Category: Taekwondo

Kenpo Girl visits the Dojang...

12/6/2016

It has been over a year since I got back on the mat and continued my study of Kenpo Karate.

I was so enthusiastic to be back on the mat as an adult and to have a new and mature perspective of martial arts. As you advance in our system, our self-defense begins to focus on complicated attacks from an attacker with martial arts training. It’s natural and crucial when we discuss these attacks that we discuss the systems they would originate from. For the longest time that was the only exposure I had to other systems and Dojos.

Then one day a group of us students were invited by my instructor to accompany him to Oregon to participate in a seminar. This was the first time I had ever been to another dojo. I loved speaking to the students; discussing techniques, sparring, and our general love of Martial Arts.

It was my inspiration to start Kenpo Girl.

My extended Kenpo family in Toledo, Oregon.

My ultimate goal being to create not only a forum for different Martial Artists to discuss their love for the art but also to expand my education. I have had the honor of meeting Martial Artists in Kung-Fu, Hungar Kung-Fu, American Kenpo, Kempo, Muay Thai, Sumo and even professional mixed martial artists.

Yet I hadn’t had the opportunity to speak with anyone from the Taekwondo system.

I jumped on the opportunity to travel to San Francisco and meet Rick St. Clair a 7th Dan in Taekwondo, owner of St. Clair's Taekwondo and distributor of Don “The Dragon” Wilson's t-shirt line called Traditionz.

Kenpo Girl & Rick St. Clair at St. Clair Taekwondo

I knew next to nothing about Taekwondo...

Accept, that they are dominantly known for Kicks and competing in the Olympics. I had grown up in Martial Arts somewhat skeptical of Taekwondo.

When Taekwondo or TKD was ever brought up I found myself wondering the following:

If the study of Taekwondo was limited to a certain age and body type?
How could it be considered an effective form of self-defense if you only kick?

That could knock anyone out.

One of the reasons I study American Kenpo is because I have always felt anyone can participate and learn Kenpo. We have students that start at age 4 and others at 50. At our dojo students can vary in size from Heavy weights to bean poles. I found myself questioning Taekwondo because of their kicks, especially head kicks, require a large range of flexIbility.

So would being a contortionist or gymnast be a prerequisite?

When I met up with Mr. St. Clair at his dojang (dojang is Korean for dojo) in the Parkside neighborhood of San Francisco. He had brought two of his black belts to do demonstrations for me. As they demonstrated some of their stretching and spinning kicks Mr. St. Clair clarified for me,
“Any kick in any system can work and it doesn't have to be a high kick. However flexibility does help so we do spend quite a bit of time stretching.”

I think it’s safe to say any system should support stretching because Martial Arts is not just about hitting people but also physically and mentally preserving your body. Yet for Taekwondo, when you add in the competitions, stretching becomes a necessity.

The majority of my education on Taekwondo is based off of Taekwondo’s #1 publicity...
The Olympics.

Taekwondo first appeared in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea as a demo but wouldn’t be accepted as an Olympic sport until the 2000, Sydney Olympics. The most recent buzz in the martial arts community was Karate being accepted for the 2020 Tokyo, Japan Olympics. There are currently only 4 martial arts represented in the olympics: Taekwondo, Judo, Wrestling and Greco-Style Wrestling.

With Karate being added into the mix, would the popularity of Taekwondo decrease and would there be a decrease of students drawn to Taekwondo?

Mr. St. Clair said he had been disappointed in the caliber of fights in the Taekwondo section of the Olympics this year in 2016 but was reassuring that,
“I don't feel Karate being introduced to the Olympics would affect the popularity of Taekwondo. In fact, I’m confident Taekwondo will always be in the Olympics and am excited about karate being in it.”

The art will forever more be engraved with Olympic history...

Yet the art was originally formed for self-defense during the 1940s and 50s as a combination of Karate, different Chinese and Korean Martial Arts. Within that period of time, Taekwondo was not only created into a National sport but also adapted for use in the South Korean Military. During the Vietnam war, American veterans became exposed to TKD due to its high almost cultish popularity in South Vietnam. Over the years, TKD has had some adjustments due to the military influence by adding more lethal elements to the art.

