Response to
Negative postings on internet:
Jung Suwon is a martial art that was derived from the
Korean martial arts of
Tae Kwon Do, and Tang Soo Do. Over the thousands of years of training in
the martial arts, people worked to perfect the art of self-defense. During that time practitioners discovered
that many other benefits were derived.
These benefits include the following:
1.
Physical Fitness: Training regularly in the martial arts will
make you more
physically fit and benefit other sports you are involved
with. It builds coordination, balance,
strength, timing, awareness, and confidence.
It allows you to move faster, breathe better, and understand the
concepts of self-defense both physically and mentally.
2.
Health: To be the best you can be, requires taking
care of your body, mind, and spirit.
This means to eat properly, reduce stress, breathe deeper, learn to
meditate, and think positive thoughts.
3.
Discipline: Training requires years of discipline and
patience. As you learn to be more
disciplined, you will learn to apply this to other areas of your life. This can allow you to enjoy more success in
all aspects of your life. Some people
will say, “I don’t like discipline”. Well,
discipline helps you to break through and overcome your weaknesses. Discipline actually is the key to success and
freedom. If you can overcome your
weaknesses, and stay focused on your goals, you will be much more successful in
your life.
4.
Self-Defense: – The ability to protect
oneself and loved ones. Practitioners
learn to protect themselves from attacker trying to harm, bully, rape, or
kill.
5.
Confidence
6.
Focus
7.
Emotional Control
8.
Positive Mental Attitude
9.
And many more…
A quick summary:
Korea is the birthplace of many
martial arts. Often, these martial arts share principles and ranking systems
with one another. Their methods vary, some are developed for combative purposes
and some are for self-defense and counter attacking. Since these martial arts
have many techniques, becoming a master in any one requires a long-term
commitment.
Why People Stop
Training:
We have learned over time, that training in the martial arts
can be a physically, emotionally, and mentally challenging activity, and
therefore, not for everyone. We try to
make it a beneficial learning experience for everyone, but those that leave usually
fall into several categories:
1.
Many people take what they learn, and move on in
their lives to strive towards their goals.
This is the most common case.
2.
Others, take what they have learned physically
and mentally, and use that as a foundation to improve at other sports.
3.
Others use their increased confidence to get better
jobs or better relationships.
4.
Others use their increased focus to improve
their educational status or career.
5.
Others use what they learn to help build and
enjoy their family relationships more.
6.
Etc.
Another category for people quitting, is they are not happy
with their experience. This can happen
for several reasons:
1.
Too physically demanding.
2.
Too much time required.
3.
Personal bad habits too hard to overcome. These include smoking, drugs, depression,
anger, shyness, etc…
4.
Personal relationships with other people go bad.
5.
Too strict.
6.
Misunderstandings.
7.
Bullying
8.
Mistakes
It is these categories that usually cause people to get
angry and write very negative things on the internet. Many times these negative stories and
comments are personal attacks and very vindictive. We are sorry if anyone had a negative
experience, and we wish we could have done more to help them. We could address and publicize each
particular situation directly, but our policy is to respect people’s privacy
and personal situations.
Basically instructors try their best. Everyone is human, and we can't please everyone. Overall we all tried our best, and if things didn’t work
out, we are sorry, and lets move on. So
to address many of these stories, we will do so in a very general manner in the
following points. The names were changed
to protect all involved.
1.
Cult or Culture? The martial arts comes from Asia, and was
created in a different culture. In the
Asian culture, bowing to each other is very normal. It is like saying hi to each other and it
shows respect to each other. In the
Western culture, people usually wave at each other and shake hands with each
other. I was born in the Western
culture and when I first saw people bowing to each other it looked a little
weird. Once I practiced it for a
while, it felt very nice and cleaner. As
I started learning more about the spread of colds and disease, I started to
prefer bowing from shaking hands. So
people that are having a good experience will talk of bowing is a positive
way. Sometimes when someone quits and
gives up martial arts, they will say, “well I didn’t want to follow that funny
culture anyway, and it made me feel like I was in a cult.” Use your better judgment, and you decide.
2.
Brainwashing?
Is this really possible? This
is the biggest complaint I hear, from people that left due to a negative
experience. First of all, if
brainwashing and mind control were really possible, we would have millions of
people signed up and train regularly.
Sorry, it just doesn’t work that way.
Humans have the free will to make their own decisions, and do all the
time. Secondly, the only brainwashing I
see, is trying to make people feel more positive, more confident and more
optimistic. I would suggest as a world,
we need to influence those around us, to be more positive and optimistic.
3.
Why do people training in the martial arts bow to each other? It is a way to greet another person, and it
is a way to show respect to each other. During cold season, I would suggest, it is also a safer and cleaner way to say hello or goodbye.
4.
