The political Master – The Time Line #2

Master Snow is a VII Dan TaeKwon-Do Black Belt who is also the senior editor of this magazine and a number of pages on Facebook that are responsible in keeping the Founders legacy alive.
From the age of 21, Chris has fought many wars for the sake of good. A number of seniors over the year have brought up about how some are exploiting and bastardising the timeline so, as usual, he tackles it head on. Is it that some blatantly only care about their own gain nowadays? Chris delivers his view.

This issue, we cover the timeline. If you are like me with nearly 40 years in the art, by now you too can point at individuals in your country, city or town who over the years have blatantly jumped grade and totally disregarded what must be followed in Taekwon-Do.

I personally know of GM’s who have ignored the timeline, only to bastardise the system as we know it. I am a 7th Degree, but I have never taken any of my grades early (or on time, to be honest), as to me it is simply a personal journey and does not mean as much to some as it does to others.

In one situation many years back, a 3rd Degree is promoted to 5th Degree with no physical exam taken.

The sad thing is two newly promoted Masters walk off the seminar and subsequently question the 8th Degree host on why this happened. As usual, the same old rhetoric is used like “Well, he has done 20 years in the art”. So what? Sorry, I have friends who have been in TKD as long as me (and longer) and they hold 4th Degrees.

They don’t use this excuse or expect to grade up just because they have more years in the art than most – they have a moral compass and are highly ethical, unlike some nowadays.

Recently, I learned of a senior who is well-known around the world – he is promoting people to 7th and 8th Degree and it’s all based on years served, not knowledge and skill. There’s no grading and if you join his body, you get the grade.

I am confused why these practitioners who are well known globally are sacrificing what respect the TaeKwonDo world had for them. Personally, I question why they are issuing grades that back in the day carried so much pride when achieving them. I mean, we all have sweated, lost blood and done the years (and in some cases lost teeth and damaged our bodies) all to become Black Belt and seniors, so why the hell are we letting the rot happen in the art with these ‘mamby pamby’ practitioners who want to cheat the system to get high grades.

Are we really in a time where the I.T.F. groups now honour the grade a person claims they reached (I mean, check their history for proof at least). Well, if they give them loads of Euros, you can keep that grade given by Mr. Potato Head from the wishy-washy group…. Please stop! It’s an insult…
I mean, how can they get up in front of a class or even get up in the morning and carry pride in all they do. Not to mention the
honour, respect and love for the art or the late Founder we hardcore practitioners claim to have for him.

I hear the excuse of “Well, this person got on the plane as a 4th Dan and was 7th Dan when it landed” or “Well, the Founder gave a person a new higher grade at a seminar in the 80’s”.

Things were different in those days though – unlike now, we have a robust system called the encyclopedia and world class
Grandmasters who have ethics and a system 90% follow. In the early days, we did not have such good internet and we did not have a big following then. Nowadays, we can see everything online and the system is fully set, yet some choose to ignore it still.

So, you take a new grade much earlier and it ends up online that you got it – now your reputation is smashed and that GM or senior is sneered at that they are a sell out as it was not the correct time. It does not matter if your examiner was a pioneer, Grandmaster or King of the country, we should all adhere to the timeline at the very least out of respect for General Choi.

To be a new grade, it means you have knowledge, skill, years under your belt and you are conditioned to the hilt, not to mention the growth of mental stability and maturity.

If you don’t know what a timeline is, maybe you should buy a flipping encyclopedia that will guide you correctly.

Fake ass practitioners are what the Founder wanted weeded out of the system (copycats, I believe), so if you’re a splinter group senior, maybe it’s time to align yourself to what our Founder wanted and keep the standards high and the respect in place for the sake of all I.T.F.’s globally.

If we don’t, the art will be lost and all those grade jumpers who clearly don’t give a damn have won. Ask yourself a question – are they really worth my reputation? The answer is always NO.

How can we restore the respect? Go back to the grade you should have and prove you too have a moral compass and integrity. People will respect you more if you can prove your worth. I have all my grades listed on my website, as I am an open book unlike some. Maybe others should also show their timeline, then we will see who is genuine and who is not.