Tkd complains

A quick complaint on Edwin’s tkd (not really quick when I realized I’m done):

1. Money-faced
Power Sport and Dynamic strictly do not take in kids under 7. Mrs Leong rejected a parent who wanted to enroll his 6 year old kid but Edwin takes in even 5 year olds. Even a physically and mentally challenged kid! Why? Cos he’s not the one teaching. Come on, the kid can’t even walk, and her parents want her to do tkd? And Edwin takes her in? She can’t talk and can’t understand anything as well. I wasn’t the one teaching her but still, it’s ridiculous.

The latest addition is he took in 2 kids aged 4 and 6. I thought it strange when he asked me to let them do whatever they wish and that they won’t get it after all. Then I found out how old they were. And this shows what’s going on at the centre and what type of person he is. So I let them do whatever they like as well (they end up sitting on the floor for the most of the 1.5 hour class) Their parents can come and see for themselves one day, I don’t give a damn.

2. Money-faced again
Intake should be strictly once a year. How do you teach if there are new people coming in all year round? I remember Mrs Leong telling a parent to wait for the next year’s intake, she’s that strict and not a cheapskate.

3. Boring, utterly boring
How can you teach grading syllabus and only grading syllabus for 3 months?? Ok, a grading syllabus averagely consists of 2 hand techniques, 1 kick, taeguek and one-step sparring. That’s it. And the one-step sparring are the same steps from green belt to red belt, so there is nothing new to learn. So there are just 3 things to repeat. Omg, imagine doing and teaching the same 3 things over and over again in 12 weeks of 18 hours? Seriously, the students are bored. Those who have had the opportunity to compare or train elsewhere, have left. If you talk about an exam-oriented education system, have you heard of grading-oriented tkd classes? Tkd is more than just grading; there is self-defense, fitness training, sparring even for those who are not keen on competition and techniques other than grading syllabus. I doubt if the students know how to apply what they have learnt, cos all they know are grading steps and besides, they don’t know much as well.

4. The standard sucks
How not to, if the only thing the students know is grading syllabus?

a. Fitness sucks as there is no stamina training. A race is fun for the kids as well as to give those muscles some exercise.

b. One-step sparring is the same from green belt to red. Since when do green belts and red belts do the same thing??

c. No sparring at all for gradings except when you wanna take your black belt exam. In other words, the first time the kids are sparring is for their black belt exam.

d. When you reach 15 years of age, you can just change your poom belt to black without taking an exam. Hopeless. What if the fella has stopped training since he was 8? (being a red belt at 8 is not impossible with Edwin a cheapskate) He can’t just come 7 years later and be a black belt. The reassessment is done with the purpose to make sure that the junior black belts didn’t lag and still have what is takes to be a black belt.

e. Only 1 round of sparring for your black belt exam. Well, you can’t make the poor kids, who are going to spar for the first time in their lives, spar 2 rounds right?

f. The kids can’t tie their own belts. To me, this is a very simple and basic thing of tkd, to tie your own belt. Don’t talk about tying it correctly or disrespecting it by hanging it round your neck but just tie it round your waist, for starters. It is absolutely annoying, embarrassing and stupid to have my class interrupted every few minutes by some kid asking me to tie their belts for them. This is not a kindergarten. Edwin ties their belts one by one. Once, I had everyone remove their belts and taught them to tie it, only to have him interrupting that they will never get it and to just carry on with the stupid grading syllabus. Well, there is another 17 hours and 50 minutes to teach the 3 steps! Teach a man to fish and he can fish for his food! But now they are not even taught to fish! Stupid. On days when I am so pissed, I refuse to tie their belts and he has to eventually tie it for them. He’s a stupid babysitter for all those 6 year olds that he takes in.

g. This is the first place I’ve seen that white belts stand in front and black belts at the back. Again, pampering here. I think he wants the juniors to get his ‘undivided’ attention but seniority is important in tkd. Discipline is also not instilled, like it is well-known that late-comers to class have to bow to the instructors and to the class but it is only here the students coolly walk in and join the class. He’d rather remind them one by one than remind the class as a whole. Which is why I don’t bother asking late-comers to go and bow to him as well.

And a personal attack on the ‘employer’..

a. He doesn’t notify me earlier of any activities or cancellations. So I got back at him and tell him at the last minute too if I’m coming or not. He got the message finally and behaves better now =) But I still take revenge by telling him twice I’m on the way while still reading newspapers at home =D

b. Simply assumed that I wanted my English name on my belt. Luckily I gave him my Chinese name. What if he had already did the English one? I’m not going to pay him! And worse, I realized that he actually didn’t know how to spell my name. It’s either Ann or Anne, not Ane. Whoever spells it as Ane? That’s why I call him dyslexic. And imagine it if I have Ane on my belt? Total moron.

c. Moron
i. Can’t type an sms and needs someone to do it for him. Who doesn’t know how to type an sms these days? Even my mum can! When he finally does, I get sms with single and double spacing everywhere.
ii. Among his pouch, wife’s handbag, document bag and laptop bag, he decided to put his car keys in the laptop bag and we spent a good half and hour looking for it. And that bag wasn’t even taken out of the car. In other words, he turned off the engine, put the key in the bag that was at the back seat and left. Moron moron moron. It’s a wonder why he didn’t put it inside the kicking pad bag.
iii. The car boot is always full of uniforms, equipment, documents and some other trash that the assistant will jump and shut the boot close. And then, the moron installed some speaker that takes up half of the boot capacity. Why bother fixing sound systems, Ah Beng steering wheels and Ah Beng pedals in a car that’s rusty and seats falling apart??

Sorry, people’s dumbness get to me. Annoyed =D

He’s the boss, I’m the employee, I don’t care as long as I get my pay. For the things that I can make a change, I will try to but for those that is beyond my control, I’ll sit back and watch your students run. Less for me to teach too =D I sincerely advise people to go elsewhere for their own good. When a poom belt asked me where shall he get his black belt, I told him that if he took it here instead of the other club where he is also training, he needn’t take an exam. He sneered, which shows that people like to ‘earn’ their black belts. But in the end, he just changed his belt here with no effort. Why waste money and effort right?

I don’t give a damn! La la la la la.. but it affects my reputation for working for someone and some club like this. Which was why I kept an extremely low profile at the MSSD and partly cos I ran away from Chen Hong’s training after 2 weeks =P Timmy said that I still go for classes despite calling Edwin a stupid man. Hai…I forsake my dignity for money. What the stupid heck.