Are we a classical Martial Arts School?
Many times I am asked by people moving in from out of town or transferring in from another school, whether or not we are a classical Martial Arts school or a Taekwondo school. Well let me give you the answer. For the most part we are a classical school. I have a very high standard of requirements for each of my students. I require instructors, black belts, and students to be treated with respect. I have a uniform requirement and a code of conduct in class. Each and every student must earn their way up the hierarchy. I teach the original ITF Taekwondo style, not a watered down version of it. It is very self defense oriented and not the Olympic sport version of Taekwondo even though we compete in tournaments. This school is the real deal! Just look at my third degree black belts and above for proof.
However I have an Americanized approach to the manner in which I teach my students. In other words I do not adhere to all the customs and practices that some of the other schools may, such as being bowed to every ten seconds or being called “Master.” I do not teach the class in a foreign language, teach meditation or philosophy. I do teach some the culture in reference to each of the many systems I teach in class, and I am very practical in my teaching approach, as martial comes before art. My teaching method has developed a more up to date approach through the science of exercise thus finding better ways to safely train my students. Old drills deemed unsafe have been replaced with better methods for achieving the same results while having fun. In these terms the school is more modern and American.
Yes we teach techniques and forms from the original classical style of Taekwondo and my students free spar in that manner, but we also teach kickboxing. These drills are taken from the legendary Bill “Superfoot” Wallace and the late Joe Lewis, both kickboxing champions with their own teaching methods with whom I have had the pleasure of training with on more than one occasion. Classical western boxing and Filipino boxing are taught in the class along with Muay Thai, Jun Fan Gung Fu and Silat. We also delve into Weeping Jiu-jitsu and Rosa Da Prada submission grappling. Cross training in all of these aforementioned arts are what we are all about. Did I mention that we also teach the many systems of Kali/Eskrima and other traditional martial arts weapons!?
It takes long time to become a good martial artist and many hours must be dedicated to your training. So come to class and learn, then train, and then test your skills. Doing this while having fun is most important. Yes we are a fun school! But we are challenging too! And one can be challenged and have fun at the same time. So bottom line, yes, we are a classical school, but one where everyone learns more than one system and leaves each class with a smile on his or her face. See you in class!!
