Woman without arms go's for TKD Black Belt

[Insidious]

No Arms Or kneecaps, First thing I noticed reading this was that she was going for the black belt after only 3 years then I realised it was TKD.

Now I think its great to see people over come there circumstances and achieve and I'm not trying to take away anything from this lady's achievements but can someone who cant fundamentally do a huge part of a martial art still be able to become as high as black belt? If I had no arms and therefore could not do any arm bars or collar chokes or takedowns could I still be a BJJ black belt despite having a huge gap in my Jiu Jitsu ability?

[The Don]

Not to sound mean but she was un impressive..

And no.. I see no way how she can legitimately earn a black belt.. but then again this is TKD.. and sadly there are too many Mc Dojo's here in teh US and I am sure abroad as well.. now I do applaud her for training and such.. that alone is a feat she should be proud of..

But again.. I have read stories of 6 year old's getting black belts and such.. it really is a disgrace to martial arts in general

It is schools like this that sadly lower the respect many other traditional and even MMA schools have for many TKD practitioners.

[Insidious]

Good to know I'm not the only one thinking it. It's great to see people who are disadvantaged still jumping in to train. I know off at least one blind guy earning his blue belt in Australia recently but I'm sure he's been held to the same standards as the rest of the people in his class. To lower the standards for someone would be a form of discrimination even if it's in favor of them getting their belt.

[Rufio]

In the special olympics there was a guy who won the gold in Judo when he was blind. He had awesome spacial awareness and did really well. A person that does well despite their disadvantage is a person who I have respect for. I am not saying I sont have respect for her, but there is no way she doesn't get special allowances. I dont mean to be heartless, but you shouldn't be able to achieve something that they have to make special provisions for you. The black belt is, or should be, a sign that you have mastered all things in the sport to be considered an expert. How can you be an expert when it is physically impossible to actually perform 1/2 of the techniques required.

I agree with both of you guy's opinions on the matter. We all want an inspirational story because they make us want to achieve more, but I personally think the situation screams more about problems with the handing out black belts on a whim rather then an inspirational story.

With all of that being said, good for her for training. I still give her props for training.

[Avenged]

Im just gonna play devils advocate (although I dont tottally disagree with you guys.) Look at the 40 year old who start training in BJJ, whos out of shape, not athletically gifted, and does not have the ability to put in a class day. But they train consistantly 3 times a week for 10 years (and there are guys like this out there.) They will never be nearly as good or able as someone half there age, who is an athlete, but that doesnt mean that they shouldnt be allowed to progress---not everyone can be a world champion. Another good example is Judokas---it doesnt matter how good you are, you can never reach the rank of Black Belt unless you get all your points, from volunteering, and refing, coaching, etc (that is why brown belts are allowed to compete in the olympics.) All Im saying is Martial arts isnt 100% phyiscal, theres so much more to it then that, things like attitude, determination, and even a persons mind set all get taken into account, especially in the more traditional MA's

[drx604]

the 40 yr old example doesn't really work, as a 40 yr old who may not be as athletically gifted, but can still physically do an arm bar or a say a guillotine choke, a person with no arms will probably fail at doing those techniques due to the physical limitations.

Here's an analogy

A brand new ferrari can get you from A to B pretty fast
A 40 year old Ford Pinto.... although a POS, would still get you from A to B, just take longer and in a less than impressive fashion
A 1 yr old car (even if its a ferrari or whatever) that's missing its 2 rear wheels will more than likely not even make it out of the garage

Sure they should give this lady a chance to go for her blackbelt... but i agree with Rufio, why do they give her special treatment?

[The Don]

drx said it for me..

As for the blind example.. There was a high school wrestler here in the states.. I do not recall his name who was blind.. Ended up becoming an all American in college the only provision they made is that if contact was broken it would be re-established. And it was not always allowing him to grab the other it was situational.. Sometimes he had an advantage.. sometimes he did not..

In fact Disney made a Movie based very loosely off of him and the experiences of several other blind wrestlers, that was on the Disney Channel. It is called Going to the Mat.. Decent movie actually.



As for this lady going for a black belt.. Many TKD schools sadly. have students getting black belts in three years.. someone with a disability
like this even in these BB factories should take a lot longer. These schools.. ( not this woman, more then likely she has never heard of a BB Factory or a Mc Dojo) are a disgrace to all Styles of martial arts that take awarding belts very seriously..

[drx604]

if TKD instructors were smart they would make it a 10 yr blackbelt program, then they would have a paying customer for 10 years

[The Don]

yea but for them they want people who can go out and open schools and they can go.. Look at how great I am I promote a dozen BB's a year..

Forget the fact most of those BB's do not know what to do in a real fight or would not make it out of the first round of even an MMA match in most cases

[Insidious]

if TKD instructors were smart they would make it a 10 yr blackbelt program, then they would have a paying customer for 10 years

Then they would have to keep them occupied for Ten years, IMO after 2-3 months you would know something was off. hard to believe they could keep a student for three years even.