The 3 A's of Effective Self Defence

Those who know me and my approach to martial arts will know that self defence is a huge part of why I practise martial arts and why I teach it. Violence is an ever growing concern in this day and age and no one is immune to it. Not the older person, innocently answering a knock on the door. Not the young woman out for a run in the afternoon. Not the young guy hanging out with his mates at the skate park. Not the young child walking home from school. It’s depressing and scary to think that we will all either be on the receiving end of violence or directly know someone who has been. I truly wish that was an exaggeration but it seems to be more like an alarming fact.

The prevalence of violence in our society is one of the reasons I believe martial arts are for everyone. Attackers prey on people they believe are weak and vulnerable and the simple practise of doing martial arts can mean a difference in how you carry yourself. You may walk a little taller and more confidently and this may subconsciously show a potential attacker that you are not an easy target. This isn’t a guarantee though so the practise of martial arts and self defence is becoming a more critical skill. There are some things you can do though to reduce the chance of being attacked or at least give you a fighting chance if it comes down to you and an attacker.

One of the things my instructors taught me and has stuck with me is the concept of The Three A’s. They taught me that it was the key to effective self defence.

AWARENESS

AVOIDANCE

ACTION

Awareness

At all times be aware of what is going on around you. Look over your shoulder and glance at what is happening behind you and to either side of you regularly. Don’t just spend the time engrossed by your mobile phone or looking only at the ground in front of you. You need to make sure you are aware of what is happening and what may potentially affect you. This goes for listening to music as well. I see a lot of people who walk around with headphones in their ears and not looking around. This means they not only won’t see what is coming towards them but they won’t hear it either. Awareness is the first step.

Avoidance

We all know of some cool shortcuts to get from point A to point B. Maybe it’s an alley that means I don’t have to go the long way around the block. Maybe it’s a park you can cut through to get home quicker. Where I live there are a number of pedestrian paths that wind around behind houses. They are lovely to go for a walk on but are not well lit and not well travelled. No matter which of the above applies, effective self defence means avoiding these sorts of areas. It might take you a bit longer, but use the path which is well lit. Use the footpath that has cars passing who may be able to stop and help you if you need it.

Avoidance is also about avoiding situations that might be dangerous. You may get invited to a party with people you don’t know or go into a room with a known bully. If you can, avoid these situations. It’s doesn’t make you a coward, it makes you smart.

Action

However if all else fails, fall back onto action and the first action if you can, is to run away. Escape whenever possible – don’t try to be a hero. Always try to escape to populated and well-lit areas and don’t be afraid to ask for help.

If you need to defend yourself though it is only self defence if the force you use is reasonable and proportionate to the attack. This means, if someone gives you a small shove and you respond by breaking their arm and punch them unconscious, you have not responded in a reasonable or proportionate way to the attack. If someone comes at you with a knife saying they are going to kill you, then breaking their arm and knocking them out is more reasonable and proportionate to the attack.

There is a lot more involved with self defence and every scenario is different. Martial arts can teach you to not only be physically capable of defending yourself but mentally capable as well. A strong mind can be just as effective in self defence as the most perfectly timed punch.

Mark Underwood

Mark is a 4th Dan Master in both Taekwondo and Haidong Gumdo (Korean swords). He has also trained in other styles of martial arts. He is currently the owner and head instructor for Zone Martial Arts in Sydney, Australia.

Fundamental Theory of Haidong Gumdo and Martial Arts - Part 4

This final entry in the series on the fundamental theory of Haidong Gumdo and martial arts is about the body.

Body
Even though this is listed as the third point in the theory of Haidong Gumdo it is just as important as Spirit and Mind as it is through training the body that we can develop the other two components. By analyzing technique, pushing our body to (and beyond) its limits we learn more about our mind and our spirit. It’s the gateway to integrating martial arts into our life.

Power (Correct posture)
In martial arts we need to control and manage our power. We need to assess the amount of power we use in training and in any real life scenario. A punch can be delivered with breaking power but if all that is required is to warn someone away then using full power is excessive. The same with the sword, if we use too much power on our cuts then our sword will travel too far and leave us exposed for a counter attack. The other side of this is posture. If we overextend ourselves by applying too much power, then we can injure ourselves trying to stop the motion. Not to mention that correct posture and stance actually will deliver more power to the technique we are doing.

