The reason I don't want to identify my ex-instructor or his style is the large volume of unsettling stories that I have heard from people I've run into. Acoridng to these many accounts, it's possible that he routinely sets up shop with a new school, in a new area, fills it with students, sells lifetime and blackbelt memberships, and soon closes. It's been nearly six years since I've heard from him. It's hard to remain loyal with so many stories from so many people. There are even rumors that he never legitimatly made it past green belt in Tang Soo Do before starting his own style. It's sad, I wish I knew the truth. No matter what type of person he really is I will always be gratefull to him for two things: He taught me self-confidence and he taught me how to fight pretty well.
In the months following the closing as my hamstring injury was healing, I trained with two friends. One of which, Dave, had studied Shoto-Kan Karate while away at college in Alaska. The other,Tony, was training at a local Tae Kwon Do School. The three of us merrily battled it out in Tony's front yard throughout the summer (I'm not sure how the neighbors felt about that). We even built a huge, wooden, heavy bag stand / stretching(torture) device in his backyard. Dave & I did ok but Tony, who was still training at an organized school was slowly pulling away from us in skill. Not quite black-belt, he was already amazing.
I had gone into see Tony's Tae Kwon Do instructor to see about taking classes. He really didn't want students that had trained elseware in his club. I suppose I can respect that, the desire to work on clean slate I guess. It still left me without any quality martial arts training anywhere under than a 45 minute drive away. At that point I was content to wait for my original instructor to open his new school (that never came).
I needed a physical education requirement at the community college I was attending so I thought, "Why not?" and signed up for Karate. I was dismayed to find out on the first night of class that it was not Karate, but Tae Kwon Do, something my first instructor had described as "merely a sport". My previous training helped tremendously, I was a whitebelt again, with the skills of a student 3 ranks higher. Needless to say I aced the class. I enjoyed the course so I signed up for the advanced section of the class, (Yellow belt) but it didn't fill and was canceled. I was invited to go to their home school, a W.T.F. style Tae Kwon Do club in Pontiac, Michigan, to take classes; I only made it through one class. It was horrible. It was so disorganized. There were so many people doing different forms (that they didn't seem to do well). There was absolutly no help from the black belts. They all crowded around the head instructor and traveled around the room in a knot, It looked like a bunch of student doctors doing the rounds with the head surgeon. It was laughable. The two individuals that I fought were so big-headed with their swollen ego's, as they strutted and postured. I couldn't belive how badly I moped the floor with the first of them (the same rank as me without a 6 month break in training) the other, a 3rd gup High Blue Belt wouldn't fight at all he just sood there in a defensive position and took everything I threw. (Is that practice?). I took my leave of martial arts for another four months.
Around Christmas, 2 years after my first experiences in martial arts, something horrible happened. Tony's Tae Kwon Do Instructor was shot and killed in a holdup attempt while working in his wife's wig shop.
Tony, who had just recieved his black belt, ran the club for a while, until it was sold to a new owner. So Tony invited me to meet the new owener in an attempt to get me training again. Mr. Phan took me in as his first new student. That January, for the third time, I was a white belt. In the months that followed I learned to really respect Mr. Phan and the art of Tae Kwon Do. I recieved regular poundings from Tony who still trained like a madman, pouring everything he could into Tae Kwon Do. It is a great school. Mr. Phan's philosophy is that, while Tae Kwon Do is his favorite, no martial art is really superior. They all have their good points. It all boils down to who is teaching and what you learn. He told us to go out and experience other styles whenever we could, and if we learned anything new and useful, bring it back and show everyone.
Slowly the students that had trained before Mr. Phan took over filtered out. I guess that by their instructor's murder they had been robbed of a choice. I know it was hard on them. Despite this our school was growing rapidly. By the time I was a green-belt, probably a year later, I was one of the highest ranking students at the school. When I recieved my High Blue Belt(3rd gup),I began teaching an open class for children and adults, once a week on Saturday mornings. Tony was long gone by this time. He had left to train in Hsing-I Chuan (Kung-Fu)with Dave.
In April of 1996 I recieved my recommended black belt along with three other students. Tony's now a senior student and instructor at the Kung-Fu school in Flint, MI. Dave's now in Seattle, Washington, training in Wing-Chung Kung-Fu.
In October of 1996 I recieved my 1st Dan (degree) Black-Belt from Phan's Academy of Tae Kwon Do. In early 1997 Mr. Pahn asked me to design a internet website for the school. I've enjoyed the experince ever since.
I didn't think I ever would have leave Mr. Phan and my Tae Kwon Do family, but certain life changes are coming my way. I'll be promoted to a new position with my employer in a few months that will take me to Arizona, permenently. I may test for second degree before I leave, but who knows for sure?
A new page in my Martial arts story will begin in Phoenix. Stay with Tae Kwon Do? Something Else like Kung-Fu or Kempo? Maybe some exotic Brazilian Style?
- John Melton 1/98