Unfortunately, we had to cancel our Tuesday classes due to the closing of the local yoga studio where we were offering them. But we do still offer three classes a week as of now, and the school has grown a good deal since the blog was last updated. We've gotten students with leadership, and they've really taken quite a position in organizing things such as Saturday practices for both Kumdo and Taekwondo. Those practices are in Columbia, but that's actually not a problem for coming from Ellicott City. We're now in our second year of business, which is really quite amazing. We haven't grown quite as much as I would like, but we still have a long way to go. I'm very proud of our students' collective ability and talent, and I do believe us to be the highest quality martial arts studio in the area.
Blue Mountain Martial Arts | Classes in Ellicott City, MD
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Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
The dojang has been pretty static for the last few months. We've grown very little, but we're staying afloat. It's paying for itself, which as I keep telling people, is all I really need it to do at this point. All I need it to do... Need... But I dream of something better. My goal is to grow the studio until it's bursting at its seams and we have to find our own space rather than subletting from a dance studio. Hopefully someday... The blog was originally started as a way to hopefully let more people know about us, and since it didn't really seem to be having an effect at first, I let it go. However, today I got an email from a reader in California who was curious to know more about Gicheon as compared to Haidong Gumdo. This is my reply:
Thanks for the email. HDGD's SSGB2 does bear some similarity to a drill commonly practiced in Gicheon, but not to any set form that I've ever seen. There are nearly identical stances in the two arts, and the sword mechanics are the same. The WHDGDF blend of HDGD is laden with Gicheon practices and philosophies (Kigong in Gimase, candle snuffing, etc) The forms though are somewhat different in application. I learned a total of 8 sword forms in my study of Gicheon. Thanks again!
Hope that's helpful to any other curious seekers out there. Everyone should feel free to contact me if desired. Thanks to Viet Le.
Blue Mountain Martial Arts | Classes in Ellicott City, MD
Thanks for the email. HDGD's SSGB2 does bear some similarity to a drill commonly practiced in Gicheon, but not to any set form that I've ever seen. There are nearly identical stances in the two arts, and the sword mechanics are the same. The WHDGDF blend of HDGD is laden with Gicheon practices and philosophies (Kigong in Gimase, candle snuffing, etc) The forms though are somewhat different in application. I learned a total of 8 sword forms in my study of Gicheon. Thanks again!
Hope that's helpful to any other curious seekers out there. Everyone should feel free to contact me if desired. Thanks to Viet Le.
Blue Mountain Martial Arts | Classes in Ellicott City, MD
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Commitment
Our kickboxing student never did show up. I didn't really expect her to anyway. My disappointment here though, in addition to my own lack of students, is really for her.
As a teacher, I cannot make a student take any of the steps necessary for succes. I can act as a guide and a leader. I can offer critique and encouragement. But I cannot move their feet along the path. Nor can I set their feet upon the path to begin with. If a student walks away, it is a sad day for them and for the martial arts, for contained within that first lesson is the biggest lesson of all, which is commitment. Commitment is loyalty and initiative. It is motivation, focus, drive, and spirit. It is the heart of what I teach, and yet I cannot give it. Oh, that I could.
I begrudge this nearly a month later because for two days in a row now, two of our already few students have failed to show up for class. They offer apologies and say they forgot, and this is understandable. We have just come back from a break for the holidays. But will they come again? I put my own heart, my own time, and my own energy into being there to teach them what they say they want to know. But they lack commitment. They have yet to learn what it is, and I only hope that they find it. When they do, I'll still be here.
Blue Mountain Martial Arts | Taekwondo and Kumdo Classes in Ellicott City, MD
As a teacher, I cannot make a student take any of the steps necessary for succes. I can act as a guide and a leader. I can offer critique and encouragement. But I cannot move their feet along the path. Nor can I set their feet upon the path to begin with. If a student walks away, it is a sad day for them and for the martial arts, for contained within that first lesson is the biggest lesson of all, which is commitment. Commitment is loyalty and initiative. It is motivation, focus, drive, and spirit. It is the heart of what I teach, and yet I cannot give it. Oh, that I could.
I begrudge this nearly a month later because for two days in a row now, two of our already few students have failed to show up for class. They offer apologies and say they forgot, and this is understandable. We have just come back from a break for the holidays. But will they come again? I put my own heart, my own time, and my own energy into being there to teach them what they say they want to know. But they lack commitment. They have yet to learn what it is, and I only hope that they find it. When they do, I'll still be here.
Blue Mountain Martial Arts | Taekwondo and Kumdo Classes in Ellicott City, MD
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