joesteph

Kwan Jang Nim is the title given to GM Hwang Kee's son and successor, H.C. Hwang. If you go to: http://www.soobahkdo.com/fed-web/main-page.htm you'll see him as Black Belt magazine's 2004 Man of the Year, and at the bottom of the page, you'll see his name preceded by Kwan Jang Nim. It's a link to his Vison Tour. One of his few present students (his time reflects a full plate and he appears to be teaching only those who have a history with him) is my teacher's own teacher, who always refers to him by this title. As for Kwan Jang Nim Charles Ferraro, you can find him at: http://www.kwanjangnim.com I can't "hot link" to the page I want without violating the KF guidelines, so if you go to: http://www.tangsoodoworld.com and select Reference from the top menu, the web page you're referred to will have at the bottom "Questions and Answers." One of the two selections is called "Titles in Tang Soo Do." It's interesting that it refers to Kwan Jang Nim Andy Ah Po and the title Kwan Jang Nim, in that Po believes that only the founder of a system should be called this. Perhaps you've heard of Po's interpretation, Twigs, and that's why you think of Kwan Jang Nim and only GM Hwang Kee as the title holder.

You lead an adventurous life! Congratulations on the promotion!

I don't know if someone who is a Sa Bom Nim has to go through the assistant instructor and certified instructor testings, but often the chief instructor of a do jang is a Sa Bom Nim. Kwan Jang Nim is reserved for the Grandmaster. Examples would be Grandmaster Hwang Kee and his successor, Grandmaster H.C. Hwang, for the US Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan. For the Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan Association, the Kwan Jang Nim/Grandmaster is Charles Ferraro. Mi Guk, which can be translated as "beautiful country," is also used to refer to the United States.

Have you observed this in tournaments, Bob? Maybe someone's going for height to score a point (and maybe a bonus point added in if it's a head shot), but it's really more of a "sport kick" than a viable martial art one.

This made me think about JKD, Bob, because when we're in fighting stance, the rear heel is up for footwork. But from the bit of kicking I've done, I've never been pressed to have the supporting heel up. Here's a JKD video, which I put on full screen just to be sure, and the demonstrator starts off with her rear heel up, but when she kicks, she's definitely got that heel down. http://www.ehow.com/video_2355651_hook-kick-jeet-kune-do.html

Did these dan members start their own martial art, or perhaps there was a reorganization of the art they were in? Did such a jump reflect years of study in the art itself? I understand gup members double-grading, Kruczek, whether as is done in my art's system, or if someone is a dan member in a similar martial art and so is placed on a fast track. I just never thought of dan members.

Suppose you didn't carry a weapon yourself, not even a pepper spray. You know two guys who do carry a weapon, and say it's cooler weather, so each can carry his weapon without detection. One carries nunchaku, the other carries a folding knife with a 4" blade. Which man would you feel more comfortable with going out at night, maybe to a bar for a few drinks, and say you've parked your cars in a lot a block away. In other words, does the weapon the man carries affect you in terms of comfort regarding him, one carrying a sticks weapon, the other a blade, knowing that, if there's an assailant or assailants, the weapon will be used.

In my high school psychology class, we were discussing the different chemicals that exist in the human body, one of them being human growth hormone, or HGH. There are males and females who are very short due to genetics. HGH will promote their growing taller. Only a couple of years ago, I learned of parents who wanted HGH for their son, in order to overcome his height-determined genetics. If a male is determined to be growing at a rate that will have him be less than 5'4", or a female to be less than 4'10", health insurance companies will pay for HGH injections that will cause at least those heights to be reached. The parents knew that their son was predicted to reach or just pass 5'4", so they opted to pay for HGH injections under a doctor's supervision. He started at about age thirteen, as far as I can recall, and took regular HGH injections (likely from a kit provided by the doctor), submitted to regular examinations, and stopped when he was eighteen. He reached 5'10" at an average cost of $18,000/year. I asked my students that if they were mothers (I teach in an all-girls academy) and had the money, would they do the same for a future son in the same position--that he would reach the minimum height. The great majority said yes. When I asked them if they would do this for a daughter, it flipped over to the great majority saying no. What do you think, either about the voting by the students or if you would/wouldn't have your growing child take HGH under a doctor's supervision?

This is also done in Soo Bahk Do. We all start out as 10th gups, but adults test right for 8th, with 9th being more for children who do well, are too old for multiple stripes of colored electrical tape, but aren't up to the adult level yet. Double-grade promotion is only done once, in the beginning, and as for the 9th gups, I've only seen it a couple of times. Since I know those young students, I understand how they qualified for that in-between promotion.

The way the knife was described, it sounds like a monster-sized one. It takes a lot of guts to fight a man with that weapon, black belt or not. Great video find, Ti.

Sa does mean fourth. In Soo Bahk Do, related to Tang Soo Do, anyone holding a fourth dan or higher is referred to as Sa Bom Nim, even if the person has reached fifth or higher levels. It doesn't mean teacher, but it confers Master status and has an additional red strip within the midnight blue belt that lower dan members wear. A dan member with Kyo Sa Nim as the title is a certified teacher, but usually less than fourth dan. If the person has reached fourth (Sa) dan, but is under 30 years of age, it's still Kyo Sa Nim. My teacher is 26, is fourth dan, is certified as a teacher (and so Kyo Sa Nim), but has to wait until the accepted age for Sa Bom Nim. She'll be going for O dan in two years, and should she make it (knowing her, she will), she'll still be under 30 and will have to wait to be adressed as Sa Bom Nim. A certified assistant instructor is called Jo Kyo Nim. Tenshinka, doesn't FWIW stand for "For what it's worth"?

