The Senpai(先輩) Kohai (後輩) Relationship by Andrew Benioff Ee Dan, Jidokwan Taekwondo; San Dan, Aikido [ed: the Korean translation for "senpai" is 선배 (seonbae) and "kohai" is 후배 (hubae).] In Japan, the senpai-kohai system underlies nearly all relationships. Although there…
A post called "Comfortable Being Uncomfortable" from May 2016 is probably one of the top five in terms of generating feedback from students of all levels. In early July 2022, while we were all training in masks, in an unairconditioned…
I'm loving RVTKD Instructor Luke Ryan's new ten minute fitness challenge, and if you're a member of our dojang, I encourage to do so. For me, part of the fun of this exercise is the way it forces us to…
If learning Korean Taekwondo terminology seems daunting, it's understandable: the US State Department has included Korean in the top tier of "most difficult" languages for native English speakers to learn.1 The alphabet isn't hard to learn, but the sounds don't…
While doing research for another project, I stumbled upon a term that I thought I knew well, but which I recently realized I've been mispronouncing for decades. The word 도복, which is usually Romanized as "dobok" is usually pronounced like…
Thinking back on my Taekwondo practice since March 2020, I see the effect of training all around me. Not only in the day-to-day workouts that are the heart of Taekwondo experience, but in the way its lessons shaped my actions…
This guest post was contributed by River Valley Taekwondo instructor and partner, Carin Zinter. After nearly 16 months, we are finally on the verge of reopening the dojang and once again offering classes. As someone who practiced with great regularity…
I dislike planking for the same reason I dislike Tetris: there's no way to win, only to lose a little more slowly. It happens often enough to be "a thing" worth writing about: an RVTKD student will tell me in…
There's no expectation in our Taekwondo school that students will become proficient in the Korean language beyond recognizing the martial arts terminology we use in class. That said, knowing a few things about 한국어 is sure to enhance your appreciation…
It's been several weeks since I've reported on my solo poomsae practice, but the work has gone on continuously since my initial posts. At this point, I can generally do them correctly if my goal is simply to do them…