Captain Nam Tae Hi, standing at the microphone, directs a taekwondo demonstration in 1958 for members of the National Armed Forces of Korea

Nonetheless,
Mr. St. Clair’s students are not militants but regular teenagers who want to better defend themselves on the streets. He has adapted their training by exposing his students to other systems and styles,
“I make sure my students have a plan B, we do ground fighting as well as weapons training. If they (his students) has to pick up a stick, they know how to use it.”

Two of Rick St. Clair's students:
Ms. Kaela Lee, 17 years old & 1st Dan
Mr. Daniel Uribe, 16 years old & Black belt.

Mr. St. Clair has his students do some cross training but he is adamant they do not forget the history or culture behind TKD. He requires his students to not only know the history of TKD but the language. All students must learn cues and basic parts of the Korean language as well as the history of their art to earn their black belt. In Martial Arts, there will always be knowledge passed down from generation to generation, regardless of their system or rank.

The South Korean flag has become vastly associated with TKD.

This is the one thing that McDojos are unable to duplicate...

McDojo’s are known fake dojos that attempt to mimic real Dojo’s in various systems to exploit students for money. McDojo’s base their knowledge and education off of YouTube videos and popular choreographed martial arts films and there is no understanding or background knowledge to the history of the system/style or the theory of the physical or mental application of the art.

We have to remember that although we might achieve black belt, the lessons will never end...

That’s the beauty of Martial Arts and the journey we have chosen to travel. This is also something to take into consideration when searching for a proper Dojang or Dojo. Anytime a Martial Artist tries to tell you that time and tradition isn’t an element in earning a black belt...

You should tuck tail and run.

I would really like to thank Mr. Rick St. Clair for inviting me to his Dojang and enlightening me on the Taekwondo system.

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Martial Arts in Olympics

8/24/2016

1 Comment

The Summer Olympics happens every 4 years...

For some sports it is considered the pinnacle of competitions and an honor to represent not only their sport but their country. Many of the Martial Arts systems are not represented in the Olympics however Martial Artists still look forward to watching the wrestling, judo and Taekwondo.

While tuning in and watching these systems might not seem like such a big deal; not only does it show support for the athletes but it’s supporting Martial Arts being in the Olympics. Most spectators recognize the challenge to qualify as an athlete to compete in the Olympics but what spectators don’t realize is how challenging it is as not only to qualify a sport but to keep it recognized.

Wrestling is one of the oldest sports in the Olympics.

Yes... That old.

It was introduced in the Ancient games in 708 BC. Yet in the 1900 Summer Olympics, wrestling was not recognized. It wouldn’t be until the next summer Olympics that the Freestyle Wrestling would be reintroduced and have weight classes established. The sport was becoming further established when in 2004 women’s wrestling would be introduced.

Yet things took a turn for the worst.

The 2013 IOC or International Olympic Committee voted to remove wrestling starting with the 2020 Olympics.

How could that be?

It all comes down to money. The IOC had been under pressure to reduce events and athletes in each Summer Olympics do to the cost to host such events. The IOC started a program pertaining to “core sports”. “Core Sports” would be protected and continue in the Olympics, but the “non-core sports” would slowly be phased out.

Even after the program was implicated it still didn’t help, so after the London Olympics they re-evaluated the “core sports” again, reviewing studies and results of the London Olympics.

In 2013 the IOC Executive Board recommended wrestling be dropped.

The United World Wrestling immediately responded,

“We were greatly astonished by today’s recommendation of the IOC Executive Board not to maintain wrestling among the 25 core sports for the 2020 Olympic Games. We will take all necessary measures to convince the IOC Executive Board and IOC members of the aberration of such decision against one of the founding sports of the ancient and modern Olympic Games.”

Athletes would still be able to compete in the World Games but the United States wrestlers feared losing the chance of ever competing for Gold again. Wrestling and 7 other sports including Karate were reviewed as “non-core” sports, but wrestling was one of the very few that came out triumphant.

Nenad Lalovic, President of the UWW stated,

"Normally this is done in a few years, we did it in a few months. It was a question of our survival. We did all we could, we changed our sport and the federation was successful. We continue to work tomorrow.”

Some of the sports literally had to fight to be recognized.

