Flunking Kids on Forms Testing Prepares Them For Combat (Plus! DerAuslander is Mean!)

[Balrog]

In addition to what 1point2 said, I'll add on that given what you've stated so far, your instructor is a pompous asshole. Failing someone because they freeze once in the middle of a form is a ridiculously stupid reason to fail someone.

It's a very valid reason. M. A. training is about performance under pressure. If you can't perform under the low-grade pressure and stress of a belt test, how the heck are you going to perform in life when the bad guy jumps out of the weeds and your stress level goes through the roof?

Actions have consequences. In this case, it was a minor consequence: the student has to repeat a testing cycle. As opposed to the student spends 10 days in a hospital - or worse. Hopefully, the individual will learn from it and progress.

[DerAuslander]

It's a very valid reason. M. A. training is about performance under pressure. If you can't perform under the low-grade pressure and stress of a belt test, how the heck are you going to perform in life when the bad guy jumps out of the weeds and your stress level goes through the roof?

Actions have consequences. In this case, it was a minor consequence: the student has to repeat a testing cycle. As opposed to the student spends 10 days in a hospital - or worse. Hopefully, the individual will learn from it and progress.

It's a bullshit reason because you're testing him on something other than his ability to fight.

You obviously have no interest in true Taekwondo and would rather discuss the continuation of bullshit training systems.

[DSL]

Jumping to some pretty big conclusions there Errant.

[DerAuslander]

My assumptions are less of a leap than Balrog's assumption that someone freezing during performance of a dance in front of some judges has anything to do with reaction during combat.

[DSL]

Point taken :)

[Balrog]

It's a bullshit reason because you're testing him on something other than his ability to fight.

You obviously have no interest in true Taekwondo and would rather discuss the continuation of bullshit training systems.

So....you don't think that the ability to perform under stress has anything to do with learning how to defend oneself?

My point was that if they couldn't handle that low level of stress and perform a simple form, how the heck are they going to perform under major stress with somebody thumping on them? You seem to have totally missed that point.

[Rene "Zendokan" Gysenbergs]

So....you don't think that the ability to perform under stress has anything to do with learning how to defend oneself?

My point was that if they couldn't handle that low level of stress and perform a simple form, how the heck are they going to perform under major stress with somebody thumping on them? You seem to have totally missed that point.

Kata/poomse/hyungs have got nothing to do with your ability to fight, the bunkai got so mangled up from it’s journey from China over Okinawa and Japan to Korea that it’s nowadays just “dancing”.
The only way to test a student if he would freeze up in a fight is to put him in a fight and see if he freezes up.
The only use that I ever have seen in poomse is that it trains your level of concentration/mental focus.

When I did Taekwondo, I was only permited to make 3 mistakes in the 8 poomses. The poomse part of my blackbelt exam insisted of doing palgwé 1 to 8, than 8 to 1 and then 8 times a poomse that was said by one person of the jury (it could be 8 times palgwé 1, it could be 8 times palgwé 8, but most of the time it was just your 8 normal poomses in a random order) with only 3x3 times maximum of mistakes were permitted. It took a lot of you mentally, but it did not test you on your fighting capability or your ability to perform under combat stress.