Speed (Swift movements)
Speed comes over time but it is something we should all strive for. It is important to know when to strive for more speed and it is only when you have gained control of the technique. Applying speed to early will just exacerbate bad technique and will be detrimental in the long term. I encourage all students to focus on the basic technique first before striving for more speed.

Balance (Stable stances)
Balance develops over time but it starts with the correct application of stance. People always want to rush to the fun stuff like punching, kicking and cutting and try to gloss over the benefits of good stance. Stance though is the bedrock of every technique we do. It’s important to make sure our stance and our feet are in time with our techniques. When we can think about balance in the martial arts moves we make, our techniques will improve and the more we will improve.

Sweat (Continuous effort)
Hard work pays off. No matter what happens in our journey, whether it’s hitting a plateau and thinking we are not improving, a technique we feel like we just can’t conquer or any of the other obstacles we hit while training martial arts, hard work and sweat will always help us get beyond it. When things get hard, a lot of people want to quit, find an easier way or just ignore that technique altogether but it’s those times we have to suck it up and keep training. Perseverance and hard work will always help us get through the tough times. So if things are looking difficult or you are getting frustrated, put in more time because sweat and continuous effort will get you though.

Fundamental Theory of Haidong Gumdo and Martial Arts - Part 3

I am continuing my series on the fundamental theory of Haidong Gumdo by looking at the second area that is covered by Haidong Gumdo, the mind. However these theories really apply to martial arts as a whole. So if you look at this and say "I am not a Gumdo student so its not relevant" you would be missing out in my opinion.

Mind

With any martial art, comes the concept of mind. Believing in yourself, pushing yourself and character building. Mind is the second fundamental theory of Haidong Gumdo but again I put to you that it is not limited to just Gumdo but applies to martial arts as a whole. It is something we practice without thinking about it during classes but it is when you stop and reflect on these aspects, you can learn so much more about yourself and really start to integrate martial arts into your whole life.

Courage (Ability to handle fear and danger)
Courage can’t be given to you in a rolled up parchment no matter what the Wizard of Oz tells us. It has to develop. I get a lot of students who come into the club looking to train and develop self-confidence. You will definitely gain self-confidence from doing martial arts but you gained confidence just by stepping through the door. People have a desire to learn martial arts and can be easily scared away by the intensity of training or the instructors or one of a hundred other things, but when you take that leap and get onto the floor and start training, you are showing courage. Through martial arts you learn to hand fear, nervousness and anxiety and those lessons of control and courage can then be applied to other areas of your life.

Judgement (Knowing oneself)Judgement is vital with martial arts. It’s the ability in the split second moment to determine how much force you need to apply in a self defence scenario. It’s knowing that even if you could fight back, you don’t need to prove it and can walk away from a fight. It’s being able to say I did my best and not listening to other people who say you didn’t try hard enough or you failed.

The subheading here talks about knowing oneself and to me that is difficult in itself. It’s hard to look at yourself honestly and think about our faults. It can also be hard to look at ourselves and not be overly judgemental and harsh. We have to take the time to reflect on ourselves and our judgement to ensure we are being true to ourselves.

Respect (Yourself and others)
We bow to our instructors, our training area and each other all the time in martial arts to show respect. We are showing respect to the people teaching us, the area we train in and the people who train with us. We show respect by standing still when our instructors talk to us, by looking at them while they talk and not fidgeting. We show respect by showing restraint and not fighting too hard with our fellow students during sparring.

Respect is a huge part of martial arts but I also hope that these lessons of respect are going home with you and being applied in other areas of your life. That you are showing respect to your boss or teacher by listening to them, even perhaps if you don’t like them. That you are showing respect to your elders (parents, grandparents or just older people you know) as this is a large part of Korean culture that we sometimes miss in western culture.

I know respect it is something I really want my students to think about outside of the club environment. It shouldn’t be like your uniform and you just put it on at training.

