Parents today face the daunting task of juggling work and entertainment with their children's activities. When a child comes home and asks to take Taekwon-Do lessons, parents have to fit them into an already busy schedule filled with little league, soccer, basketball, volleyball, hockey, drama class, music lessons, gymnastics, and dance lessons. And because parents generally develop their perception of Taekwon-Do from action movies like Mortal Kombat and Blade, video games like Street Fighter, and television series such as Martial Law, they might be reluctant to enroll their child in such a violent activity.

More than any other extracurricular, however, Taekwon-Do focuses on the character development of a child in a positive and uplifting manner. Unfortunately, today’s television shows that show martial art fighting action do not illustrate the positive impact that Taekwon-Do can have in the life of a child. While training in Taekwon-Do teaches children to fight better—to hit, punch and kick well—there is much more to martial arts. The following are some FAQs in order to better help parents understand the benefits of training in Taekwon-Do.

There are at least three different categories of Taekwon-Do training, they are: traditional training, sport training, and eclectic training.

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• Traditional training includes learning the time-honored lessons, using the ancient order of learning each activity, and understanding and obeying the dojang hierarchy.  In traditional training, the focus is on each individual improving and growing from within. Parents quickly will see in their child obvious improvements from traditional training such as increased confidence, self-control and respect.

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• In sport training, much of the same information is learned, but students are taught to spar earlier in class. There is less emphasis on forms, stances and self-defense practice and the win/lose mentality is emphasized. The focus in sport training is to become a better fighter.

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• In eclectic style training, diversity is inspired. Eclectic training uses a training curriculum based on one or several individual experiences, often mixing a variety of martial arts styles. The focus in eclectic training is on becoming a better fighter rather than a better person.