Oriental Moo Do School of Poway
Submitted by David Doerner
June 16, 2001
Table of Contents
Overview
White
Belt
White
Belt/Yellow Stripe
Yellow
Belt
Orange
Belt
Green
Belt
Purple
Belt
Blue
Belt
Brown
Belt
Red
Belt
Red Belt
Black Stripe
Black
Belt
Ideas
about Taekwondo
Summary of
testing
Taekwondo is a sport that originated from South Korea. At our school, The Oriental Moo Do School of Poway, there are a total of ten different ranks besides black belt. Click on one of the belts on the left to find out the information about each belt.
You have to wear a uniform or , in Korean, a "dobok." The dobok is a simple uniform that contains a belt, a shirt and pants. It is white, but the belt can be a variety of different colors depending on your rank. Every three months, our school has "testing." During testing, Master Kim comes from Long Beach to grade us on Taekwondo. Everyone is tested at once and it takes about three hours. It is hard to concentrate that long, but you can show what you have learned to the black belt instructors.
People would want to do Taekwondo because it is a good mental sport and you learn self-defense. My personal favorite part is sparring. It is where two people fight with pads on
This is your first belt of Tae Kwon Do. You have a brand new white uniform and a brand new white belt, too. The only trouble is you don't know how to tie your belt yet.
Master Wolpert tells you to just do what everyone else does and follow along and you try to do what everyone else does to make it look like you know what you're doing. You can't even understand what the instructors are saying because they are speaking a foreign language (Korean). This is a new experience so it's easy to pay attention and learn new things because you're interested.
You have to learn Sagu Kurgi Uro, or translated that means the four-direction punch to the right. You also have to learn to answer question with "Sir, yes, sir" or Sir, no sir" and you have to remember to bow most of the time. But the most important thing you learn as a white belt is how to be part of the class.
You get a yellow stripe on your white belt once you pass your first testing. For your next test you're told you have to learn the three Taekwondo. student creeds, which are:
1. I intend to develop myself in a positive manner and to avoid anything that would reduce my mental growth or physical health
2. I intend to develop self-discipline in order to bring out the best in myself and others
3. I intend to use what I learn in class constructively and defensively; to help myself and others and never to be abusive or offensive.
These are the rules of learning Taekwondo. They teach you how to use what you learn in class and not to use Taekwondo. for your advantage outside of the Do Jong, like by being a bully because you can beat people up and really hurt someone. You also have to learn the form called Taegeuk Il Chung. This form has several new techniques in it, such as high and middle blocks and also front kicks. In addition you start to learn three-step sparring, where each person attacks the other one three times and then you switch. Now more is expected of you in class, like doing better exercises and things, because you're not the lowest rank anymore.
This is your first colored belt. Now the fun begins because you get to start sparring and doing Hapkido.
Sparring is where you practice combat with one of your peers. You get to wear various pads (headgear, chest guard, mouthpiece, etc.), but sparring isn't just bashing the other person up. There are rules. Sparring isn't all fun because you have to learn to defend yourself. If you don't learn to defend yourself someone might attack you someday and you could get hurt. Of course, it is still fun to do sparring because you get to hit or kick another person as hard as you can to the stomach and kick lightly to the other person's head.
Hapkido is learning techniques to defend yourself if someone grabs you by the arm, sleeve, hair, neck, etc. You learn how to escape the other person's grasp and how to use their pressure points and their weak spots to counterattack them. There are an infinite number of Hapkido techniques.
By getting promoted to yellow belt, you also get a new form to learn, called Taeguk E Jang. This is the only form where you use a high punch.
Now you are considered a middle rank. You usually get treated with greater respect because there are three ranks below you. You feel better about yourself because you can do some things that you never thought you could do.
Now that you are an orange belt. In basics, you get to do the side-kick. This is a kick where you twist your body and kick with the blade of the foot. It is good for kicking opponents in the stomach. I like using the side-kick in sparring because you push your opponent back , which gives you more space to kick. It only helps the enemy if the enemy has longer legs than you do.
Since you went to Taekwondo, in your life you do a better job because you know what to do when a bully attacks you. It effects my school because now I will probably never get pushed around or get bullied.