Temperance (Self-control)
Temperance and self-control are the final aspects of the mind aspect of martial arts theory. We need to be rational and calm in situations where it could be easy to get angry and riled up. We need to not lash out, verbally or physically, when something or someone upsets us. It is even more important for martial artists who learn skills that can severely injure other people. We don’t have the luxury of throwing a friendly punch at someone because our punches are more technically proficient that most people. We need to control ourselves.

We also need to have self-control with how we treat our body. Our body is one of the few constants in our life and if we abuse it we can’t replace it. So while that extra drink at the pub is nice and chocolate is awesome, we need to make sure we have these things in moderation, that we have self-control so that firstly, our body is healthier but also because as martial artists, we can’t have alcohol or sugar highs control us because it is too easy for us to hurt someone accidentally.


Mark Underwood

Mark is a 4th Dan Master in both Taekwondo and Haidong Gumdo (Korean swords). He has also trained in other styles of martial arts. He is currently the owner and head instructor for Zone Martial Arts in Sydney, Australia.

Fundamental Theory of Haidong Gumdo and Martial Arts - Part 2

Part 2 of my fundamental theory of Haidong Gumdo talks about the first of our fundamental parts of Haidong Gumdo/Martial Arts. This one is all about spirit.

Spirit

Spirit is a big part of Haidong Gumdo although sometimes it is the one people overlook the most as it isn’t something we directly train. Rather spirit is something that comes from the other aspects of learning martial arts (Mind and Body which I will talk about shortly). Spirit comes from being around people who show these traits, making sure we look up to people who demonstrate the below attributes.

Patriotism (Love of Nation)

This means respecting the country we live in and the ideals that are common to everyone, yet also showing respect to the cultures and beliefs of everyone. We are a multicultural nation and respecting others should be part of the way we show that we are all Australian.

You can also show your love of nation every day by being a person who treats everyone as equals or even by something as simple as picking up some rubbish you might otherwise ignore.

Filial Piety (Love of Parents)

Sometimes our parents drive us nuts but they sacrificed a lot to raise us and it is important to show them respect and love. Everyone makes mistakes, even parents so don’t hold that against them. Instead tell them you love them as often as you can as you never know when it will be too late.

This also means doing what our parents say, straight away without talking back. Even as adults, we need to show our parents the respect they deserve.

Propriety (Good and proper behaviour)

Be a person who behaves in a way that is respectful to yourself and others. Don’t pick on other people or bully them. Don’t look down on people or treat them as well than yourself. It also means standing still when people are talking to you, giving them attention by listening to what they say.

We need to make sure that our actions tell others about the sort of person we are and want to be.

Justice (Moral rightness)

Sometimes it’s tough to do the right thing when all we want to do is yell back at someone and sink down to their level. Yet as said many times in the world of comics, with great power, comes great responsibility and this applies to martial arts students. The techniques we learn, whether with a sword or with our hands and feet, are potentially lethal techniques. They can definitely cause injury and pain to others, so we need to be able to make sure we can control our moves so as to only to the required amount of force on an opponent.

However the greatest challenge is to avoid situations that would mean we have to use our martial arts skills. So if someone tries to pick a fight, or does something to make us angry, we need to try and walk away if we can.

We need to make sure we are setting a good example, to our family, friends and other martial artists and this aspect is one of the most important.


Mark Underwood

Mark is a 4th Dan Master in both Taekwondo and Haidong Gumdo (Korean swords). He has also trained in other styles of martial arts. He is currently the owner and head instructor for Zone Martial Arts in Sydney, Australia.

What is traditional Taekwondo?

One of the most compelling statements to make about traditional Taekwondo is that it has a tradition of change. Over the years, Taekwondo has changed and developed based on social and political environments from the original Kwan’s that opened after Japanese occupation ended and before and after the Korean War. Even today, the Kukkiwon changes the methods of techniques based on changes to the sport or the refinement of technique from a new persons point of view.

The art in these original Kwan’s was extremely close to hard style Karate, although they did have some unique training methods. They did have their own variations in their forms, but the techniques and much of the art was the same as hard style Karate. They had the same uniform, same rank system, same forms etc. The techniques favoured straight linear power strikes, and the art was very "simple" compared to today’s focus on high kicks, intricate footwork and acrobatics. The modern mainstream WTF Taekwondo is indeed something entirely different from the Taekwondo from the original Kwan’s from the 40s to 50s. In the journey from "self-defence combat art" to "martial sport" many traditional training methods have fallen out of favour or disappeared all together.

