Black Belt World

I truly respect Martial Arts. I loved Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon, and have a soft spot for those ridiculous spoof, horribly edited kung fu movies. I have a family member with a 2^nd degree black belt in tae kwon do, and grew up instilled with the values very similar to those of martial arts; respect, hard work and inner growth.
So, one day I decided to take up tae kwon do for shits and giggles. BBW was right there, down the street from home. This was great! A place to work out that was easily accessible, and I would finally get to practice kicking and punching things!
For about 6 months, on and off, I went a few days a week and worked up to a yellow belt, got to know the fellow students and was proud when I broke my first wooden board! To this day, I’m still proud of my achievements there but here are a few reasons I don’t go anymore:
I got bored. Now, I think this is a testament to my personality, and not one to the regiment or workout style or instruction at BBW. The instructors are extremely knowledgeable, friendly and easy to approach, despite their strict bark.
I found that if you weren’t able to put in 3 solid days of training (as they call it) versus a weekly workout (more of what I was looking for) than you were kind of shunned. BBW is definitely for those who are serious about learning tae kwon do, and not for those just wanting to drop in for a class here and there.
The place is also VERY pricey and I was discouraged from my making monthly payments, which I didn’t like. It felt more like a gym membership (maybe that’s why I was confused about the drop in classes-​haha) than a school to me and my credit card suffered for a long time! I couldn’t even cancel my membership when I stopped going because I hadn’t moved over 50 km away (as per the ‘contract’).
For kids, I think BBW is a great place to learn martial arts, discipline and self confidence. I’ve seen some of the tykes practice and it’s wonderful to see them jump and do horse stances, their little legs tripping over the long belts around their waists. Very cute! I even got to help in one of the kids classes which was a fun experience!
But, I wouldn’t recommend BBW for anyone who wasn’t thinking of putting in a serious commitment to them or to tae kwon do. They definitely want to establish a community within their school, which is great, but I think they want to emphasize training and strict discipline more than just working out. If you do want to learn TKD (for short), however, I absolutely recommend this school!