joesteph

Well said, Josh. Sometimes we have to take a time-honored belief, a philosophy if you will, and apply its relevancy to our own time. It isn't disrespectful to determine how a past maxim may still be important, still be relevant, by examining it in a more fluid way. One of the reasons I enjoy teaching social studies is that the students analyze, think critically, and sometimes come up with surprising insights.

I had watched a women's self-defense video in the past that cautioned women not to overreact to a situation, explaining that the adversary would then be more likely to overreact himself, fearful that he has to, well, "shut her up," so that he doesn't get into trouble. This addresses the male who's a nuissance or a fool (like a flasher), but had not intended bodily harm. The advice (if it may be called that) by the "expert" is completely contrary to women's self-defense. The video I referred to, above, gave its caution, and then went on with what it was about--women's self-defense. I can understand an expert giving the advice of not trying to defeat the assailant, but to give him a good, strong shot or two and then flee. Let's face it, a rapist is a merciless creature masquerading as a human being. If he's willing to cross such a line, where is the guarantee that he won't go further in bodily harm, including death? Women have to know how to defend themselves, with intensity, and to get out of there. She can always call the police after she's escaped.

Oops! I apologize. I misread your original reply. I'm afraid I was seeing "Not just for me" instead of "Just not for me." The first would be broad, concerning others as well as yourself; the second, which is what you actually wrote, concerns limiting your answer to yourself. My error! Thanks for clearing things up.

That's interesting. The question was about yourself, but you're looking at it regarding others, too. There are those who wouldn't undergo it themselves, but would be open to others getting it if that's what they want. Your response is broader. I'm steering clear of considering someone who repeatedly undergoes cosmetic surgery, like the controversy that was stirred up about Michael Jackson.

I saw a young man go in there and give the first time he's been in a tournament a really good shot. It's called courage. Having videos only increases your ability to pinpoint weak spots to work on, and, with the help of your instructor's input, determine where you were strong in order to continue to grow. This was, as you said, Ozpunker, your first tournament, not your only tournament. Compare the videos in the next one with this one, and you'll realize the difference even a hint of experience makes. Congratulations on walking out on that floor, looking your opponent square in the eye, and making him fight for every point he received.

I'm picking up some streetfighting techniques here. I only thought of a low front snap kick before; now I'm looking at another weapon in the arsenal.

Thanks, Heidi. I hadn't thought of it that way. Is the kick that's taught in your style done with greater speed because of this placement? The term "snap" in side snap kick (or front snap kick) makes it sound faster, but is it really? I feel as though the hanging down of the lower leg makes it slower to execute.

Since this forum has a bit of everything, including Harry Potter, I thought this would be the right place to introduce the subject. The surgery I'm referring to must definitely be cosmetic; it can't be that someone needed surgery, then a procedure followed to reconstruct the damaged area. Examples of cosmetic would be hair transplants, breast augmentation, rhinoplasty (no deviated septum involved), liposuction, etc. As for me, when I was married, I worked out with weights, but as I entered my forties, weight accumulated around the midsection, meaning the abdomen and its best buddy, the "love handles." (Someone with a wry sense of humor named them that.) My wife objected to liposuction as unnecessary surgery, citing possible side-effects more so than finances, and thought that I needed to change my lifestyle (eat less, do more cardio) to address the issue. My doctor told me that weight redistributes when we hit middle age, and that spot reduction is a myth. After my divorce, when my finances were straightened out, I went for liposuction. The doctor performed it in his own clinic, and I had a local anaesthetic, not a general one, so I was awake the entire time. It took four hours, and I'm going to say it took four weeks to recover. (As a teacher, I'm off for the summer, so I was able to schedule it when I knew I could have maximum recovery time.) I figured out that I lost only eleven pounds, but it was all spot reduction through surgery, and so I trimmed four inches from my waistline. I learned from my doctor that 40% of his patients are male, and they overwhelmingly choose the same area I did, the midsection. The female patients have a variety of cosmetic procedures done. I feel great about having had it done. How do others feel about cosmetic surgery? Have you had it done, considered it, simply thought about it, know someone who had it done and was satisfied--or dissatisfied? What are your thoughts?