One of the traditional training methods from the old Kwan’s was a device called “Dallyon Joo”. It used to be an important part of training but has disappeared with the change of focus for Taekwondo globally. Dallyon Joo means “forging post” and is the Korean equivalent of Karate’s Makkiwara. It is a post that you strike continuously to develop power in your strikes, blocks and kicks. A lot of early books on Taekwondo mention this type of training and it’s important in developing powerful techniques. Today it is mostly forgotten.

Most mainstream Dojang’s today teach the basic techniques of Taekwondo, Poomsae (patterns) and sparring although the sparring is most likely to be competition style. If you are lucky, your club may also teach self-defence and breaking although breaking is becoming less of a focus for power and more focused around flashier demonstrations. The five main foundations of traditional Taekwondo though in my view are Basic Techniques, Poomsae, Sparring, Self Defence and Breaking. That is not to say that people who only teach two or three of the above are not teaching “traditional” Taekwondo. The whole phrase traditional Taekwondo is open for interpretation. These are merely my beliefs on traditional Taekwondo.

Maybe there is no "Traditional Taekwondo" left. Personally I think the tradition in Taekwondo is change. Maybe for the better or maybe not. I guess it all depends on what you want out of your journey. That being said, the label "Traditional Taekwondo" should be used only by those who at least as a minimum practice all the "foundations of Taekwondo" and whose practice methods are in line with the art as taught in the old Kwan’s.

Over the next few weeks, I will go into the foundations in more detail from my viewpoint.


Mark Underwood

Mark is a 4th Dan Master in both Taekwondo and Haidong Gumdo (Korean swords). He has also trained in other styles of martial arts. He is currently the owner and head instructor for Zone Martial Arts in Sydney, Australia

What’s my motivation?

I first became interested in martial arts in my early teens. After watching some fantastic martial arts movies I decided that this was for me. This added to the fact that my parents were getting annoyed with me breaking broom handles against the clothes line in my imaginary martial arts fights in the back yard.

I started in Karate back then and although the school didn't fit me (or me it) and I left after about 6 months, it didn't dampen my enthusiasm for martial arts.

I picked up martial arts years later when I started doing Taekwondo. The desire and motivation to learn martial arts had stuck with me and I am glad it did.

Means, Motive and Opportunity.
“In crime fiction a character needs means, motive and opportunity to be considered a suspect.”

These criteria also apply to taking up any new activity, such as learning a martial art. Here's how:

Means: You need enough time and money. For some, money may be a barrier; for others with significant work and family commitments, finding the time is the limiting factor. In both cases, when starting out, taking one class a week has the advantages of easing you in gradually, and should be affordable and possible to schedule.

Opportunity: You need to find an instructor whose class you want to attend and who is prepared to take you on.

Motive: This is the big one: Motive (motivation) is incredibly important, because not only will it get you started on new activities and expose you to new experiences; it is the main thing that will keep you going long term.


What's my motivation?
When I went to my first Taekwondo class, I was impressed by the abilities of the instructor and senior students and how they taught. I wasn't graceful or powerful like them, but my instructor reminded me that it was my best they were looking for and if I focused on technique, the rest would come. Soon I was making progress, and within six months I was hooked.


As a beginner, I appreciated that:

• The instruction was impressive, and different to what I was used to from school and University
• It was challenging, but I was able to make fairly steady progress

Over the next few years, as I started to attain some degree of proficiency, I began to appreciate the gains that I was making in technique and fitness, and my motivation changed. I had progressed from being a naive beginner to a slightly less naive student. By now I had some idea of what Taekwondo was about. Having scratched the surface, I was keen to dig deeper.

As a committed student, I enjoyed:

• The opportunity to keep refining and extending my skills
• The friendships that I was making through martial arts
• Learning realistic self-defence
• Improving my concentration, coordination and fitness
• The rush of competing in tournaments
• The challenge of trying to apply my martial arts training to non-martial arts situations

Now, as a more seasoned student of the martial arts, and also as an instructor, my motivation continues to evolve. In addition to the points listed above, I want to:

• Teach my students well, and learn through teaching
• Help popularize the benefits of martial arts, and promote quality teaching
• Learn something every time I train
• To find connections between different aspects of my training, between the various martial arts, and between my training and my life.

