Question 061: An UNsatisfied customer

 

From what I observed on your web site, your organization appears to issue rank based only on “proof” sent by applicants , a video of the person (doing what, I don’t know), and the claim that the organization has the ability to verify that proof before taking the money and issuing the rank certificate. As stated above, fake professional appearing certificates abound and a video can be of anyone, not necessarily the applicant. An organization concerned with its integrity in the martial arts community would not issue certificates based upon hearsay, it would only issue certificates based upon the completion of its own rank progression curriculum and the recommendation of its own certified instructors based on their personal observation of the person’s behavior and martial art skills. I wouldn’t want my organization to be issuing a rank certificate based on the proof sent by a convicted child molester or a convict.

All navy personnel recognize and salute a marine general but that does mean the navy will make the general an admiral, or even an honorary admiral, even if he or she can show proof of his or her marine rank. An initiated navy chief (E-7) will recognize and show respect to a marine gunnery sergeant (E-7) but the chief will never consider the sergeant an equal within the chief’s mess or call the sergeant a chief. In fact, chiefs do not consider an uninitiated navy E-7 to be a real chief. I recognize and respect a Judo black belt, but in Taekwondo class, the person is just another Taekwondo student, the Judo rank is meaningless.

Neither I, nor any one else for that matter, can meet everyone. We all make opinions on people, or organizations, without ever meeting the actual people. After all, we have an opinion of presidential candidates and elect one as President based upon those opinions without ever meeting the candidates. We can only base our opinions upon input from our five senses, mainly seeing and hearing. In my opinion, based on what I read on your web site and my above stated reasons, your organization would seem to qualify as a certificate mill. If your organization is not a certificate mill, then I apologize.
I did not mention your site as a specific attack upon you or your organization; I merely mentioned it as one example of what, in my opinion. was a certificate mill. If is not a mill, then when people visited your site they saw that my opinion was wrong.
II have changed the fraud section of the TKDTutor.com web site to let readers form their own opinions as to the legitimacy of instructors and organizations rather than expressing my own opinion on specific ones. As in elections, we will let the people decide.