Tae Kwon Do

wordy

wordy

wordy

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Joined
30 Nov 2005
Posts
7,339
Location
Rotherham.
Benn doing Tae Kwon do for over 4 years now and am getting ready to grade for my red-black stripe belt, this means in 6 months I'll be grading for my black belt. Thing is a lot of the guys who I train with love MMA and as such the instructor spends a lot of time teaching ground fighting, along with some of other Tae Kwon Do drills that I can't stand. The best thing we do is one night a week is just purely devoted to boxing training and a fitness circuit, both of which I love.

I pay £50 per month to train and it will be £20 for my red-black belt, then to grade for my black belt it costs £200. So to get my black belt it's going to cost a grand total of £520.

On top of Tae Kwon Do I'm into weight lifting and absolutley love it, so I'll have one sport to do, but I'm thinking of joining a boxing gym as I love boxing training and the fitness that comes with it.

One thing it stopping me though I hate leaving things unfinished and if I pack it in before I get my black belt thats exactly how I'll feel, but I'm loathe to fork out over £500 for something I'm not bothered about.

Come OcUK opinionize me! what would you do?
 
Get the black belt then do the boxing, otherwise it could turn out to be something you always regret and can never quite get back to. Also on the plus side, if you box, do weights and are a black belt, the mere mention of your name will bring a shudder to the spine. :D
 
200quid for Black Belt grading is WAY over the top...
I'm not sure about Rotherham but if you have contacts from other university clubs, you might want to contact them and see if you can grade with some of their students, a lot cheaper.

Which Affiliations are you under? If it's ChungDoKwan, then you might want to look for other CDK clubs and grade at. I trained at Portsmouth Uni and my Master, 5th Dan, has his own club PowerHouse TKD (google.) Perhaps you can get in contact and see if there's alternate arrangements.

Downside is, it's in Portsmouth region (Swanmoore/Havant area to be specific). I'd bet it'll cost less coming down than paying that price.

Edit: Last member from our uni (Portsmouth 2009) graded his black belt at £60 for the grading and extra £55 for a recognised Kukkiwon licence (Worldwide). Just above half the price! (Black tag was the same price as usual, 10quid)
 
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Is this ITF? £200 is a lot for a BB grading. What federation are you with?
I practiced ITF TKD for many years. Made a transition from TKD to Muay Thai. If you are interested in MMA, MT is the only stand up art you should be considering. Very similar training: start off with stretches, then 20 mins on the jump rope, shadow box, wrap your hands then into the ring for a number of 2 minute rounds with the trainer. Lovely stuff :cool:
 
panthro said:
Is this ITF? £200 is a lot for a BB grading. What federation are you with?
I practiced ITF TKD for many years. Made a transition from TKD to Muay Thai. If you are interested in MMA, MT is the only stand up art you should be considering. Very similar training: start off with stretches, then 20 mins on the jump rope, shadow box, wrap your hands then into the ring for a number of 2 minute rounds with the trainer. Lovely stuff :cool:
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There are lots of stand up arts which are applicable in MMA. For example, GSP is a blackbelt in Kyokushin Karate, Chuck Lidell is more of a boxing / kickboxing style - CroCop is kickboxing etc. Muay Thai is applicable, but there are better, all round, styles which you can learn.
 
Jonny L said:
Get the black belt then do the boxing, otherwise it could turn out to be something you always regret and can never quite get back to. Also on the plus side, if you box, do weights and are a black belt, the mere mention of your name will bring a shudder to the spine. :D
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As a comparison, black belt gradings at my (edit:karate) club have been free for as long as I have been there (2000) and probably before then. On the other hand we are broadly independent of any federation.
 
wordy said:
One thing it stopping me though I hate leaving things unfinished and if I pack it in before I get my black belt thats exactly how I'll feel
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Think you've answered your own question mate. Finish what you started, get the black belt, and move on. As long as you can afford it :)

Ant :cool:
 
jamief said:
There are lots of stand up arts which are applicable in MMA. For example, GSP is a blackbelt in Kyokushin Karate, Chuck Lidell is more of a boxing / kickboxing style - CroCop is kickboxing etc. Muay Thai is applicable, but there are better, all round, styles which you can learn.
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So? You can be black belt in anything before you train in MMA. Muay Thai is what all top MMA fighters begin, once they start training in MMA, if they havent already.
Bas Ruten had a black belt in TKD before his cage days, didnt stop him (or anyone else) training in MT. There is no better stand up fighting method as well rounded for the ring/cage than Muay Thai boxing. If there is Id like to find out about it!
 
