoy it. However, I was practicing techniques with a Dahn Bo Nim yesterday. I'm a blue belt, right? I'm working on my Joong Geup Sohn Mahk Soo set. He didn't even know the last technique in the set. I'm not saying he didn't remember it. I'm saying I HAD TO SHOW HIM the technique. That, to me, is ridiculous. I'm three sets ahead of my belt level in techniques and one hyung up, but, I'm not on the testing sheet this month. I'm not bragging on myself, I practice diligently. I know I've got a tremendous amount of room for improvement. It seems pretty political, though, when I'm not getting promoted because people who have been there longer get upset that they aren't promoting as fast as new students, i.e. me, although I know and can perform the material on the syllabus better. I just grin ( ), bear it, and remind myself that I'm going to be that much better as an upperbelt as a result of it.
This is very true. Kickalot. I understand that you are upset about this, and when I heard about what was going on with a similar incident, I was very angry about it too. I understand that you are upset with the lack of respect shown to someone you hold up in high regard. I hold SBN Hart up in high regard as well, the highest. I wouldn't be his student if I didn't have the utmost respect for him. Please realize that it is out of respect that we do not want these matters brought up on a public board. Respect for both instructors, especially SBN Hart. What has been done has been done and bringing it up here will not remedy the situation. This needs to be handled by Mr. Hart and Mr. Cameron alone.
jsun. if you are that far ahead why are not doing the next grading? also it's not the dbn's fault that he doesn't know the last joong geup sohn mohk soo. its down to his instructor.
Yeah, I agree. The instructor should be keeping better tabs on his/her advanced students. If it's a large class that can be really hard obviously. Perhaps the DBN just had a mental block that day and couldn't remember it. It's happened to me before. Also, how is it you're learning sets that much in advance. If you already know you're stuff well enough to learn more advanced stuff the promotion should have happened. This is just question in general to anyone who reads this. Is it commonplace in anybody's school to vary this much from the syllabus?
this thread has gone well off topic, which is a good thing. i've never known anyone to be 3 sets of tech's and a whole form over their rank and not be put forward for a grading. that seems rather strange to me although when i did my first national test for JKN there was a group of students, presumably from the same club, that didn't know sohn pae ki's.
"I know..." with no disrespect intended to anyone, it is the greatest conceit to say, "I know..." (sohn mohk soo... ki cho hyung.... whatever) unless you are perhaps a kwangjangnym, and i suspect that the new white belt you are given upon graduation to 5th degree is a tangible reminder that you must always keep "the beginner's mind". i remember being told that suh, sung jin once spent six months studying ki cho hyung and that even afterward, he didn't feel like he "knew" it. so, no, you don't "know". that's why you practice. pet peeve of mine...can you tell?
Very good point! and for the most part I do agree with you. We should never let our aquired skills get to our heads. But I am sure they were using the phrase "I know" as in "I have learned and familiar with." I am sure there was no intention to brag. ^_^ but i do see where you are coming from and there is a lot of truth in that. I don't feel I "know" many of my forms or techniques as I would like to! especially techniques! I would like to do them when they are shouted out at random with out hesitation like my instructor can do! ^.^'
my first instructor used to tell us that. i usually tell kids the same, especially when they are getting bored with a certain thing and want to learn more. i just encourage them to improve and when i/we feel their ready to move on then they will.
I disagree. I can understand the basic premise of a technique. I remember the gross movements of the hands and footwork. However, as I stated in my original post, there's always room for improvement and refinement. I haven't "mastered" the technique, like a KJN, but I "know" I can certainly explain how to perform the technique to a beginner. KSW123 did a fine example of describing Ki Bon Soo #1 in one of his previous responses to my post regarding redirection of force. I don't believe he's reached his 5th dan yet. I do agree with you, though, on keeping a "beginner's mind." I wasn't trying to purvey a "greatest conceit." I was trying to display and example of the politics involved in a belt based ranking system. I might not "know" a technique completely, but if I can recall and perform that technique and a person who holds a ranking higher than me can't, well it appears to me that there's a problem within that heiarchal ranking system. Primarily that problem is politics. I don't train at a school club. I train at a for-profit establishment. Some students have been training there for a considerable greater amount of time than I have and payed a considerable more amount of monetary dues. However, they don't take the art nearly as serious as I do. I'm sure that the money plays a role in promotion decisions. I bought both textbooks when I started training. I probably study and train my Kuk Sool 1-3 hours a day. I make it a point to work out with people at the dojang who are further along their path than I am mine. I pay attention to what they are doing when they practice their techniques on me. I mentally run through my techniques regularly. I practice them executed in random order. I'm trying to "practice" how the KSN at my dojang teaches us to practice. That's how I'm ahead in my sets and hyung. Regardless of how fast I promote, that's how I'm going to continue to train. I honestly believe that Kuk Sool is tremendously beneficial in a physical and mental sense, but at this point, I'm still a little doubtful of it for practical self defense. I believe it takes years of practice for it to become "practical" and automatic. I use bits and pieces of it now when I grapple or spar, but I mix those techniques with other styles that I picked up over the years. That's the beauty of martial art. It's an individual's form of self expression and morphs according to how said individual performs it. If it works, is it ever really wrong? Just a thought...
Wow, and I thought I was getting the short stick here. Good for you for sticking with it jsun, and I hope you get what you deserve for your diligence Though of course probably the only reason I don't know any red belt stuff yet is because I have been deliberately slowed down in my training, which has been making me quite mad. Don't get me wrong, I'm practicing, I'm dealing with it, I'm not about to quit a good system because of a temporary frustration. But that doesn't change the fact that I feel as though I have been lied to and passed over.
