Melanie Gibson General Martial Arts, Injury and Recovery, Mental Health, Self-Development and Leadership

I’m on an Extended Hiatus From Taekwondo (The Burnout Recovery Continues)

The History of the Martial Arts Color Belt Ranking System - Tri-City Judo

Y’all ready to clutch your pearls?

I have some news: I’ve stepped away from taekwondo training indefinitely.

Let me clarify–I stopped going to training classes at the end of December and have decided not to go back for an indefinite amount of time.

It’s taken several months and a few coaching sessions from my coworkers, also fellow trained coaches, to process my complicated feelings around this. The short version is, I wasn’t having fun anymore, I didn’t look forward to going to class, and I was starting to resent giving up time that I could be using to do something else.

The more complicated version is–this was part of the fallout of the extreme burnout I experienced in 2025.

Continue reading “I’m on an Extended Hiatus From Taekwondo (The Burnout Recovery Continues)” →

Melanie Gibson Self-Development and Leadership, Work and Martial Arts

Why I Left My Taekwondo School

walking out door

A few days ago I told my Grandmaster and fellow instructors that I would not be returning to the community center where we hold classes twice a week. I kept my explanation simple: my job is demanding, I have health issues to address, and frankly, I just don’t want to teach anymore.

That was the simple explanation. I’m not sure it was truly heard or accepted, but that’s no longer my problem. I’m done. I’m out. I’m free.

I wrote this post for all the black belts and instructors who made the heart-wrenching decision to leave their martial arts school in the face of potential backlash and harmed relationships. There are tons of articles and posts online about quitting martial arts or a particular school from the students’ perspective, but I could find very little solace in stories of my fellow instructors who finally said, “enough” and cut ties. (Although I did get some hits when I paired the search terms “martial arts” and “cult,” which is telling.) I know the stories are out there. This one is mine.
Continue reading “Why I Left My Taekwondo School” →