Disagree?

You may disagree with what is written in TKDTutor, after all, I may disagree with what is written in TKDTutor. I wrote some of it over ten years ago, so my views now may be totally different from what they were then. I only ask that you evaluate in your own mind (using verifiable facts, logic, and reason), what is written, and then you may either reject or accept it. Either way, I would appreciate your feedback. Through the use of convincing arguments, I have sometimes changed people's views and opinions, and likewise, they have caused me to change some of my views and opinions.

Inspiration

I get thoughts, ideas, and inspiration for TKDTutor from many different sources. Perhaps TKDTutor will give you thoughts, ideas, and inspiration for your life, your martial art training, or your own projects.

Impartial?

I try to be impartial, but impartiality is in the eyes of the beholder. The information in TKDTutor is free and, other than the use of Google ads, it has no sponsors, organizations, or instructors to please. I simply tell it as I see it. If you do not agree with what I say, you may think I am being partial to or discriminating against one martial art or another. If you agree with what I say, you may think I am completely impartial and non discriminating. I try to be impartial, but, as with most of you, I am human, so partiality may unconsciously slip in.

Traditional Slant

Although I try to present all aspects of Taekwondo and the martial arts in general, I am partial to the traditional martial arts as opposed to the martial sports, such as Olympic style Taekwondo or Judo, or to the combat sports, such as boxing or cage style fighting.

Repetition

I try to insure that I do repeat myself by covering the same subject twice, but with so many pages and so much information, sometimes it may occur. However, with so many pages and so much information, you probably will not notice it even if it does occur.

Be a Skeptic

Be skeptical. If something does not seem correct, then doubt it until you can verify its authenticity. This includes what your Taekwondo instructor may tell you, and it certainly applies to what you may read in TKDTutor. Fools are seldom skeptical; skeptics are seldom foolish.

Just because an "expert" says something is true does not make it true. During the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates about 150 years ago, after a long speech by Stephen Douglas that was filled with inaccuracies, Lincoln asked the audience, "How many legs would a horse have if you called his tail a leg?" "Five" called out some of the onlookers. "Four" replied Lincoln, "Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it true."

When asked to believe a claim, demand empirical evidence of the claim that may checked or independently verified. If there is no evidence, apply logic and reason to the claim. If there is no evidence to support the claim and the claim is not reasonable or logical, then the claim is probably false.

Errors

There are over 1400 pages of content in TKDTutor, so there are sure to be errors. If you find errors or inaccuracies, please email me.

Bad Links

Some links, especially to videos, are external links. Just as with humans, web sites are born, change, and die daily, so some of the links may be broken or the sites may have closed. When this is the case, you will get an error when trying to open the links. Let me know about bad links and I will fix them.

Terminology

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art; some Taekwondo schools use a lot of Korean terminology, some use very little, and some none. TKDTutor believes instructors should use the common language of their country. Since TKDTutor is based in the United States, it uses English terminology, although some common Korean terms are used. The terminology topic presents Korean equivalents of several English terms.

Sources

Taekwondo claims to be a purely Korean martial art. While its origin was in Korea, its roots were in karate the founding masters studied while Korea was occupied by the Japanese during the first half of the twentieth century. In addition, most martial arts are related since they all have the same purpose—to defeat an aggressor with the empty hand. Therefore, TKDTutor uses information from various styles of karate and other martial arts as it relates to Taekwondo.

Information presented in TKDTutor has been learned, experienced, or collected by myself during over 30 years of training in Taekwondo and other martial arts. Some of the information is from personal experience and some is from other sources, such as books, magazines, newspapers, Internet, etc. TKDTutor is not a scholarly research site with footnotes/endnotes to original sources, but, where I know the sources of information, I have noted them at the end of the associated web page. A complete list of the sources is presented in the References topic. If you think a reference footnote needs to be added to a topic, let me know.

You never learn anything new from discussing a subject with people who agree with you, so it you disagree with something, let me know.

Got Questions

If you have a question about Taekwondo or the martial arts in general, I have an answer. I cannot guarantee it will always be the right answer, but you will get an answer. So ask me!