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Why the TMA?
by Kwan Jang Nyhm Michael Kaiser
I have been involved in
martial arts since 1977. Most of my training has been in Taekwondo. The TMA is
the third martial arts association of which I have been a part.
Why did I leave other associations? I am glad you asked. It
was hard for me to get past many of the egos I encountered in the other
associations. There were just too many individuals, especially many of the black
belts, with a misplaced sense of heightened self-esteem. They seemed more
interested in glorifying themselves than helping their students. Many of their
students thought that this was the way higher-ranking belts acted so the effect
snowballed. Obviously there were exceptions, but they seemed to be just that,
the exceptions, not the rule.
The associations appeared to be more interested in how much
money instructors were making them. They were more interested in the quantity of
an instructor’s students than the quality of the students. One system went so
far as to base the question of an instructor testing for higher rank on how many
students that instructor had. In other words, the instructor had to have a
preordained amount of students before being allowed to test for a higher rank.
In the TMA, I have found I have to deal with very few if any
large egos. Everyone seems genuinely concerned for the welfare and development
of the students as well as the instructors. We have a broad based curriculum,
drawing not only from Taekwondo but also from several other styles. I am proud
to be a part of the TMA, and I foresee a bright future for this association.
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