Since I also learn self-discipline, I remember to do my homework and don't wait for my parents to tell me. I don't have to be told because I do it by myself.
As in all the other ranks, you learn a form called Taeguk Sam Jang. In this form there are two new things; one is a stance and the other is a block. The stance is a back stance. You would use it when you are defending. The block is a single knife-hand block. It is a move that I don't use often.
This is your second test of being a middle rank. Now your form is Taeguk Sam Jang, which is your first form with a back-fist. I like this form because it has two sidekicks in a row. Now you are introduced to three step sparring at level four and five. Three-step sparring is interesting and fun because you attack and counter-attack.
Push-ups now are really hard. Master Wolpert is really strict with how your push-ups look. When you get to this level, push-ups are for punishment. I had to do push-ups a lot when I was a green belt. I learned that if you look straight ahead, concentrate and keep your hands by your side, then you would be fine. Your concentration also helps you concentrate in school so you could be a better pupil.
Push-ups also get your arm muscles (biceps and triceps) really strong. Sometimes I wanted to get push-ups so that I could get even stronger.
You have been in Taekwondo for almost a year now and many people quit at this rank because they think it is too hard. As a green belt, you are getting really good at sparring and forms.
You are now in the middle of the middle ranks. You have to learn the form called Taeguk Oh Jang. This form is my favorite because it has two sweeping hammer fists and two elbow strikes.
In my training, I went to three competitions as a purple belt. Tournaments are an event where a numerous amount of people go and compete. They are competing for medals (gold, silver and bronze) for Poomse (forms) and Kyuroogi (sparring).
For me, competitions are rough and uneasy. There are a lot of other ranks that are as good as me. I learn that you are not always the best in your rank, height, weight and gender. The good part about tournaments is that you get a chance to win medals.
At our school, you have to do three competitions outside the school to get your black belt. That and getting medals and getting better is probably why I went to so many competitions when I was a purple belt. At that time, I was thinking a lot about becoming a black belt. I was looking forward to becoming a black belt because I wanted to have lots of respect from all the students.
Blue belt is a middle rank. Your form is Taeguk Yook Jang. I once heard that this is Master Kim's favorite form because it is one of the hardest forms to memorize. I don't know why it is so hard, it just is. Even now, as a red belt, I sometimes mess up on the blue belt form. I always try to catch my mistake by being aware.
At this rank, you should know a lot of Korean words in the categories of courtesy, punch and kick terms, and some various other words. My favorite kick is the back spinning kick, ti-toolio charigi. My favorite punch is the upset stomach punch, but I need to learn the Korean name for it. Kom same da is thank you, which is a very good thing to know, especially when you meet Korean people.
The blue belt test was the hardest for me because Master Kim told us to keep our eyes closed. I accidentally started to do my purple belt form. Master Wolpert told me to open my eyes because I was doing the wrong form. As soon as I saw my mistake, I felt embarrassed, but then I changed to the blue belt form and did it as well as anyone else. I learned that I should study the form names more closely.
You are at the end of the middle ranks. Now you have a lot of experience in Taekwondo. You already know warm-ups, basics, most hapkido, wrestling, and sparring. The only new thing to learn is your new form, which is Taeguk Tchil Jang. You learn a new stance, the tiger stance. It is a good stance to do a front snapping kick with your front leg.
This is the first rank where you have to pass two tests. You start teaching other people how to do their forms, how to do three-step sparring, and how to do one-step sparring.
The hardest thing about being a brown belt is that you are expected to do a lot. You get push-ups a lot, unless you do a really good job. The easiest thing about being a brown belt is learning your form even though it has 25 steps you do most of the steps more than once.
Taekwondo helps you to memorize actions better. You have to memorize the moves, the words, and the creeds. It helps you in your life by helping you memorize actions and words. For example, I memorized my scripts for acting and my multiplication facts really easily because Taekwondo taught me how to memorize and how to work hard.
You are now considered a high rank. You have to stay at this rank for three tests. Your new form is Taeguk Pahl Jang. I like this form because it is the only form I know so far with double kicks in it. It has 24 moves. You have to do the moves with sharpness and power, grace and speed.