Why do they say “yes sir” and “no sir” to
each other? Similar to the military,
a system of discipline creates a more focused, respectful, and safer
environment. Discipline can be your
friend. It allows you to focus your time
and energy more, which in turn allows you to learn and grow more.
5.
Why do my instructors push me so hard to
perform? Martial arts is similar to
the military in that respect. In the
Military, you are supposed to defend your nation. In the martial arts, you learn to defend the
innocent, your family, and yourself. To
do that, you have to push yourself to learn and develop new skills. In the beginning, your instructors will push
you. Hopefully, over time, you will
learn to push and drive yourself.
6.
Why is there a ranking system? Are seniors better than juniors? Why or Why not? The ranking system is similar to the
military. It is used to communicate
someone’s experience and accomplishment within the system. It does not mean that one person is better
than another. In some cases it is an
indication of someone’s role and responsibility within the organization.
7.
Excitement, positive attitude, and shouting
for joy? Are they on drugs? I don’t like all that rah-rah. Bringing up lots of positive energy, and
getting pumped up with excitement is not common with most people, but if done
properly, can make people feel very positive and strong. It can then be focused towards accomplishing
overcoming their weaknesses and achieving their goals.
8.
They make me do things on very little
sleep. They are torturing me. Why?
This is not torture. In my view,
this is learning to overcome your weaknesses, and learning to challenge
yourself. Sometimes in real life you
don’t have a choice when you have to defend yourself. If someone breaks into your house at night
and you are tired, are you going to ask the intruder, to come back again when
you are rested? Of course not. You need to overcome your emotions and
personal needs at the time, and learn to bring up your best, even in difficult
situations. Normally people will attack
you when you are at your weakest. That
is why in the martial arts, you must learn to bring up your strength, even
under challenging conditions. In order
to learn this, it is better to practice and prepare for it, and not be caught
off guard.
9.
I can’t leave. Why are they forcing me to stay? If that were true, everyone in the world
would be like a robot, and do exactly what I tell them. Sorry, the world just doesn’t work that
way. People choose to do what they want
to do. Remember, martial arts training
isn’t for everyone. It is hard work, and
people need to want to train. They also
over time, learn to enjoy working out and challenging themselves.
10.
They break apart families? Why?
I think Martial arts to a family, is very much like any other sport or
activity. Many times, I have seen
families getting stronger together by training together. The bonds formed by training together can be
very strong and last a lifetime. Family members can grow and
share in an activities together. They
can rejoice and celebrate together. On
the other hand, like other activities, if someone wants to do it and others
don’t, that is their individual choice.
11.
When love becomes hate. My mother wanted to have a relationship with
an instructor? It didn’t work out. So was this abuse, or an unrealistic expectation? Some of the most negative experiences usually
come out of failed relationships. That
is why we discourage people coming to the Martial Art Academy, from treating
the school like a dating service. Your
first and most important goal in training in the martial arts, should be for
your own self development. Once people
lose that focus, and get into using the school for forming relationships,
things can go downhill fast. If so, they
usually blame everyone else for their heartaches; the people involved, and the
school, and the instructors. This is how
the most negative stories are created.
12.
I heard they took people’s money? What really happened? Martial arts schools are generally not huge
money makers, and often times exuberant students want to spend their time and
money on the school, to advance the school and/or make training conditions
better. At the time, they are happy and
excited. If for some reason, they become
disenchanted and leave, they usually blame others for spending their money. This is a form of buyer’s remorse and a
typical response. Unfortunately it
creates negative stories, and forms bad impressions.
13.
They made my children smoke and drink? Why did they do that? As you know, the peer pressures to smoke and
drink in society are strong. Sometimes,
with parent permission, it is good to introduce younger students to these bad
elements, to discourage them for future use.
It has been very effective on some children, and on others, they can
grow up hating us, and in some cases they are source of negative press on the
internet. It is hard to satisfy
everyone, but the goal is to make our students healthier and stronger, and to
help protect them from the temptations of outside society.
14.
Sexual Bullying and Texting. With modern technology advancing, we need to
be ready for anything. In one case we
found young boys between the ages of 10-14, sending out very sexual messages to
girls of the same ages. It was very
inappropriate behavior in our opinion.
We ended up having to suspend some of the students, and bring it to
their parents’ attention. To our
surprise the parents were upset, and didn’t really believe their kids did
it. The kids were upset at us. After that, many negative comments and
references appeared on the internet. We
are committed to protecting our students
from bullying and abuse, even among each other.
References:
Jung Suwon Martial Arts,
location,
Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim,
Testing,
Ki Energy Forms,
Black Belt Testing,
Smashwords,
Jung Suwon Kids blog,
Facebook,
Reviews,
Training in the Snow,
Products,
Good Reads,
Books, ...
