We're called the United States Tang Soo Do Alliance. There are many small federations like mine around. There are advantages and disadvantages to being in a small organization. I prefer it over the ITF, indefinitely. Just a personal opinion.
il agree on that, it seems everytiem my instructor goes to see Chun Jae Nim, he comes back and something else has changed. take into account ive been studying for 10-11months, and hes gone to america 4 or 5 times
You're in the ITF? That'd put you under Chung Jae Nim Kim Chun Sik. He's a great and fun person to be around, but I don't prefer his politics.
We are an independant organisation - Tiger Gym [International]. Tiger Gym was set up by one of Hwang Kee's original student's (Grandmaster Han) in 1960 in Seoul, Korea. Tiger Gym International started in 1992. Apparently Grandmaster Hwang Kee's nickname for Grandmaster Han was "Tiger", hence the name of the organisation. We follow the original Moo Duk Kwan, before all the other stuff was added.
yea i am, ive heard all sorts of stories that hes a great man, and really powerful etc, but i dont see why he changees everything all the time, the last thing hes changed was pretty tedious. what do you meann about his politidcs?
Politics as in the way he runs the ITF. Mostly along the lines of making personal changes and saying "that's the correct way". Also, as you mentioned, he'll go back and forth on a lot of things. It can be tedious. Don't get me wrong, I have trained in a couple of seminars with him and I travelled to Korea with him and 80 others a few years back. He's a very smart man and a great martial artist. I hold a lot of respect for him, but that doesn't mean I won't express my nuances to his policies. As I said, it's personal opinion. That's just my two cents worth.
thats cool with me, i feel the same, for example, the double block movement on pyung ahn sam dan has changed to at least 10 positions over the past few years, my Kyo Sa was telling me, its as if he cant decide where he wants to put the hands.... its really silly cause they'll go back to what they were anyway lol first lesson tomoro since thursday, im really missing my tang soo.. damn bank holidays.
had my tourniment today, came first in forms, got to the semis in sparring and i got an 8.7 in breaking (i missed the first attempt - jump back kick) so i didnt get a trophey there either which sucked. but was great to be the national champ 10-4th gup adult men especially when your brothe rcame third. get my green belt on tuesday now woo
Congratulations. If tournaments are your goal, then go ahead and pursue it. Jumping back kick can be tricky. Takes some practice and focus to do it as a break. Also make sure to get your eyes around to the target before the moment of impact.
I was in teh I.T.F for several years as my instructor GM Richard Byrne and his organization (American Tang Soo Do Association) had joined the I.T.F. I loved GM C.S. Kim's charisma and obvious love of the art. He was a great icon and idol for a young man like myself. There were a ton of changes, and they were constant. He added Bassai So, and Pyung Ahn one steps about 3 months before my 2nd dan test. I had to learn those for the test. He did the same thing with Chil Song forms before my Cho dan test. i had to learn 3 Chil Song for my dan test in two months. LOL Every time he came around we payed $45 to learn a new old thing that would change as sure as the sun would cross the sky. I didn't really mind too much, but I know it angered a lot of people. T.M Kim was the real pain to me. He and his kids were racists and elitests. if any of you were at the 2nd I.T.F. world tourney in Georgia, you may remember the team competition. We nearly had a riot because T.M. Kim's son who was an organizer and not in uniform entered a ring pushed the judge aside, brought the the person his brother was fighting over to the edge of the ring and kicked him with loafers on. Well Joe Goss Jr. had to be physically restrained because he was going to wreck him. The tension was palpable. However, at that same tournament I had fought for the Boston, Mass team and fought againt one Of Master Williams black belts from Wales. It was the best match up I have ever fought. he was a great match for me. We had a lot of fun even though some no name Korean in a suit was the center judge and was screwing up the scores and confusing the snot out of us. LOL I was up 2-1 and scored another point. He gave me the point and we proceeeded. Of course 3 points means victory, but we were having a great time. Someone stopped the match and pointed this out to him. he was confused because he prolly spoke 3 words of English, anyways he gave both of us a warning and continued the match. LOL somehow my adversary won 3-1 - LOL We both laughed about that as we walked away. I got the whole thing on video - awesome amtch any way you cut it. I wish I knew the guy's name. He was a warrior, and a gentleman. Exactly what a TSD black belt should be.
Wow Andy, nice story. I enjoyed reading about your bout with what seems like a very honorable martial artist. Of course everyone's seen some interesting things at tournaments. I once saw a hot-headed teenage male almost rage because they forgot to call him in for the forms competition. He ended up yelling at the top of his lungs to one of the Sa Bom Nims. The Sa Bom Nim responded by kicking him out of the organisation on the spot. I felt he was going to try and attack the Sa Bom Nim, but I could tell that the master was ready for any such attack and would respond with hard force. Fortunately, he just stormed out of the room cussing loudly.
Oh boy, yeah I have seen people go after the judges. We had one guy go after my brother when we were judging in Pennsylvania. The guy was a spectator and didn't like the call my brother made on his daughters sparring competition. The guy was physically removed by the police as he started yelling and approaching the ring. Boy was he lucky he never got to the floor and to my brother. Quite sad really. I have tons of trophies and medals and they do nothing but collect dust. they are a pain when/if I have to move, and overall they mean nothing because the day after I win them I am no longer the best of the day. Don't get me wrong, i love competing with people like the bloke from Wales, but that is the fun of it. I got to spar with a guy from 4,000 miles away and had a blast. That is what tournaments are all about to me.
andy cap - if you go to www.tangsoodo.co.uk there are a list of masters - with picutres there some who fought in the tournament. my instructor is Masterr John Trudgill. an awesome martial artist, and very nice guy.
Yeah I looked at that list and pictures in hopes. He was not there, which would lead me to believe he may have moved on. Thanks though
You do that - I'll look forward to it (and hope my computer will show it ) Sounds like you had a great time - congratulations.
damn shame! i know my master was at that tournament, i remember him saying TM Kim was asked to leave the ITF, but i didnt know why - thanks for that. anyone know where i can upload the movie to? its a wmv file... never up'd a movie before and i dont think brinkster allow it?!
Yes, T.M. Kim was not a really good fit for the American branch of the I.T.F. he was a prejudice elitest as I said, and his kids ran amock. Also he is a heavy Tae Kwon Do stylist and tried to apply that to TSD a lot. They even had the Korean TKD team come and compete in teh tournament one year. They did not do too well because their control was poor, and they were now ready for the legalized punches to teh head. I was supposed to fight the captain of their team but he got disqualified for making one of the copetitors bleed. He hit him twice. Their technique in sparring was not too impressive, but their synchronized forms were very nice, and their jumping ability/kicks were amazing. My favorites though were the gritty boys and girls from Wales - they were like us Boston peeps. No nonsense.