You are now really far up the line-up when we stand by rank. It makes you feel very good because you are a higher rank than lots of other students. You get more responsibility. You are expected to do much better at warm-ups, kicks, punches, basically everything.
People, who never give up and keep trying at something, get to be red belts. In Taekwondo, you have to do a good job. You can't just come to class and expect to go up the ranks. You have to learn and practice. You have to be powerful, fast, and know your moves. If you do all these things, you might become a red belt or even a black belt.
By now, you have heard Master Wolpert's two rules of Taekwondo;
1. Don't fight
2. If you have to fight, be effective.
You should never use Taekwondo out of the school, unless it is an emergency. What I mean by an emergency is if someone attacks you first. Most people never attack me because they know I know how to defend myself. I am confident and strong.
This is my current rank. You have to be at this rank for at least four testings. At this time Taekwondo is getting a little boring because you have to practice the same things over and over. At the same time, you are excited because you almost have your black belt and you are getting to be really strong and fast.
You have the same form you had when you were a red belt. The difference between red belt and red belt with a black stripe is pressure. The pressure of your instructor on you is building. You get push-ups a lot more and your instructor expects you to be as good as a black belt.
The good part about this rank is that you stand at the very front of the line. Often have to bow the class in or out. You have to say, "Class cha-reut, kwan-jang-nim kay-di-hi-o keung-yea" which means, "Attention class, turn towards the master instructor and bow." You have to do it so that all the class listens to you and follows your instruction.
Most times when Master Wolpert is late, he gets a black belt to fill in for him, but when none is available then guess who is in charge? You are right, me! I like being in charge of the class because I can pick the activities for class. I can choose the warm-ups. Usually I pick things that Master Wolpert usually does. It is fun running a class.
This is the last belt rank you will ever get. The requirements that you need to be a black belt are:
The reasons I want to be a black belt are
How Taekwondo has changed my life
Even though this is the last belt rank, you can go even higher. In one year, if you keep testing you will get a letter from Korea saying that wherever you go, whatever school you go to, you will be able to keep your black belt.
From now on promotions are called dans. Some people say that black belt is the beginning of Taekwondo because now you know enough to really do it.
1. learn self-control
2. learn self-discipline
3. learn to be respectful
4. be constructive
5. self-defense
6. strength
7. teaches you to be brave, so that when a bully comes along and
grabs you....
8. makes you do hard work.
9. fun
10. relax
11. physical health
12. never abuse people
13. mental growth
14. develop positive manner
15. never be offensive
16. bring out the best in myself and
others
17. use what I learn in taekwondo in life
18. concentration
19. meet friends
20. learn Korean
21. perform
22. never give up
23. you can't be perfect
24. always get a second chance
25. don't battle your relatives
26. look people straight in the eye.
27. don't choose a car by its brand
28. always obey
29. always try again
30 always try hard
31. keep learning
32. good skills at teaching other people
Test 1 6/ 7/97 White belt, yellow
stripe
Test 2 9/ 6/97 Yellow belt
Test 3 12/ 6/97 Orange belt
Test 4 3/21/98 Green belt
Test 5 6/ 6/98 Purple belt
Test 6 9/26/98 Blue belt
Test 7 1/ 9/99 Blue belt one credit
Test 8 3/20/99 Brown belt
Test 9 5/29/99 Brown belt one credit
Test 10 8/28/99 Red belt
Test 11 12/ 4/99 Red belt one credit
Test 12 3/25/00 Red belt two credits
Test 13 6/ 3/00 Red belt black stripe
Test 14 8/19/00 Red belt black strip one credit
Test 15 12/ 9/00 Red belt black strip two credits
Test 16 3/ 3/01 Red belt black strip three credits
Test 17 6/ 6/01 ??????
10th Annual Jimmy Kim Tournament, Long Beach
9/25/99
California State Games, San Diego, CA June 1999
9th Annual Jimmy Kim Tournament, Long Beach 9/19/98
California State Games, La Mesa, CA June 1998
Junior Olympics, Anaheim, 1998
Oriental Moo Do School of Poway, 8/8/98
Oriental Moo Do School of Poway, 5/16/98
Oriental Moo Do School of Poway, 10/24/97