Taekwondo started striving for the Olympics in 1974. In 1975 it was accepted for the World Games which is an international competition that recognizes non-Olympic sports. In the 1988 Korean Olympics and the 1992 Barcelona Spain Olympics it was a demonstration sport. At this time Taekwondo was already recognized by the World Cup, The Asian Games, All-Africa Games, and the Pan American Games but the Olympics wouldn’t accept it until the 2000 Sydney Australia Olympics.

One of the requirements to become an Olympic Sport is

To have a recognized international committee that oversees the sport, thus ensuring all athletes are competing under the same rules and regulations.

Tragically over the years it has been almost impossible to unite the organizations.

In 1970 the World Union of Karate-do Organizations was created, but it wouldn’t be until 1985 that the OIC would recognize the organization as the official board of karate.

At this point of time the World Union of Karate-do Organization or WUKO, attempted to unify with the International Traditional Karate Federation (ITKF) to form the World Karate Federation, in hopes to finally become an Olympic Sport. The union was unsuccessful, causing the IOC to suspend its recognition of WUKO. When the union was unsuccessful the WUKO created the World Karate Federation or WKF.

It was finally in 2016, in Rio de Janeiro that the IOC announced that Karate would be a recognized and participating sport in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan

The politics and drama associated with organized sports can be trying at times.

Karate has had multiple organizations dating all the way back to 1961, yet because of our inability to unify and work together hundreds if not thousands of Karate enthusiasts have had to wait 59 years before being able to compete in the Olympics.

As a Kenpoist, I tend to view my system more as a self-defense system rather than a sporting system like Judo. Nonetheless, I always find myself watching the Judo, the Taekwondo and the Wrestling because these athletes are not just representing their sport and country…

They are representing our community.

Let's not forget a community is defined as a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.

It’s another 4 years before the next Olympic Games and the Karate Community is already buzzing about the Tokyo Games and we should be happy for them because it has taken so many years and so much dedication to reach this point.

But let’s not forget, it’s not guaranteed that the Martial Arts will continue in the Olympics…

Especially if we don't support them.

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IS ALL FAIR IN LOVE & WAR?

5/12/2016

2 Comments

Is it fair to assume if martial artists spend so much time contemplating war, then love is going to come up eventually.

It’s natural to find ourselves attempting to merge our lives with mat time. Yet, it always seems to become a tedious balancing act when it comes to mat time and matters of the heart.
My Sifu once advised,
“Date someone in martial arts.”

I’ve contemplated that statement, wondering if that really is the secret to a successful relationship. As marital artists our equilibrium is naturally set to balance life and mat, but what happens when a third party becomes involved? Haven’t we all heard the phrase,

“You’re going to the dojo again?”

Let's be honest, we've all been there and done that...

Dating someone in martial arts is an alluring concept. I know multiple married couples that study together and have always viewed them as gold miners—the ones that struck it big. But the grass is not always greener on the other side.

I was visiting two of my married Kenpo friends; discussing sparring with them when I found out they never sparred together. They practice techniques and forms together… but they didn’t spar. They worried it would cause bad feelings and resentment between the two of them if one was either hit too hard or just right.

As a person that loves to spar, the idea of working techniques/forms and eliminating sparring sounded like hell to me; like building a relationship with someone and removing sex from the equation.

This entire time I had been day dreaming what it would be like to date a fellow martial artist—thinking how wonderful it would be to work out together and for someone to finally understand my passion for the art.

Relationship goals... Or Urban Myth?

In reality it’s a naive concept.

No relationship is perfect and we tend to lose sight of what is important. Finding a partner that supports us and respects us for who we are. Every relationship is different and will have different needs. If someone loves you for who you are (and you are a martial artist) then they should respect and love that part of you because it’s who you are.

I’m no relationship expert but I am a martial artist and I hope my future partner recognizes from the sparring to Kenpo kisses (bruises) and the long mat hours are not only what I enjoy but they are making me a better person every day.

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KENPO GIRL

Kenpo Girl visits the Dojang...

It has been over a year since I got back on the mat and continued my study of Kenpo Karate. ​

It was my inspiration to start Kenpo Girl. ​

My extended Kenpo family in Toledo, Oregon.

Yet I hadn’t had the opportunity to speak with anyone from the Taekwondo system. ​