Attitude Adjustment: TMA style

Anyone have any stories about an instructor "tuning up" a student or visitor by sparring with them and beating their ass?

I teach out of a TKD school and the head TKD instructor is really cool. This one day though, he had a new guy in class that kept thumping his training partners really hard. Eventually, the instructor had everyone sit down and he put on his own sparring gear minus the chest protector and head gear. They went at it for about five minutes until he felt he had gotten the guy's attention.

It was obvious to me that the instructor was more than a little pissed off at the dude and was really trying to smoke him. The problem was that three times he tried to kick too high and slipped, falling on his own ass. The new student never fell although he did take some lumps.

There was this guy everyone called "Indio". He was a big, mean mother fucker who liked to beat up on everyone he could.
He would do things like ask you to spar "light" and then come at you like a runaway truck. He liked to hurt people.

He never bothered people from our dojo because my instructor, and a few of the students, could kick his ass.

But this one day, around 1985, we went to a tournament with a guy who was visiting our dojo, Frank.
Frank was at the time around 40-ish, he's about 5'8", 180-lb, with a balding spot. He truly looks like a geek. He was a 5th dan Isshinryu guy that was used to full contact fighting.

Indio asks Frank to help him warm up by sparring "light". So our friend says "sure, let's go over by the rear door."
We were all watching and "up" with anticipation.

Indio came at him full force and tried to take him out with a front kick - lunge punch combo.
Frank ducked to the outside-in and under the kick, lifted him over head and let him drop on the tile floor.
Everyone in the gym turned to look as Indio made a thundering "ka-bam" and the walls trembled. Frank helped Indio get back slowly to his feet. He walked out of the gym and we never saw him again.

I haven't seen any of my teachers do an obvious humbling, but they've assigned other students to do it a couple times.

Seen it? Heck, I was unwittingly on the receiving end.

I was already a shodan when I started at my new school. I came at everyone the way I learned, hard and fast. It was what we did at my previous school and how I sparred during the private sessions I set up with friends.

The boss couldn't figure out if I was a prick trying to make people look bad (I wasn't) or just doing as I had learned. So, one day he arranged things so I sparred with him and all the advanced students in quick succession. They went at me hard figuring if I was only interested in hurting people, I'd quit. I walked out with bruised ribs, the realization my skills had slipped much more than I wanted and no idea anything else had gone on.

When I returned the next week, the boss explained what went on the week before and why. Then we began a long process of showing me how to adjust what I was doing and incorporate new skills to make me more effective.

No one goes out with the specific intent to slap any new folks around. It is explained to the new folks that the rule is the opponent will match your level of control.

Mark

You never saw Frank again or you never saw Indio again?

No, we never saw your momma again. We always called her "him".

I do koteate (body hardening) drills with the tough guys who come in with an attitude and like to try to assert themselves or prove something. Usually works. They either calm down or leave.

Respectfully:

Fred

the policy at my schools and with all the previous head instructors was that anyone who came into the school looking for trouble would be dealt with right then and there. on many occasions i had koreans instructors come in with their students in tow to show them how bad ass they were. all were carried out. numerous times people would come in off the street and make challenges. all challenges were met. all were carried out. students that tried to put the hurt on me got what they deserved.

My uncle was doing a TKD derivative style "choi kwang do" and was a
green belt at the time of this story. He told me this guy walked into the
choi kwang do school one day and spoke to the head instructor
explaining that he has already a black belt in karate and has proven
himself etc etc and that he was wondering how long it would take for
someone like him to get a black belt in choi kwang do as well.

The head instructor told him he would have to go through the whole
training process and earn his black belt just like everyone else. The
karate guy refused to accept it and said he could take any of the
coloured belts in the class easily, and wanted to go one-on-one with
one of their black belts to prove it.

The head instructor said no, he would have to earn the right to
challenge the black belts. The instructor then called my green belt
uncle over but you could apparently tell that the karate guy was
insulted. Nevertheless he agreed to spar with my uncle.

My uncle explained it like this - him and the karate guy squared off,
the karate guy immediately assumed a hardcore low karate stance, I
mean a HARD stance like he's about to bust some ass or his head
would explode. My uncle, who was also a Bruce Lee fan, had a very
light springy stance. There was a couple of insignificant physical
exchanges and then my uncle ducked down and swept him, the guy
was airborne for a second before landing on his ass. He got up, tried to
kick my uncle, my uncle again ducked down and swept him. And again.
The karate guy got up and left, never to be seen again.

gakami, that's kind of odd since Choi Kwang Do students never even sparred. It was considered potentially damaging to their self-confidence.

All right, I gotta story. I actually started in MMA. The instructor called it jujitsu and the club met twice a week, one night for striking and one night for grappling. Striking was Chinese kempo + boxing. Grappling was small circle jujitsu plus judo/wrestling.

Anywho, a TKD 2-dan comes to join us. He starts on striking night. The head student decides he's gonna see what this TKD guy is made of. So they put on the gloves during the sparring section.

Started out as an honest exchange and started to get intense, with the TKD guy holding his own and refusing to back down, keeping up with the MMA guy blow for blow and teaching the MMA guy a few things along the way. Right about the time it started to look like it might be getting too intense, they quit. And they were great friends after that, they really respected each other. I think TKD guy knew what was happening and knew that if he didn't show his stuff then he wouldn't get off on the right foot. I stopped clowning TKD after that.

"gakami, that's kind of odd since Choi Kwang Do students never even
sparred. It was considered potentially damaging to their self-
confidence."

The choi kwang do school that my uncle went to definitely participated
in contact sparring. My uncle would not have had it any less. He lived
and worked in Perth, Western Australia during the 80s and faced a lot
of racism while there. I know, I was there myself during the late 80s.
Anyway my uncle was in his late 20s and a university student back
then, and worked in a 24hr Greek restaurant in one of the city's hot
spot for nightlife and nightclubs, which happens to be located in a
rough part of town. Fights were a normal occurance especially during
the weekend nights. My uncles (they were brothers) had a pretty good
understanding with the owner of the restaurant as well as the bouncers
in the clubs nearby. By that I mean if a fight/brawl broke out in any of
the establishments on that street,my uncles, the owner, the bouncers
will all help each other out, everyone watches each other's backs. My
uncles weren't strangers to streetfights. Hence they were both into
martial arts, they tried out wingchun and a number of other martial
arts styles as well.

Maybe there were exceptions. Atlanta was the HQ for CKD, and I saw several of their schools & students. What I saw was unimpressive, to say the least.

DangerDave - i know where you're coming from.
I've seen way more lame McDojos than real
combat-focused schools. I remember my uncle
told me his choikwangdo instructor was a
hardcore kinda guy though, which was why my
uncle started training with him in the first place.



Old Guard-where do you train and under what system?

"Old Guard-where do you train and under what system?"

He trains at a firing range. The uzi system.




lol

kenpo, boxing, submission.

ventura, santa barbara, oxnard areas.

every once in a while I would get a attitude adjustment beating (say..... every three month give or take) they stopped after I started likeing them and then I got "the one" that kept my mouth shut.. haha

gakami,

Was your uncle's instructor called master kim?