I just saw the movie "Surrogates," starring Bruce Willis. Essentially, it's that a person can be at home in a special chair and control an android that will go about in the real world, with complete control by you. The surrogate which, being an android, will have a human appearance, can do everything from have you at work to have you party. It can also enable the handicapped to do things they enjoyed in the past but can't any longer. The surrogate can have your appearance exactly as you are, or be younger, taller, slimmer, etc. Would you consider having a surrogate, or that's okay for others, but not for you? Would you be in favor of them being legal or illegal?

Welcome, Logan, and I enjoyed the video. Looks like you've got a talent for nunchaku.

Why not give these a try, Twigs? Chung Sa Nim Melissa Paone at Action Karate: http://www.actionkarate.com/about_us Chong Sa Nim Roy King at Won Moo Kwan (may be a variation of the spelling): http://www.wongmookwan.com/Home/wong-moo-kwan-korean-martial-arts-academy Chung Sa Nim explained in the list at: http://www.sajado.org/sajadorankstructure.html

In the state of New Jersey, you must be a certified teacher to teach in a public school. The certification is also quite specific, so the certificate I hold to teach social studies doesn't mean I'm legally permitted to teach an English or math class. A martial arts class would definitely fall under physical education, and so there would have to be a certified phys ed teacher to conduct the class during school time. It would be more effectively offered separately from the regular phys ed classes as a phys ed elective, rather than do it for a month, then move on to whatever sport is in season. However, the teacher is expected to be qualified to teach the particular phys ed class if it is specialized, such as an elective. I do not consider myself qualified to teach economics, even though it's one of the social studies. (Then again, there hasn't been a clamor for the course, so I don't feel badly about it.) Remember, too, that if the teacher of any course in any department should leave, a certified and qualified person must take that person's place. In the case of karate, a new and certified phys ed teacher can be hired, but is that person qualified to teach a martial art? And if students have taken, say, Tae Kwon Do for the first year of their phys ed martial arts elective and wish to continue, but the new teacher has an Isshinryu background instead, well . . . In my home town, Bayonne, karate is offered in an after-school (and night) Community Education program, classes offered for the little ones through to the adults. It's non-contact Tae Kwon Do. The person(s) teaching it are considered qualified, but they are not required (and I doubt that they are) to be certified phys ed teachers.

Are you sure of the spelling, Twigs? If you put cheung sa nim into a search engine, you'll find info under that spelling that's helpful. At the Redford Karate school, "cheung" in used in place of "jang," so that if you look at the Redford web site, it refers to etiquette at the do cheung, rather than say the do jang. The Redford Karate school's site is at: http://redfordkarate.com/ When there, click on "Our School" at the top of the page, and the drop-down menu will say "Tang Soo Do Etiquette." There's a whole page on it there. Perhaps this instructor has seniority and is identifying himself in this manner?

As a quick reply, if you go beyond the level of violence needed to handle the situation, you could be arrested for assault and even sued by him for his deemed-unnecessary injuries. I'm sure you can sue him under certain circumstances, but it would likely be a personal injury lawyer who would handle such a case, unless it's strictly property you're referring to.

I'm improving in the straight lead's footwork of the falling step, and hard/special slapping, with both the palm and back of the hand against focus mitts, was emphasized in particular last night. For the slapping, there was no pulling the arm away enough from the target to give you a lot of chambering room. It was from a relatively short distance, throwing the hips into it. My partner was in a side stance, and that focus mitt really moved when I struck it.

Welcome back to MA!

I liked it, Brian. It's a good observation you made about starting with a more structured exercise as a training tool, then move on to more realistic applications for self-defense.

This was really interesting. The video that had Liddell take off the shirt and weigh himself on the scale showed a trimmer guy. He looked good. And each of the articles, especially the second one, showed him dancing and appearing to be doing okay. Kudos for Chuck Liddell!

Does the area bulge out when you're standing or sitting, George, and then fall back into place when you're lying down? Was any information taken at that time about your being injured? If not, will you inform the school owner, who is likely the chief instructor, of the injury? Do you intend to get the name of the guest who struck you? I don't want to play doctor, but I wonder if a herniated area can be the result of a blow instead of from an internal movement. The school and likely the guest would be involved if this is so.

Here's a video update about the situation from MSNBC. If you watch just part of the video, it seems that it's about the samurai sword, but if you follow it all the way through, it becomes irrelevant, even stating that it isn't illegal to own one, and focuses on the burglar and lunging at the college student holding the sword. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/32950225#32950225

Welcome to the forums and have fun posting!

When I was a white belt in Soo Bahk Do, Cathal, the defense against the wrist grab introduced palm heel strikes to the nose and a slap to the groin that, if you were an adult, was followed by a further hand technique. After my first promotion, another of those wrist grab defenses introduced a ridgehand to the neck. A backfist to the nose and a hammer fist to the groin were also introduced in a wrist grab defense, as well as a hammer fist strike to the collar bone in a form, but I don't know if they fall under the fist category you mentioned. If you're also referring to techniques using the elbow or a joint lock, Cathal, I have to return to white belt, where the wrist grab defense introduces two joint locks and an elbow strike (actually, one to the side of the opponent's head when close, the other to the midsection with him behind you). There's also a head butt. Again, after my first promotion, the wrist grab defense introduced a different joint lock and continued with another elbow strike, this one to the back of the neck (or the upper back if less impact is wanted) of your bent-over opponent.