IMO having a black belt doesn't mean you've 'finished', infact, that's when you've just started.

Also, being a black belt in this or that isn't the be all and end all to me personally, I stopped karate when I got to brown with one stripe (2nd Kyu iirc?) although I'd love to start again one day.

It doesn't turn you into a master all overnight - although i'm sure you know that. :)

I should be starting Jiu Jitsu soon though. :D
 
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panthro said:
So? You can be black belt in anything before you train in MMA. Muay Thai is what all top MMA fighters begin, once they start training in MMA, if they havent already.
Bas Ruten had a black belt in TKD before his cage days, didnt stop him (or anyone else) training in MT. There is no better stand up fighting method as well rounded for the ring/cage than Muay Thai boxing. If there is Id like to find out about it!
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Care to provide some proof as to "Muay Thai is what all top MMA fighters begin, once they start training in MMA"? As there are a lot of top fighters (GSP, Lidell in his prime etc) who haven't (afaik) trained in it, and have started off with karate or kickboxing (which in my experience are far better).
 
jamief said:
Care to provide some proof as to "Muay Thai is what all top MMA fighters begin, once they start training in MMA"? As there are a lot of top fighters (GSP, Lidell in his prime etc) who haven't (afaik) trained in it, and have started off with karate or kickboxing (which in my experience are far better).
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Whats your experience? I dont need to provide proof. Go to any big fight camp and trains and look at their training programmes and schedules.
 
panthro said:
Whats your experience? I dont need to provide proof. Go to any big fight camp and trains and look at their training programmes and schedules.
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You are coming out saying that Muay Thai is what all top fighters train in - I'm merely asking for some proof, as this isn't what I think is the case. I'm not disputing that Muay Thai is an excellent style to use in MMA, but there are other, equally good styles. The good thing about MMA is that no single style can dominate the others.
 
jamief said:
You are coming out saying that Muay Thai is what all top fighters train in - I'm merely asking for some proof, as this isn't what I think is the case. I'm not disputing that Muay Thai is an excellent style to use in MMA, but there are other, equally good styles. The good thing about MMA is that no single style can dominate the others.
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Like I said, look at the training programmes of all top pro fighters. MT will be included. Have a look at some fight camp schedules. I dont know what you want me to provide? A written statement from Dana White to conclude? Im not going to provide conclusive evidence, because this is all subjective and my opinion, however I believe what camps teach in their schedules is proof enough. It may not be pure MT, but it will take all the techniques from MT and integrate it into MMA rules.
Personally, I cannot think of any other full contact MA that uses all 8 parts of the body, leg, arm, elbow, knee as effectively as MT. MT is the most brutal and effect stand up method.
Kickboxing doesnt really count because its just an amalgamation of other arts.
You mentioned before about kyokushin karate...you cant even strike to the face in competition!
Cro-cop was a kickboxer fighting in K1 before moving to MMA....where did he learn to use elbows and knees? MT techniques!
Out of all the martial arts I have studied and trained in, my personal favourite martial arts are TKD and MT. I prefer training in TKD because overall its the most enjoyable for me, but I know that MT is the better art overall.

Obviously this is all IMO and youre entitled to your own, but I cant think of any other stand up art as effective as MT.
 
silane said:
IMO having a black belt doesn't mean you've 'finished', infact, that's when you've just started.
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Bingo.

If you have no desire to continue training after you have your black belt then this suggests to me that it doens't really mean that much to you other than a convenient point to stop whereas it should be the complete opposite.

If I were you I would just stop now before you waste any more money on it.

I'm staring down the barrel of my TKD 4th degree black belt grading next year...
 
Mat said:
Bingo.

If you have no desire to continue training after you have your black belt then this suggests to me that it doens't really mean that much to you other than a convenient point to stop whereas it should be the complete opposite.

If I were you I would just stop now before you waste any more money on it.

I'm staring down the barrel of my TKD 4th degree black belt grading next year...
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You and the other guys who've said the same are correct it's not the end at all, and is pretty much a convienient place to call it a day. Our training T shirt have the saying "A black belt is just a white belt that didn't quit" on them

Ideally I'd like to get to the black belt so I can say to myself I've reached a certain standard, but it's just it's going to cost £520 to do it. :/
 
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