Since leaving Seattle and the great Pacific Northwest for the D.C. area and now Toledo, Ohio, I have tried 4 different martial arts schools, attempting to find somewhere that is as powerful for me as Bailey's. Nothing has ever come close.
I've though about this a lot, and I think I have found some hints to why this organization is so special. [Warning: This is long, but heart-felt.]
For one thing, I have never seen an organization with so many black belts. I think one of the many reasons people stay, is that black belts are not forced to act as assistant teachers. Black belts can continue to work on their own development until they want to teach and/or open their own school within the organization.
Another great thing is that there are no "beginner," "intermediate," and "advanced" classes. Or worse yet, children (at least children over seven) classes separate from the adult classes. Were I so blessed as to still be in Seattle, that would mean that I could come to class with my 9 and 10 year-old kids and we could work out at the same time. I dislike sitting for an hour watching my kids in their class almost as much as they dislike watch me in mine.
This one surprised me a bit. The regularity of each class at Bailey's is something I really appreciate, now that I can't find it anywhere else. Every other school I've been to does something different for every class. At Bailey's, we did warm ups, patterns, partner work, and then sparring. The skills we worked on varied, but the structure was the same. And that was helpful -- and far from boring. Every time I went to class in Edmonds, I knew basically what would happen and that I would have a chance to do my favorite thing -- patterns (hyung). The predictability of the class structure was comforting, or stabilizing -- I'm not sure what the right word is but it was important to me.
Maybe the thing I value(d) most at Bailey's was the atmosphere of self-improvement rather than competition against fellow students. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED competing in the in tournaments, but what made them so great is I could concentrate on improving my own performance, instead of worrying about winning or losing, or wanting to crush the competition, or hoping my opponents did poorly so I could get a trophy. The atmosphere at tournaments was one of hope that everybody had their best day and worked up to their potential. Then if you happened to get a trophy or ribbon, it was extra great, because you surpassed not only your personal best, but you won against people who were also on top of their game. I'm not sure I'm saying this right, but at the tournaments, it felt like everyone wanted everyone else to do well--that everyone was routing for everyone else. Also, Mr. Bailey never took credit for my successes. He let and encouraged me to own my efforts.
Finally, I loved non-contact sparring. Flat out. Wearing head gear and gloves has never made me feel more protected or less likely to be hurt. Quite the contrary. Nothing beats sparring with control and care for your opponent's well being. Padding make people less controlled, more dangerous, and it's a pain in the butt to carry the stuff around, and take it on and off. I also really respect what Mr. Bailey said, (paraphrase) "I didn't start the school to teach family members how to hit each other." Amen.
So that's my encomium on Bailey's Traditional Taekwon Do College. If you are a student there, I wanted to share with you from afar, just how lucky you are. If you are thinking about joining, I wanted to give you the perspective of someone who studied there for five years or so, then moved away and miss the organization almost every day.
And finally I wanted to express my deepest appreciation to all my TTKD teachers, Shelly, Dan, my classmates -- those with lower belts as well as higher belts -- and most especially to Mr. Bailey, whom I respect and miss more than I can say.
Kamsahamnida.
Jen Horvath
I've though about this a lot, and I think I have found some hints to why this organization is so special. [Warning: This is long, but heart-felt.]
For one thing, I have never seen an organization with so many black belts. I think one of the many reasons people stay, is that black belts are not forced to act as assistant teachers. Black belts can continue to work on their own development until they want to teach and/or open their own school within the organization.
Another great thing is that there are no "beginner," "intermediate," and "advanced" classes. Or worse yet, children (at least children over seven) classes separate from the adult classes. Were I so blessed as to still be in Seattle, that would mean that I could come to class with my 9 and 10 year-old kids and we could work out at the same time. I dislike sitting for an hour watching my kids in their class almost as much as they dislike watch me in mine.
This one surprised me a bit. The regularity of each class at Bailey's is something I really appreciate, now that I can't find it anywhere else. Every other school I've been to does something different for every class. At Bailey's, we did warm ups, patterns, partner work, and then sparring. The skills we worked on varied, but the structure was the same. And that was helpful -- and far from boring. Every time I went to class in Edmonds, I knew basically what would happen and that I would have a chance to do my favorite thing -- patterns (hyung). The predictability of the class structure was comforting, or stabilizing -- I'm not sure what the right word is but it was important to me.
Maybe the thing I value(d) most at Bailey's was the atmosphere of self-improvement rather than competition against fellow students. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED competing in the in tournaments, but what made them so great is I could concentrate on improving my own performance, instead of worrying about winning or losing, or wanting to crush the competition, or hoping my opponents did poorly so I could get a trophy. The atmosphere at tournaments was one of hope that everybody had their best day and worked up to their potential. Then if you happened to get a trophy or ribbon, it was extra great, because you surpassed not only your personal best, but you won against people who were also on top of their game. I'm not sure I'm saying this right, but at the tournaments, it felt like everyone wanted everyone else to do well--that everyone was routing for everyone else. Also, Mr. Bailey never took credit for my successes. He let and encouraged me to own my efforts.
Finally, I loved non-contact sparring. Flat out. Wearing head gear and gloves has never made me feel more protected or less likely to be hurt. Quite the contrary. Nothing beats sparring with control and care for your opponent's well being. Padding make people less controlled, more dangerous, and it's a pain in the butt to carry the stuff around, and take it on and off. I also really respect what Mr. Bailey said, (paraphrase) "I didn't start the school to teach family members how to hit each other." Amen.
So that's my encomium on Bailey's Traditional Taekwon Do College. If you are a student there, I wanted to share with you from afar, just how lucky you are. If you are thinking about joining, I wanted to give you the perspective of someone who studied there for five years or so, then moved away and miss the organization almost every day.
And finally I wanted to express my deepest appreciation to all my TTKD teachers, Shelly, Dan, my classmates -- those with lower belts as well as higher belts -- and most especially to Mr. Bailey, whom I respect and miss more than I can say.
Kamsahamnida.
Jen Horvath
