This thesis is to investigate how to activate taekwondo majors' foreign thrust. It begins with investigation about the experience of taekwondo instructors who are teaching taekwondo in foreign countries now, especially about their motivation of perman...
This thesis is to investigate how to activate taekwondo majors' foreign thrust. It begins with investigation about the experience of taekwondo instructors who are teaching taekwondo in foreign countries now, especially about their motivation of permanently settling down on the foreign territories, for which the DRS technique developed by Spradley in order to effectively conduct his ethnographic method is used. It deals with foreigners who are in Korea to learn Taekwondo in oder to understand what they acquire for which the ethnographic method is employed, using the participant observation and the unstructure interview.
I personally developed questionnaires based on the above-mentioned investigation, by which I could confirm what taekwondo majors think about the foreign thrust. To complement the limits of the questionnaires, the reflective meta-interview is used.
The reason why I studied those three groups is to extract the meaningful result from their actual experience abroad. And I hoped this thesis will help taekwondo majors who have no teaching experience overseas will further understand the taekwondo education of foreigners. After all this, I hope thesis will help activate taekwondo majors' foreign thrust.
With a clear identification about what they had majored in colleges, taewkondo majors made attempts to thrust into foreign countries on their own, a challenge to the new world. They could solve out their difficulties, emotional and physical, one by one through utilizing the highly value-added commodity, taekwondo. They studied how to add up values of taekwondo and quickly settled down on the foreign soils, setting up better relationships with other instructors who had already been teaching taekwondo there and developing the programs consumers wanted.
Some of them had homesickness but to return to Korea couldn't be their choice as they had already settled down on foreign soils. Rather, they are trying to combine taekwondo with a new business, taking advantage of the popularity of heterogenous martial art fightings like K-1 which has grown into a mammoth business and other martial arts market as well. They demanded that taewkondo-related policy decision-makers change in general and taekwondo majors try to develop themselves without cease.
Taekwondo majors should acquire the least amount of basic knowledge of the humanities, no matter what their concrete sub-division majors are.
They have to cultivate their own points of views by getting the knowledge of world history and geography, classics of the west and east, philosophy, and foreign languages and then they have to read taekwondo-related materials. Otherwise, taekwondology wouldn't create its own original paradigm and be subject to foreign studies as well.
Taekwondo majors have to try to shorten their accommodation period as short as possible when they thrust into foreign countries with thorough preparation along with the knowledge of the humanities. Before coming to foreign countries, they had better study their culture and predisposition.
For the matter of settling down on foreign soils, they shouldn't heed on the advice from failed predecessors so that they can get positive attitude and should be very discreet in making the contract with sponsors in the foreign countries to prevent any possible problems.
They have to show positive attitudes for everything and try to be trustworthy in the foreign countries, getting through difficulties wisely they face as they try to adapt into the new society. Good human resources are not made from the above but individual persons' efforts and capabilities are necessary. With the perception that they are the very people who have to develop taekwondo, they ceaselessly study the foreign countries they reside, both from the business and educational standpoints.
It has been five decades for taekwondo to have penetrated into the US, which was 50 years behind Judo, 20 years behind Karate, and 40 years behind Kung-fu. But taekwondo has been most successful among them. This is probably because of taekwondo philosophy based on mental awakening and other oriental philosophies.
When we analyze the success story of early taekwondoists who thrust into the US, we can find out that they set up a scientific and systemic curriculum appropriate for the foreign countries. But taewkondo can be ruined any time soon.
The future of taekwondo depends on how taewkondo instructors and majors will develop taekwondo.
I examined the meaning of taekwondo training for foreigners and their relationship with Korean instructors, by which I could shed light on their egos.
The meaning of taekwondo training in their view is to be stronger men through prepared mind and body. The meaning of " strong" in this context not only mean physical aspects but also mental ones in which the common courtesy is more vehemently emphasized than among Koreans, the point that I think should be dealt with importantly in the future, too.
The relationship between taekwondo instructors and foreign students is sometimes like that between trainers and wild animals, that between a tour guide and tourists, and that between children and parents helping them achieve their cognitive goals.
Generally, they aimlessly follow Korean instructors but are full of desires to learn something. The newly advancing instructors should be a helper stimulating them to realize the mental and physical values of taekwondo training by themselves, rather than letting them aimlessly follow them. If they look back on their way of teaching and try to improve it, they will be able to get positive attitudes.
The egos of taekwondo performers are divided into the positive ones that show positive attitudes in performing everything and realistic ones that they take part in learning in accordance with the curriculum. As reflective approaches make possible effective practices and can be a means of professional growth and development, instructors should try cultivate their habit of frequent reflective checkups. Fortunately, I can't find out any clue of negative egos about taekwondo. This means, if there are some negative factors in taekwondo, there wouldn't have been anyone who has practiced taekwondo.
What International Taekwondo academy course and their taekwondo learning status show can make taekwondo majors broaden their view of taekwondo teaching and improve their professional skills in terms of teaching foreigners.
As for the awareness about foreign thrust of taewkondo majors, I examined questionnaires responses and interviews on the subjects. The korean market has already been saturated but foreign market still has the bright future.
For this purpose, the school has to set up courses that have coherent contents through several semesters and provides graduates with necessary information that interns provide after working in foreign countries as well as equips them with better qualities in practical skills and foreign languages.
The school needs an educational system that can make graduates so well qualified that they can adapt themselves to foreign countries and have positive mind, challenge spirits, and self-confident with the exchange of information with taerkwondo-related organizations such as Taekwondo associations.
Taekwondo-related organizations need to create the department that deals with taekwondo majors' foreign thrust so that they easily thrust into foreign countries, cooperating with schools in selecting quality graduates to be dispatched into foreign countries.
Taekwondo majors should look at foreign countries, taking reference from the predecessors overseas and being equipped with basic qualities such as practical skills and foreign languages, which are necessary to compete in foreign countries.
The interviewees said taekwondo majors should be prepared with education-related knowledge, analytic capability, martial art skills, and foreign cultures.
This is what they concluded from their experience in the foreign countries. Things will be easier if they try to gather information about the countries in advance.
The foreign agencies that need to import taekwondo majors will successfully recruit those they need if they refer to the school or taaewkondo-related organizations, which will solve out the problems related with foreign sponsors and visa issuance.
It is true that, compared to the past, it is a lot easier to thrust into foreign countries due to the development of mass media and information era. But there are other problems such as settlement, relationship with the sponsors, and ever increasing taekwondo gyms. Taekwondo majors who want to thrust overseas should have these things in mind and minimize trials and errors.