Why is Everything Different?

Let me guess: You've changed taekwondo dojangs and you've discovered that, for better or for worse, the new school is teaching something different then you're old school. There are so many questions. Like, why is it different? Did I not learn what I was supposed to? Am I even learning taekwondo?

These are all good questions. So let's take some time and learn from them, shall we?

The answer in general is: It depends. In order to answer this question fully, there would need to be other questions asked. For the sake of this post, we're going to assume that the new school and the old school are under the same federation and teaching the same style of taekwondo (let's say, Jidokwan). Why are they different?

That's one of the beauties of taekwondo, in my opinion. Because we have Poomse competitions and international criteria for black belt testings, we have federations that have standards and specific forms for schools to teach. This makes it fairly easy for students to change schools if they need to. As long as both schools are under the same federation, they will learn the same (or similar) forms.

If there is a federation system, why is there a difference? Well, another reason there could be difference is age. I've trained with multiple instructors. Some are younger, having become a master in the 2010s and just started their school. Others became masters in the 90's. They still follow the modern version of taekwondo, it just won't follow what is written down for competitions. Still perfectly valid though. Or, in the case of one of the schools I volunteer at, the master started her school in the 1970s. Her style is very much older, and her school culture much more traditional. As a result, her version of taekwondo is distinctly different from what you see on the Olympics or even local competitions. She is still teaching taekwondo, it's just older.

Does this mean the older version is worse, or less legitimate, than the newer version. Not necessarily. Having trained in schools that are traditional and schools that are more up to date, I think they both have their benefits. For example, the traditional school uses strategies that are out of fashion and often unexpected. People are often surprised when their opponent gets them with a more traditional kick, such as an in-to-out kick. The newer version though, is more familiar with what is in fashion and considered to be faster, more efficient, more precise. This is certainly helpful when competing in the most modern competitions.

So yes, in summary you are learning taekwondo in both schools and the schools are different. The key here, in my experience, is to look for the benefits in each. I think it is a great tragedy to see one school of thought as better than the other. Much like with the difference in various martial arts, both have their strengths and weaknesses.

The question is: What can you learn here?