Master Swapping

It's a sad, sad day for those of us at the Amherst location of Master Chong's World Class Tae Kwon Do.

Master Chong (the younger, not the grandmaster of course) is being permanently transferred to East Amherst. In return we will be receiving Master Moon (whom I've never met) and Master Yoo (who has been teaching here for a few weeks now).

This came as no surprise to me at all, actually. I've had the sense for a couple months that Master Chong was being pulled away from teaching duties here for other responsibilities, and when they did that "temporary" shifting around of the masters due to Master Moon's vacation, along with very little discussion regarding what was happening...well, it seemed very clear to me as to what to expect.

So, how do I feel about all this? (Not that it matters, of course...)

Well, to a certain extent I'm devestated. Devastated, I say! *snif* :-) Master Chong has great talent as a teacher. Most significantly, he has the ability to know what a given student needs to hear at that time - whether they need a kind word of encouragement, a new insight into a technique, (rarely) a disapproving glare, or a seemingly casual discussion about a topic that turns out to be very important later.

Oh, not to mention that Master Chong is totally hot. *ahem*

But it is a great opportunity for him, and I expect that he is being groomed to someday take over the business in 10-15 years from now (or whatever). But I'm only speculating. In any case I wish him the best of luck.

So far things have been going well with Master Yoo. His difficulties with English aren't as much of a problem for me as for some of the other students - after all, I studied science at UB (inside joke). I think that it's good that I'll have the opportunity to study under two more experienced teachers - as it is I usually have to have 5 or 6 different people show me a move before I start to get it. I'm trying to keep my outlook cheerful, and I'll try to be patient while the transition occurs.