Right now, I can honestly say that I am excited about the future of Pro Form Tae Kwon Do. The new system is pretty close to finished and I am looking forward to working towards my 4th. I am also happy to hear that my old training partner, Mr. David Metzger, will be moving to the area and is wanting to train with us as often as his time will allow. I will enjoy working with him again. We always knew just how to push each other to get the other to work at our top ability. We competed with each other, but always in a friendly way. It will be a great way to rekindle my competitive spirit. I am also excited to be training in Hapkido. I have been curious about the style since college and never really got a chance to do much training in it. Now, that has changed due to the Hapkido online program. Between videos posted online and webcam based training sessions crossed with live training and seminars when I can make it to them, the Hapkido Online program is a great opportunity. For that, my thanks goes to Mr. Jon Ferguson, who is putting his time, talent, knowledge, and love of the martial arts for the benefit of everyone.
     It is an exciting time to be a martial artist, with information be exchanged in ways and to degrees never before possible. The thing that I would like to remind all martial artists everywhere of is that we must maintain quality for the sake of the sanctity of the martial arts. Rank is fairly artificial, but it does provide a good 'carrot' at the end of the stick to encourage hard training, but it is not the rank, but the skill which should be associated with that rank that we should all seek. Shortly before my 1st degree Black Belt test in Tae Kwon Do,  a friend of mine asked me if having my Black Belt was important to me. I sat back and pondered it for a moment and responded, "I would rather have Black Belt skill and no belt than a Black Belt and lack the skill to back it up. If I have a Black Belt, I want to have earned it properly and have the skill associated with it." I stand by that statement.
     Too many schools are selling their students short and cutting corners or lowering standards. Everyone loses in the end. If this trend continues, in a few generations, the overall skill will diminish as will the overall knowledge. Someone needs to keep high standards so that the martial arts can continue to positively impact lives through effective self-defense, through character development, through physical fitness, through sportive competition, through spiritual and moral education. This is what Pro Form seeks to be. Pro Form Tae Kwon Do seeks to be a beacon of high standards, a repository of knowledge and skill, and an academy to pass on all these things to future generations. To the other schools which seek to do this as well, I wish all the best of luck, even if we may sometimes disagree the best way to do this, that is fine. I do not believe that any style, system, or individual has the one best way to teach the martial arts. I applaud anyone with high standards and skill who is preserving knowledge and passing it on the to future generations.