DE
WITT MARTIAL ARTS Teaching The Ancient ("old school")
Korean Martial Arts of Un-Armed Self Defense:
Grandmaster Eugene A. Humesky Grandmaster Rudy W. Timmerman
Sr.
Master Garrett DeWitt
Master Karmon Keppers 4th Dahn
Dr. Jeffery Nyblom 4th Dahn
Mr. Todd O. Dahl 3rd Dahn
Mr. Randy Mertes 2nd Dahn
Dr. Renee Taylor 2nd Dahn
Freedom
Isn't Free!
From
The Voices of Wisdom.....
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ROOTS/BASICS
+ TECHNIQUES + PRACTICE = MARTIAL ART
Mrs. Karmon Keppers - Chief Instructor.
Korean Chung
Do Kwan. Tang Soo Do. Kong Shin Bup TM
.
HoShin Sul Hap Ki Do June, 2006.
As every
Korean martial arts student in this dojang knows, the Tenets of
TKD provide the
basics or "roots" of
our art. (As Master DeWitt constantly reinforces) If we do not have a good foundation or solid roots, we have nothing. To verify
this all we have to do is to
remember what we have seen at tournaments, the notable differences in
attitudes when
others have visited our dojang or comments of our students when they have
observed
students/classes at other dojangs. As the old saying goes, "the proof
is in the pudding."
In our case,"the
proof is in the technique." More than that, the proof is in the attitudes
of our students. You have pride in what you do and you should, you have
worked hard
for every belt rank which you have attained and you have the satisfaction
of knowing
that you honestly earned your rank. You didn't just pay a fee and get
the belt handed
to you. Although everyone within our dojang, at one time or another, has
gotten or will
become frustrated with the "instructor's for harping constantly
about using better
techniques, longer stances, more power," you wouldn't want a school
that was
just going through the motions.
If we, as
instructors, didn't push our students to give their best effort, we then
would
be extremely disrespectful of Master DeWitt and his Korean martial arts
lineage. If Master
DeWitt had not set the highest standards from the very beginning, then
this would
(our dojang) be just another "belt mill" or "MacDojang."
There are already enough of
those in the community and in our state. This will never happen to our
dojang.
Master DeWitt's determination to stay true to the "Old School"
Korean Chung Do Kwan,
Tang Soo Do, HoShin Sul and Kong Shin Bup TM,
lineage of our art
and treat it
with respect is very rare and not found in many higher ranking Black Belt
individuals under
the age of forty. If you stay involved with DeWitt Martial Arts and as
you attain
higher rank, you will come to understand why we instruct the way that
we do and
why our standards and expectations are set so very high.
You might not always like it but you will understand it.
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Sparring
Advise.... Mr. Randy Mertes
#1
I have been involved at Dewitt Martial Arts for almost seven years. During
that time several people (including myself) have expressed frustration
with their sparring skills. I suppose this results from several factors.
Let me first
say that I understand. I also understand that, even among other black-belts,
we are not alone. There was a point as a colored belt that I even considered
quitting TKD, precisely because of the sparring issue.
Early on
I mistakenly believed that if the staff would just give me the curriculum
on paper, I could be a black-belt in a matter of a few months, certainly
less than a year. Then Master Dewitt graciously invited me into the late,
black-belt class (I think they needed fresh meat).
It wasn't
long before I realized that being a black-belt involved much more than
just memorizing patterns and one-steps. The climax came one evening while
sparring one of the black-belts, a young, petite, bank teller. She front-kicked
me up against the wall. It hurt my pride immensely.
I liken sparring
to the real world. TKD is a self-defense system and it is only when we
spar that we have the chance to apply to 'real life' what we learn during
class. There is a reason we go up and down the floor doing combinations
of kicks. Not only do we learn the kicks themselves but it gives us something
to apply when we are sparring.
In my case,
I became frustrated because I couldn't seem to put any combinations together.
Anything more sophisticated than a few short round kicks just never came
to mind while I sparred. I decided that my problem was that I had set
my expectations too high. Those on staff have never belittled me for my
lack of skills and they won't do that to you either. I can guarantee it.
I decided
to step back and focus on one thing. I set as my goal to do a short round
kick followed by a back kick (for whatever reason, I just could not do
a back kick while sparring). I didn't care what happened for the rest
of the sparring session, I just wanted to learn to do that one combination
well. Once I felt comfortable with that, I graduated to other combinations.
My advice
is that you do the same. If you want to do a combination, just try and
do ONE. Once you have that in hand, try for two. If you fall down in the
process, get up and try it again. If your kicks miss their target, then
focus on your distance. The point is, RELAX. Try new stuff. We would rather
see someone try something new and fail than throw twenty-five round kicks
over and over. And don't forget, we have all been there.