Sunday, December 14, 2008

Martial Arts Politics

Recently, I was contacted through my site Your Martial Arts Resources by a gentleman who wanted to know if there was a way to find out the number of people involved in martial arts world wide as well as in the US.

I told him that this was almost impossible to figure out. One of the main reasons, I told him, is all the politics involved in the arts.

Just to prove my point, you might want to read this article from Malaysia. It's titled "No more punch in taekwondo" and signed by "Disgruntled Parent". The writer says:

"My eldest child has a one dan black belt from the Malaysian Taekwondo Association (MTA). My second child is under another association whose certification is not recognised at the new school he is in, while my youngest is in a club that has no links to any national body. However, all three associations claim to be part of the WTF."

"My children argue over which of these taekwondo associations is better. Why should children be subjected to such nonsense in schools?"

"It is indeed disheartening for students after having put their heart and soul into taekwondo in one school, to be told that the same form of martial arts is not recognised in another school."

No comments: