Apprenticeship Program

Who: Open to all of General Choi's Black Belts, (2nd Dan or higher and 19 years old or older) from Canada and around the world. You must love General Choi's Taekwon-Do and be willing to dedicate your every waking hour to your understanding of it and improving yourself and your students. You must be of good character and integrity. You must be able to think clearly and logically.

What: A program designed to teach and train future school owners in the operation, marketing, administration, and instruction of a successful Taekwon-Do school. Apprentices are expected to develop a protective attitude towards their students, and learn to make decisions that are student based. We believe that what is best for our students is best for our instructors.

Where: The training takes place in Tien Lung Schools, primarily in the Edmonton North (Tien Lung Headquarters). Apprentices will also spend time at the other Tien Lung schools in order to learn from schools of various sizes and stages of development.

When: Apprentices may start the program at any time.

Why: After years of watching Canadian Taekwon-Do schools and organizations shrink or fail, Mr. Wisniewski has decided to share the knowledge that he has accumulated while developing his school into being the largest and most successful ITF School in Canada, and one of the largest in the world.

How: Contact Mr. Wisniewski at wiz@tienlung.com

For more information read Mr. Wisniewski's special letter of invitation below.

Dear fellow Taekwon-Do practitioners,

I love every aspect of General Choi's Taekwon-Do, and I want as many people as possible to experience it and benefit from it. I believe that the best way to do so is to have professional schools and professional, full time instructors. I believe that full time instructors are better able to dedicate their full attention to studying and learning every possible aspect of the art, which will result in them being able to provide a better service to their students and therefore produce better students.

However, the majority of General Choi's style Taekwon-Do schools are hobby schools with the instructors working a full time job somewhere else. While I applaud these instructors for their selfless dedication, I feel sorry for them and their students. I can only imagine how much better their students would be if the instructor was able to dedicate the hours s/he spends on their other job to improving their Taekwon-Do school, students and their own skills. I also can only feel sorry for the instructors who have such a passion for something but cannot find a way to do it for a living. I find it even more sad that few instructors consider making Taekwon-Do their career.

For many years I stood by and watched while some unscrupulous "Masters and Senior Instructors" misled and convinced impressionable and idealistic juniors to sign up under them to open Taekwon-Do schools.

The greatest misconception that these "Masters and Senior Instructors" spread is that they are successful martial art school owners themselves and that they have the knowledge and ability to help others open and have successful schools. Usually these "Masters and Senior Instructors" have less than 150 students in their own school, although they usually claim much more. These "Masters and Senior Instructors" often have another job and/or they supplement their income with the money they are paid from the junior instructors schools for examinations, seminars and providing uniforms and equipment.

If these "Masters and Senior Instructors" were forced to live off the revenue from their own school they would have to shut the doors and find other work. Unfortunately, the junior instructors do NOT have access to the alternative revenue streams available to the "Masters and Senior Instructors" and they must rely solely on their own schools revenue to survive. Of course these "Masters and Senior Instructors" don't point out the facts to the juniors. Instead they fill their heads with visions of riches, power, and recognition.

And what happens?

The junior opens a school and works a full time job and never realizes the dream of "Doing what you love for a living". S/he becomes just another instructor who pays upward to a "Masters and Senior Instructors" who doesn't, and isn't capable of helping these juniors create a successful full time Taekwon-Do career

Before you sign on with one of these "Masters or Senior Instructors" ask the following questions to ascertain their true "successfulness" and Martial Arts Business acumen.

• Do they have their own facility or do they operate out of community locations (Schools, YMCA, Recreation Centers, Churches).
• Do they have other jobs? Other income?
• How many full time staff do they employ? If they are professional, they must have systems and procedures that you will need to learn. Can they provide you with a full time position while you learn them?
• Are they able to provide you with an exact active student count and monthly revenue statement? If they can and do, after school expenses and revenue you would not have access to, could you and your family live on the remainder? If they will not provide one and hide behind an excuse about privacy it usually means they do not want to show you how unsuccessful they really are.
• Ask to see the same information from their branch schools.
• Are they willing to put their money where their mouth is? In other words, if they are so sure that they can help you succeed, are they willing to provide financial backing to you? If they are so "successful" why can't they help you get set up?
• How successful is the school? Quality of students? Number of students? Quality and size of facility? Number of champion athletes? Area brand name recognition?

When you look through my website you will see that I have a large school (over 650 active members and still growing), which makes it "successful" in the business sense. I have also produced over 50 members of the Canadian National Team (including several World Champions), which makes my school "successful" in the competitive and traditional arena as well.

Some instructors try to degrade my schools success by saying that I have a "Black Belt factory", and I agree I do. The difference is that they (the instructors) imply that I pump out poor quality students. The quality of my students speaks for itself. I say that a professional school CAN be run like a factory and produce a multitude of good quality students. After all, Porsches come from factories, and everyone agrees they are quality cars. The difference between a factory or school that produces junk and one that produces quality is in the research, dedication, knowledge, the application of systems, and quality control.

I have found a way to teach General Choi's curriculum in a way that maintains it's technical and philosophical integrity while making it very popular with the public. My systems (as you can see) also produce National caliber athletes in the sport aspect.

In order to preserve and promote General Choi's Taekwon-Do I am offering the following:

I will accept a limited number of both Canadian and International apprentices.

Apprentices will receive:

• A full time paid position. (If coming from outside Canada, we will help with immigration.)
• Room and limited Board.
• Staff wear appropriate for all seasons.
• Company cell phone.
• A Company Vehicles (if required).
• Healthcare (if required).

Apprentices must dedicate themselves to learning everything that is required to operate a successful martial art school. Once the apprentice has shown the knowledge and ability to do so, I will help them open a school of their own. This includes cosigning of starter leases and providing lines of credit for start up costs, and more.

Once they open a school, the full support of my organization and myself will be provided to ensure their success. Feel free to talk to the Technical Director of any Tien Lung school and you will come to appreciate just what my full support and that of the other schools can mean to the success or failure of a school.

If you are interested in being a part of an organization that:

• Doesn't just "Talk the Talk" of General Choi's Taekwon-Do techniques and philosophies but also "Walks the Walk".
• Actually supports it's members and treats them like family.
• Actually has verifiable, multiple, successfully operating, professional schools.
• At all times operates with the best interest of the students in mind.
• Allows and encourages instructors to meet and discuss issues in an honest, intelligent and business like fashion.
• You actually like, respect and enjoy being around your fellow members.

If this interests you than feel free to contact me to set up an interview.

I hope to hear from you soon.

In sincerity,

Mr. Terry Wisniewski B.A.
6th Degree Black Belt