No matter where you are on your journey in martial arts, its important to find your motivation and also to keep reminding yourself of it, of the things you have achieved and what you have learnt. It will keep you moving forward on your journey.


Mark Underwood

Mark is a 4th Dan Master in both Taekwondo and Haidong Gumdo (Korean swords). He has also trained in other styles of martial arts. He is currently the owner and head instructor for Zone Martial Arts in Sydney, Australia

7 Reasons Why Your Child Should Practice Martial Arts

One of the things I see as crucial in today's society, is for children to learn martial arts. There are a lot of different reasons but I did come across this blog entry from a martial artist in the U.S.A. that really resonated with me and I wanted to share it with you as well.

7 Reasons Why Your Child Should Practice Martial Arts

“The martial arts are ultimately self-knowledge. A punch or a kick is not to knock the hell out of the guy in front, but to knock the hell out of your ego, your fear, or your hang-ups.”

- Bruce Lee

Martial Arts provides kids with a healthy dose of self esteem and self respect. That's just two of the many benefits one gains with participation in things like Taekwondo or Haidong Gumdo.
Whether your kid is too bossy, too shy, or perhaps just a little hyper, the martial arts can help your child learn many important life lessons. (And, of course, those same lessons apply for all of us, not just kids.)

Reason #1: They (and You) Will Get More Active

This is the obvious reason kids should do martial arts in this day and age - to get active and moving. In case you haven’t noticed, we have an epidemic when it comes to our nation’s obesity problem. We’re also increasingly unfit in addition to being overweight. The problem is particularly alarming as it relates to our kids.

Youth sports and physical education programs are great, but not every kid is an athlete and many schools no longer offer PE. The martial arts offer many benefits, but when it comes to fitness, becoming a true martial artist means becoming a supremely fit person. Martial arts can help your child get fit and healthy.

Reason #2: They’ll Learn to Find Focus and Stillness

Of the many challenges that parents face today is that we are constantly plugged in. While there are a great many benefits to the Internet, there are many more benefits in stillness and silence. Unfortunately stillness and silence seem to be rare to find. At some juncture in life, every one of us comes to learn that the greatest obstacle we face in this lifetime is ourselves. That battle is fought in the stillness of our hearts and the willingness to confront ourselves. As Bruce Lee pointed out, behind the punches, kicks, and knees, a true martial artist learns to sit with himself and see where his weaknesses are.
In years of martial arts classes, I remember many challenges, breakthroughs, and setbacks. What I do not remember are distractions or gimmicks like you often see at your local health club. At the martial arts studios and boxing gyms where I trained, there was just hard work and sweat equity. As a martial artist, your child will learn what it is to be still, challenged, and focused.

Reason #3: They’ll Learn to Take Hits

In the martial arts, your child will learn what it is to take a hit,whether that hit is a literal blow or a disappointment like failing a test. Part of life is learning that we all take hits. The key is in learning how best to take that hit and get back up. Unfortunately, this lesson seems to be lost on many in our every-kid-gets-a-trophy culture. In the martial arts, your kid will learn to fail - a lot. Half of martial arts is hitting, but half is also getting hit. Ironically, learning how to take a hit is perhaps the best way for your kid to learn how to avoid it.

Reason #4: They’ll Gain Self Confidence and Self Respect


Teaching martial arts, I have been able to witness first hand the confidence students have gained by participating in the martial arts. Learning martial arts gives kids a tremendous amount of confidence.
The right martial arts school will teach your child that there are no tough guys. Every martial artist ultimately learns this sense of respect and true confidence. Your child will learn that confidence and respect for others comes from a deep sense of self-knowledge.

Reason #5: They’ll Connect Their Mind and Body

What they don’t teach you at your local health club is how to really listen to your body. To listen to your body is to also see your thoughts and have heightened awareness of your emotional construct.
A martial artist is taught to see, feel, and listen - both internally and externally. Tapping into intuition, fear, and courage are examples of being able to put the physical together with the mental. How often have we heard the phrase “being paralyzed with fear”? Being able to combat such a thing is what you learn in the martial arts.

