Conduct

 

 

 

 

 

There are a few important things to keep in mind when participating. Most of the following are common sense and courtesy, but it will be helpful to you to read the following.

 

When you first begin with the club:
  • Please make sure you sign a waiver and pay semester dues in a prompt fashion.
  • Once you get a uniform, you need to sew a WFU Karate Club patch on the left breast of your uniform top. The only other optional patches allowed are a Korean flag patch and an American flag patch to be worn on the top of the left sleeve and right sleeve respectively.
  • Once acquired, the uniform should be worn to formal practices. During informal practice days any comfortable clothes are acceptable. Please always wear your belt, and please wear a full uniform for any belt tests.

General Conduct:

  • Be on time for formal practices. Classes begin at 6:30pm on Mondays and Wednesdays.
  • Bow as you enter and leave the dojang.
  • Bow to instructors when you approach.
  • If a Black Belt is speaking with someone else, wait until they finish and acknowledge you by bowing.
  • If an Instructor is teaching or speaking, pay attention, it is for your benefit. Do not interrupt, do not converse with other students, and do not get distracted and look around the room.
  • When shaking hands with a Black Belt, grasp their right hand with both of your hands and bow.
  • Do not wear jewelry in the dojang. This is for safety reasons.
  • Do not bring food, drinks, or gum into the dojang. It is disrespectful.
  • Turn your cell phones off or to "airplane" mode.
  • Take your shoes off and be dressed in what you are going to workout in before entering the dojang.
  • We appreciate polite language and sportsmanlike attitudes.
  • If you arrive early, help prepare the dojang for class. Sweep the floor, put mats, chairs and other items away, and display the flags.
  • If you use a piece of equipment, put it back as you found it.

Sparring:

  • Any and all sparring must have Black Belt supervision. If a Black Belt is not present there is no sparring.
  • When sparring you must always have a mouthpiece in place.
  • Rib, forearm and shin pads are not required but are highly recommended.
  • Always bow to your opponent while not taking your eyes off him or her before beginning to spar.
  • All punching and kicking techniques must be landed to legal target areas. Legal target areas are all above the belt and include the front of the torso, the sides of the torso but not so far back as the kidneys, and the whole head but not the back of the head. These are the only legal target areas.
  • All punching and kicking techniques used in sparring must demonstrate control. Control is the ability to use proper Tae Kwon Do techniques to score to legal target areas without using excessive force and injuring your opponent.
  • You must "spot" your opponent (have eye contact with your opponent's solar plexus) before you throw any technique. Otherwise you would be throwing a "blind" technique and risk injuring your opponent or setting yourself up to get hurt.
  • Grabbing and holding your opponent's punches or kicks is not permitted. You should simply block your opponent's punch or kick with a closed fist and counter with punches or kicks.
  • When an instructor calls "break," stop immediately. Do not continue fighting.
  • If you are fighting and your opponent becomes injured, assist your opponent or step away from your opponent and kneel on both knees facing the opposite direction until an instructor tells you to resume fighting.

General Information:
  • There is a three month waiting period between testing from Second Degree Brown Belt to First Degree Brown Belt. There is a six month waiting period required between testing from First Degree Brown Belt to First Degree Black Belt. There is a one year waiting period required between testing from First Degree Black Belt to Second Degree Black Belt.
  • Each student needs to participate for at least one semester as an instructor before testing for Black Belt.
  • Since belt color and number of belts vary from school to school, the Kup system was established. Kup refers to a student's belt level and how far that belt level is from Black. A Black Belt is a zero Kup. In our system, Brown Belt with a stripe would be a one Kup. A brown belt with no stripe would be a two Kup. A Red Belt would be a three Kup. A Blue Belt would be a four Kup. A Purple Belt would be a five Kup. A Green Belt would be a six Kup. An Orange Belt would be a seven Kup. A Gold Belt would be an eight Kup. A White Belt would be a nine Kup.