Interviewing Grand Master Dr Andy Mencia. A life dedicated to Taekwondo - Second part
- Corinne Galoway
- 7 nov 2023
- 4 Min. de lectura
By Corinne Galoway
Continuing our interview, we talk a little about those memorable moments, I imagine there are many, since our dear interviewee has a long and beautiful journey in Taekwondo. That's when GM Andy Mencia gave us a beautiful report:
After becoming undefeated Hawaii all champion I was faced with the undefeated champion of Japan, an excellent KarateDo champion I have even seen. After going the reglamentary rounds and remaining tied, we have to go extra matches; both of our bodies were at a level of tiredness neither one of us had ever experienced. We were now fighting for “golden point”. Master Lee came to my corner and said to me “do you know that in Heaven time does not exist as we know it here?” “It you overcome time, your back fist is invisible”. Atter we bow to resume fighting I deliver my favorite back fist. Two corner judges said “no point” two others cover their eyes meaning they actually were not able to see the technique so the center judge had to make the dicision. As he is calling that it was not close enough for point, the opponent told the the center judge “I can’t continue, I can see”. He eye was swollen from the technique.
From every training or competition, I always analyze what could had been done better or different. Every defeat was a learning opportunity.
I congratulated him on the recognition award he received at the Kukkiwon Global Open, and I asked him what it was like to receive this honor directly from the hands of the President and I also asked him to talk more about this incredible experience.
Meeting Grandmaster Dr. Lee Dung Sup was an amazing experience at the 23 Global Open Kukkiwon Cup.
We got to share with Dr. Lee our mutual interest in reviving the Martial Art component of TaekwonDo. We both and the organizers of the event spearhead by GM Jun Lee, that the the instructors and masters need to also teach beside the beautiful and effective techniques of the art, the philosophy, and history of this art. Even when the students can not train anymore, they will always carry the moral and ethical values they had learned. These components of the art is what is going to set the foundation for the technical (physical) of our teaching. Dr GM Lee Dung Sup had already initiated a program in South Korea to reach out and bring leaders from around the world to take part of a series of seminars at the headquarters of Kukkiwon. I felt humbly honored to receive this award from such a honored and respected individual for my accomplishments in TaekwonDo.
We also talked about what his perspectives were for Taekwondo and his advice for the new generation.
Unfortunately TKD has gone through many divisions due to the lack of teaching of moral and ethical values. As more and more people move up the ranks in TKD it has given the opportunity for many selfish and egocentric individuals to separate and begin prematurely forming their own organization. Of course, because of their lack of solid foundation, these organizations are here today and gone tomorrow. In the meantime it weakens the mother headquarters of TKD.
In the other hand, the leaders of TKD show interest for numbers of black belts over quality of training. It is understandable that the more blacks in any given Organization the bigger revenue it can produce for the headquarters but I feel that we need to balance quality and quantity in our decisions. The TKD leaders need to be also mindful of the social economical status of any given country; the attitude should be one of inclusivity. The poorest country may not be able to cover the cost of a Master instructor to help them advance in their techniques and produce World Champions; but they deserve the opportunity as any more economically stable country. As a testimony, I myself trained on several occasions, free of charge, the Haitian Association and then sponsored a team to go to Australia to the World Championship. They did not win but when they got back to Haiti their organization grew as never before and more and more students started traveling to other events on their own merits.
Learn to distinguish between a school that want just to get money from you or your parents versus a school where the instructor care about your well rounded formation. You then become responsible for acquiring a good based formation not only on your techniques but also in the history of the art, philosophy and the language. When one cover all aspect of the art then you can train to become a good instructor or good master to train others.
We ended our interview with my request for a message to the TKD community.
I want to encounge all to people in our TKD community, from new starter to leadership level to keep in mind what a wonderful art TKD is. This generation has a huge responsibility to safeguard this treasure. No one can actually learn the true art of TKD without ever picking up a book of this art. Anyone can watch videos and become am “imitator” but we all need a mentor, a teacher to help us get to a true black belt and hopefully a master. Teachers, you are not babysitters, you are a guru, a mentor who by teaching will make each person a more productive member of your community. Teachers should pick seminars that are properly organized to show you the art of teaching; that will show you the difference between being a school BOSS and being a LEADER.
Thus, we conclude our interview and I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about the history of this renowned Grand Master, called Andy Mencia.
Read also:
is GM Andy Mencia out of jail? I hope he is no longer running flooding the streets with pain killers.
He looks like a fat lady in that photo.