Reason #6: They’ll Learn Conflict Resolution

People often ask me whether I have ever used my martial arts and boxing training in a fight. Indeed I have used the skills learned from martial arts many times to resolve conflict, but thankfully, never in a physical altercation outside the ring.
One of the first lessons was that words were never grounds for a fight. That advice right there has saved me many times. In the martial arts, you learn that there is no such thing as “fighting” words. Instead, you learn to respond without reacting in the martial arts.

Reason #7: They’ll Learn to Breathe

Of the many things I have learned in the martial arts, breathing is near the top. Indeed, nothing is more essential to the success of how we move our body than tapping into the life force of our essence - our breath. Ask a professional athlete, or an actor, dancer, or signer, and they will tell you that to succeed in any physical craft is to access your breath correctly.
I am shocked at times working with adults who never learned to breathe properly when under physical exertion. This skill can literally save your life. In the martial arts your kid will learn the essence of how to breathe and even relax under pressure.

The Take Home - How to Proceed

The bottom line is that almost any child can and will benefit from participation in the martial arts. For a typical six or eight year old the point is to just get them moving and focused. The key in choosing a teacher or school is to do your due diligence when it comes to evaluating the integrity of the program. As a starting place, I would choose a prospective instructor or coach who talks more about the needs of your child than his or her program.


Mark Underwood

Mark is a 4th Dan Master in both Taekwondo and Haidong Gumdo (Korean swords). He has also trained in other styles of martial arts. He is currently the owner and head instructor for Zone Martial Arts in Sydney, Australia.

Celebrate the Wins!!!

Sometimes in our martial arts practices we can focus on the things we have difficulty with or that we are unable to do as well as we want. Although it’s good to always realize there is room for improvement and that we should never believe that we are “good enough”, it’s also important to not be too hard on ourselves.

This is where celebrating the little wins is so important. At Zone Martial Arts we work with the students to set goals for their martial arts journey to help them realize that martial arts is about more than just the next belt. These goals are important as these are an example of the smaller wins we have while training.

Other examples of small wins are getting that kick out the way you wanted, nailing that section of a pattern that has been troubling us or getting that woosh sound with a good cut in Haidong Gumdo. Maybe you broke a board for the first time, maybe your partner or instructor pointed out a particularly good technique in class. Whatever it is, celebrate that small win. Those small wins add up and keep us focused on the bigger picture.

Then if you start doing it in class, maybe you can start finding the small wins in other areas of your life, at work, school or maybe resisting the donuts at the shops. No matter what it is, if you start to celebrate the wins you have in your life and at martial arts, maybe you might find something that’s missing.



Mark Underwood

Mark is a 4th Dan Master in both Taekwondo and Haidong Gumdo (Korean swords). He has also trained in other styles of martial arts. He is currently the owner and head instructor for Zone Martial Arts in Sydney, Australia

Hard work pays off!!

I have mentioned in previous posts that I believe that martial arts should be a practice that becomes part of every day of your life. I don’t mean you have to punch or kick every day, but the lessons you learn about self-discipline, control and benefits of hard work are ones that you can and should use every day.

What I find with a lot of students and with myself at times is that it is very easy to let the easy things in life get in the way.

It would be easier to sit on the couch and watch TV instead of training.

It would be easier to do these push-ups on my knees instead of toes.

It would be easier to sit down now as no one is watching and I can get away with it.

At times we all think things like this. What should make us different as martial artists is that we need to see the benefits of hard work. If we practice and practice our kicks, they get better. If we do 1000 cuts with our sword instead of 500, they get better. Hard work pays off.

We need to keep remembering this when we train. This is why I think having short term goals is so important. Getting your next belt, or your black belt are great goals but they shouldn’t be your only goal. Primarily as it’s easy to push it to the side. For example, thinking “its 2 years till I get my black belt, missing this one class won’t make any difference”. It will. Hard work now pays off later and even just the mind shift into a negative or positive frame will have long term effects.

This is where short term goals help. If you have set S.M.A.R.T short term goals, you will be thinking of this now and saying to yourself that you only have 3 months to achieve that goal, so you can’t miss that class.

