| abstract
| - Especially in the United States, a Taekwondo School (or 도장 "dojang") is not just a place to study taekwondo:
* Martial arts schools in the U.S. also serve as before-care and after-care for young students outside their academic school day
* Martial arts schools in the U.S. also provide summer camp programs, just as with most sports (gymnastics camps, football camps, soccer camps, etc.) Because of this emphasis on youth programs some taekwondo schools are sometimes unfairly criticized for being "McDojos." This characterization is flawed on many levels:
* Taekwondo is a sport just like any other sport. To criticize taekwondo for its youth emphasis is like criticizing soccer for its youth emphasis.
* All martial arts are a mixture of combat training, physical exercise, and mental discipline, and all Martial Arts disciplines make a judgement as to how much "real world combat" to incorporate into that mix. For many taekwondo schools, the emphasis is on physical exercise, sport, and discipline. To criticize a martial art for this is like criticizing boxing for now allowing weapons in the ring (since weapons would make boxing more "real world").
* Taekwondo schools are sometimes criticized for having many children with Black Belts. Indeed, for some martial arts a Black Belt is intended to denote advanced expertise. For some styles of Taekwondo however, the 1st dan Black Belt is intended to denote only that the student is now a qualified student. In other words, after two years (or so) of study, the student is now physically fit enough, strong enough, limber enough, has developed enough balance, and has learned enough of the basic movements for the real mainstream coursework (the advancement through the Black Belt levels) to finally begin. The reality is that placing a child in taekwondo school is an excellent choice for parents who want to teach their children respect and discipline, want to develop their gross motor skills and physical fitness, and who want the child to develop a team spirit and an understanding of good sportsmanship. Many taekwondo schools also teach an appreciation for the roots of the martial art, respect for martial arts traditions, and an appreciation of taekwondo and Korean culture and history. As in other martial arts, taekwondo schools generally try to teach students to appreciate the benefits of hard work and humility. For adults, taekwondo classes offer excellent cardio-vascular workouts, lots of good stretching, some good strength training (especially for the larger lower-body muscle groups, which helps facilitate weight-loss), and an enjoyable, worthwhile hobby. Adults are typically held to higher standards than children for skill application and comprehension but, depending on physical limitations, instructors will work around them.
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