Yeah, you have to be careful with martial arts schools, especially in the US. There's no regulation. Just in Taekwondo, there are three major organizations, The World Taekwondo Federation, The International Taekwon-Do Federation, and the American Tae Kwon Do Association.
The WTF is more of a sporting organization, it's recognized by the IOC as the world governing body for Taekwondo. USA-Taekwondo is the US affiliated body, and they also regulate schools and instructors. There's a specific curriculum that is taught in all WTF/USA-Taekwondo schools, instructors can supplement with other things. My old instructor in Va. supplemented with Muay-Thai and Hapkido. There are a lot of belt factories out there, if your son's interested in the Martial Arts, keep looking... If you need any help with a search, let me know. -- Scott Stewart ColdFusion Developer SSTWebworks 4405 Oakshyre Way Raleigh, NC. 27616 (703) 220-2835 http://www.sstwebworks.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/sstwebworks Boycott Sys-Con http://www.sstwebworks.com/blog/index.cfm/2007/10/16/Boycotting-SysCon -----Original Message----- From: Adam Churvis [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 1:06 PM To: CF-Community Subject: RE: Speling Be! I grew up in Highland Park, Illinois training with Tae Jing Suk (Korean national champion) in Tae Kwon Do, and it was *very* disciplined and slow to promote (like seven years to brown belt doing eight hours a week if you were really good). So I thought it would be good for Mike and enrolled him in Tae Kwon Do a few years ago. Biggest mistake I ever made with him. Apparently over the years martial arts in America have become social promotions of patently incompetent children so that mommy and daddy continue paying for lessons. When I went to his belt promotion test I was appalled. I pulled him out the next day and looked for a real boxing gym filled with nothing but hardened men (and a couple of serious women) using meager equipment. I found the Doraville Boxing Gym right off the bus and train line in the center of the Hispanic community. Oh my God. This was the place. No egos, no fancy anything, no bottled water-toting yuppies in expensive spandex. And it smelled like a boxing gym should smell. My daughter couldn't stand the place because of it. I see this fourteen year old Mestizo kid with a mostly shaven head working a heavy bag, then training with a coach. My jaw dropped. This kid was going to be a champion. This kid could have dropped me like a fly, and there wouldn't have been a damned thing I could have done about it. Then I see some older men, and a young very thin but muscular girl, and some more guys, and they all wrap up and start sparring. These are some tough-assed people, all right. And they were quiet and focused. No one trying to impress anyone -- they didn't have to -- just get the job done. And this is what I wanted Mike to be around and have rub off on him. Well, it was a little too early for him back then, but this coming year we'll make another serious try at it, now that he's more serious about things at 12. Once I get down to my target weight (I've already lost twenty-one pounds), I'll join him. Respectfully, Adam Phillip Churvis President Productivity Enhancement -----Original Message----- From: Dana [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 11:38 AM To: CF-Community Subject: Re: Speling Be! fwiw karate did Lara some good. Maybe a little too much. On 11/29/07, Adam Churvis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I had already taken steps while they were homeschooled. > > For Mike, I enrolled him in a tough-as-nails back alley boxing gym > frequented by the toughest kids and adults you could imagine. The kind > that > are so tough they don't have to flaunt it at all. The real quiet > types. He > would either learn to get along, or I could pick up the pieces > conveniently > packed in a cardboard box at the end of the day. He didn't put in enough > effort, just like at home. > > For Sarah, she was too young at the time, so I wasn't sure how I would > place > her for the experience (much easier for boys). > > Remember that I'm not using public school as a normal public school; I'm > using it more like a prison exercise yard. The fact that they have > so-called "classes" there is totally irrelevant to me or to them. > > Respectfully, > > Adam Phillip Churvis > President > Productivity Enhancement > > -----Original Message----- > From: G Money [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 9:20 AM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Re: Speling Be! > > If they HAD appreciated it, would they then have not needed the public > school experiences that you called extremely important in your earlier > post? > > Please don't go Dana on me, I'm just asking and trying to understand..... > > On Nov 29, 2007 8:02 AM, Adam Churvis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > This just about says it all for me: > > > > http://www.secular-homeschooling.com/001/bitter_homeschooler.html > > > > They had been homeschooled for most of their lives, and everything was > > great > > except they didn't appreciate it enough, in my opinion. So we gave them > a > > taste of the alternative. > > > > They had enough positive socialization in their lives to choke a horse. > > Now > > it's time to throw them into the deep end of the cesspool and guide them > > how > > to survive. > > > > Respectfully, > > > > Adam Phillip Churvis > > President > > Productivity Enhancement > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: G Money [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 8:11 AM > > To: CF-Community > > Subject: Re: Speling Be! > > > > Adam, > > > > How had you planned on recreating all of these essential experiences for > > your children while home schooling them? Or was eventually sending them > to > > public school always in the plans? > > > > > > > > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Get the answers you are looking for on the ColdFusion Labs Forum direct from active programmers and developers. http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/webforums/forum/categories.cfm?forumid-72&catid=648 Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:247222 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