JKNEIEIOMMC all your threads come accross as if you are full of self importance. To me it seems like the only reason you have joined this forum is to massage your own ego and put the thoughts, opinions and abilities of everyone else down. Not just on this thread which I started which im glad to see has fizzled to an end but all the threads you post, you are continulay mocking the opinions and abilities of others. Any form of Martial Art teaches one to have a sense of self control, you are full of aggression and i feel if you were graded on you would be a white belt! And anyone who feels it is acceptable to agree and support someone who is rude and puts down belts below him, just because he doesnt agree and thinks he is right as he is a higher grade, also doesnt deserve the belt that they have. I wish you all a succesful career
WHOA!! I'm not here to blow my own trumpet at all. I only stated that you shouldn't talk about other instructors when it has nothing do with you as well as not using that as a reason to not come back to Kuk Sool. My own personal belief is let others get on with there stuff and concentrate on my own training, not in a selfish way. What I mean is that I know I need to train harder as we all do, so wasting time and energy worrying about other people wouldn't be helping me progress. A web forum is here for people to voice there opinions and beliefs not broadcast stories of other instructors. If you don't like mine then so be it. I'm not expecting everyone to agree with me. I simply base my beliefs and opinions based of my life experiences in and out of martial arts. Belts and rank are irrelevant in a sense. What I show respect to is the lifetime dedication that people put into martial arts. Someone in the US for example will have led a different life to myself so there outlook on something will be different to that of mines. An opinion or belief can't be wrong because it is what that particular person believes. I will never say that I am right because I hold a higher belt than someone. You have to remember that someone that has trained in MA for 1-2 years will have a different perception than that of Martial Artist of 15 years. I can see where this is leading to so I'll leave it at this. Thanks
Hmmm, obviously not wanting to stir any trouble here but aren't some people contradicting themselves on these forums stating one opininion on one subject and then another on other ones. On here JKNEIEIOMMC is talking all about discipline and etiquette in martial arts yet on another subject i find him slating people who participate in demonstrations. He says that everybody does martial arts for different reasons on here and should be respected for that, yet on the other subject he says demonstrations are only for the best of the best. Quoting who these best are. Hmmm these best as he so call them i have also seen compete in kuk sool tournaments, i think these are closed events, and although very good martial artists, i seem to recall them being beaten quite comprehensively by the Slack brothers at the last two or three tournaments. Yet i find no mention of these brothers anywhere in his who's who of kuk sool great britain. Guess it must have been fluke, after all its not like they train hard or anything. lol I also believe that the journey that he describes in here is also about how you carry yourself when in civilians is it not??? becoming a better person and all that. This would be the same person then who is so anal he has korean language tattooed on his back that is spelt wrong oops, and walks around like he has two carpets under his arms at every tournament. Mind you its not his fault after all monkey see monkey do and all these so called great instructors that he lists can be found at anytime stood around a ring either slating the judges for themselves not winning or saying how crap everyone else is. You know what boys "stars don't brag they shine" and as for saying that your training is real. How many British,European,or World vale tuda champions are currently practicing at your school. Again sorry for being an ass and bringing this <<edited>> up again but the Monk can no longer sit and listen to <<edited>> in silence. Nice picture Air Nick the guy who took that must be a god ;o) lol Oh and next point for discussion why do people always talk up people they are scared of ????? surely a big toe can't be that scarey lol oh by the way NIck yes it is who you think it is the picture bit kinda gives it away i think never could keep my mouth shut long you know me though please keep the monks identity under wraps for now ) lol
Silentmonk and Scotland have had a good chat privately. The way all this should have been sorted out. The rift I hope has been sorted and hopefully we can all move on from here. The monk can go back to being silent. Ah peace and tranquility in my cave isn't it nice. lol Sorry if my comments have swayed your opinion of Kuk Sool In anyway the Scotish schools are really good, i was just trying to point out that perspective is needed in anything. After all when your white belt you never think you'll learn Ki Cho Hyung but hopefully when you are a brown belt it is second nature. Though for some people it still isn't and i think that this is the point they were trying to get across. Be honest with yourself the only person you can cheat in the rush to achieve a darker belt is yourself. But we all live with our own belts and we are the only ones who wear them. Again i retract anything that may be taken in a detrimental way and hopefully Scotland and monkdom are again on the same pitch kicking the same way. )
I would first have to ask how old this DBN is. If they are under 13, or only recently turned 13, then they were only required to know up to Mak Cha Ki in order to obtain DBN. And I will concur with Paul, I have occasionally had mental blocks myself, where I totally blank on a technique. It is difficult for a DBN to get through all of their techniques in a given class. JSun is definitely on the right path by reviewing techniques in his mind and on his own at home. I would have to question whether JSun is three sets ahead on his techniques because of reading it out of the book, or being shown by an instructor. There is a huge difference. One of my fellow DBNs was way ahead of me in techniques at the beginning of the year, supposedly because he had gotten them from the book. But in the intervening time he has forgotten most of them, where I have not. At our school it is semi-common to start students one form ahead of their belt rank. For example, a blue belt may be started on Goh Geup Hyung. However, we do not teach any more than one form ahead. In addition, we do not learn Gum Mool Hyung until after one's first Black Belt test. As far as techniques go, at the lower ranks it is not uncommon for the students who are diligent and remember well to be a few techniques ahead, possibly starting the next belt set a few weeks before one tests. However, by the time an adult gets to about red belt or so (old curriculum), Ahp Eue Bok Soo and Dee Eue Bok Soo are such long sets that we usually get the last technique shortly before testing.
Quick word guys: please keep the bad language off the forum. This includes starring out words to bypass the filter, abbreviating profanity, etc. Thanks