A mantra I repeat a lot is that when you cheat, you only cheat yourself. This goes for training as well as exams and work. So embrace the hard work. Put in the hours now and you will get the long term benefits in multiple areas in your life, not just your martial arts training.

S.M.A.R.T goals

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time Bound

Mark Underwood

Mark is a 4th Dan Master in both Taekwondo and Haidong Gumdo (Korean swords). He has also trained in other styles of martial arts. He is currently the owner and head instructor for Zone Martial Arts in Sydney, Australia

Process or Progress?

Martial Arts has grown and developed over the years but did you know that the current belt progression systems are more of a western influence on martial arts as opposed to a traditional one?

Most students love the idea of belt progression and the idea of getting new belts at grading. It’s easy to track your progress from Taekwondo white belt to yellow belt and so on until you get your black belt. When a student gets to black belt though, they often wonder what’s next and the percentage of people who stop martial arts once they hit the black belt level is very high. So what is it that has a student quit once they reach their black belt?

I believe that the belt system itself can be a problem as it is a focus on progress and not process. A student at the coloured belt levels, grade a number of times in a year and get used to this regularity. When a student reaches 1st Dan though, the regularity of grading’s decreases with a minimum 1 year gap between 1st and 2nd Dan, 2 years between 2nd and 3rd Dan and so on. This change can really affect the motivation of students who have been focused so heavily on the progress of their martial arts journey.

This is why a focus on process is more beneficial. By process, I mean trying to integrate your martial arts into your daily life. When you go for a run or other fitness activity outside of your normal martial arts classes, do you add in any Taekwondo, Haidong Gumdo or other martial art into your session? This integration of martial arts into your life will help with your overall martial arts journey as well as with your fitness. It goes beyond the physical though. Are you integrating martial arts into the way you interact with people? I don’t mean bowing to the person who serves you at the supermarket but are you being polite and respectful to the people you meet? Are you giving someone who is talking to you the full attention they deserve like you do when an instructor talks to you in class or are playing a game on your phone at the same time?


Focusing your martial arts journey in the process of martial arts, the desire to improve your skills and mindset, not just in class, but in your everyday life, will make you a true martial artist. It’s not about the colour belt you wear around your waist. I believe if people looked at martial arts this way, they would not only continue well into their black belt dan ranks, but feel more fulfilled with their martial arts.

So I challenge you to think more about the process of martial arts in your life, and not just your progress from one belt to the next.


Mark Underwood

Mark is a 4th Dan Master in both Taekwondo and Haidong Gumdo (Korean swords). He has also trained in other styles of martial arts. He is currently the owner and head instructor for Zone Martial Arts in Sydney Australia

Choosing the right martial arts club for you

One thing I am asked a lot is what makes Zone Martial Arts different to other clubs. It’s both an easy and hard question to answer. I could list of a number of reasons why my club is great but will that matter to the person asking the question? Martial arts can be, and should be in my opinion, a very personal journey to improve the body and the mind. So your choice of martial art style and the club you train at should also be a very personal decision. It’s important to ask what you are hoping to achieve.

Are you looking to be a Taekwondo Olympic athlete? If so, choose a club that is very tournament focused.

Are you looking for a family friendly training environment? If so choose a club that has a number of families already training there.

Are you a huge fan of the UFC and how they fight? If so choose a club that teaches MMA styles.

Are you looking for your child? If so, have a look at what specific programs they have in place to help develop a child’s confidence and skills.


I could go on and on but the point is that when you set out to find a club to teach you martial arts, have an idea of what you are looking for and why. Then when you visit the club, ask specific questions that help you work out if this is the right club for you. You don’t have to choose the first club you go to and most will have a trial of some sorts.

You will hopefully continue to train for many years in martial arts so I encourage you to ask questions and above all things, have a go and train in a class. Sometimes that’s the best way to see if a club suits you and your martial arts goals.



Mark Underwood

Mark is a 4th Dan Master in both Taekwondo and Haidong Gumdo (Korean swords). He has also trained in other styles of martial arts. He is currently the owner and head instructor for Zone Martial Arts in Sydney Australia.