I was thinking the same thing. Sometimes that means it's great, that you learn precision, but other times it's challenging to your body mechanics. Do you find the same in Tang Soo Do, Josh? In sparring, I've never been corrected, and I'm sure it's because all action is in flux; we're constantly maneuvering. In performing self-defense techniques, it has come up, likely because action is more static/in place, and more easily observed to be critiqued. I prefer my less-strict way, especially for speed, but when my instructor performs that kick, don't blink--she'll have shot it out and already rechambered it.

When I perform a side kick, I have a tendency to raise the kicking leg in such a manner that there is a resemblance to the roundhouse kick. I can explain better by dividing the leg into upper and lower. The upper leg is raised to a good height, say waist level, but the lower leg is not hanging straight down; it's at a downward angle (think 45 degrees down to visualize it). When I execute the kick, everything else is as a side kick is expected to be. My instructor, and I should include her teacher who taught my class last night, refer to what I would call a stricter placement of that lower leg, that it hangs straight down before firing off the side kick. I do not protest, but I believe that both can be correct, so long as the kick itself doesn't turn into a roundhouse. Here are three videos I've found online that show the side kick as I prefer: 1 minute long, a young black belt: 4 minutes long, an instructor: 5 minutes long, instruction including a split screen for right and wrong, and even exercises: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j1w--TjqVY&feature=related How do other forum members prefer to perform the side kick? Instructors, what do you teach? Is the way of my instructor actually the traditional way, while the way I prefer and see on these videos an evolution of some sort in executing this kick? BTW, my instructor is young, just 25, but often we teach others as we ourselves were taught.

Definitely, Josh! This is romance we're talking about here, the handsome, fiery, young martial artist smitten by the charm, grace, and beauty of the female warrior. This past year, my instructor had a pleasant announcement to make. Her assistant instructor, a second dan, and her own teacher, a fifth dan, were getting married. Their dating had been one of those "best-kept secrets," and they were flying off to Las Vegas for the wedding and honeymoon. We adult members of the dojang made sure to give congratulatory cards and presents. We were really very happy for them.

Have you tried asking through the official web site at: http://www.fska.com If they can't help you directly, they might clue you in on how/where to find out. In my hometown, there's a city web site and, under fitness centers, martial arts studios are listed. Maybe your new town has a web site that can help you. If you don't know its URL, you can always phone city hall and ask for it.

I was looking over older postings and found this one from February. Well? What happened? Did you ask her out? You can't leave us all hanging like this!

The presence of a firearm automatically creates a life-threatening situation. You may act to save or protect your own life or another's, the caveat here being with appropriate force. Joe struck an armed man once; the robber fell and died as a result of the fall, not Joe's repeatedly striking an unconscious man. The robber died as a result of his own misadventure. If Joe struck the robber and caused him to fall--conscious or unconscious--and took the gun from him, that would change the scenario. Striking the robber further would have to be justified, especially if the target is the head. I don't see this as more than something that would be investigated fully, but not wind up in criminal court. The wild card here is that the robber's relatives might sue in civil court for wrongful death. That would be a case of "No good deed goes unpunished."

Although we do a certain amount of stretching exercises at the beginning of class, my instructor will add in, before we concentrate on kicks, "swing kicks," in which we shoot that leg straight up for a full stretch--flexibility rather than muscle, the root of the swing in the hip, and the muscles called upon to keep the leg straight. We usually partner-up, taking turns doing (non-contact, of course) kicks "against" one another, to give us a frame of reference. But we start with swing kicks. Next to me was a fourteen-year-old first dan who asked me, right after we did swing kicks, if I realized that my right leg shot up straight, but my left leg had a small bend in the knee. I had no idea, but he's a dan member and no matter what his age, he knows his stuff and caught it. I then spent more time on swing kicks with the left leg, and I feel it's been helpful for power and height. Another person who posted, tenshinka, cautioned about locking out the knee and other joints. My instructor cautioned us about this as well, and I've discovered that striking a target is easier on the joints than against air. I even kick better when striking a target, not being off-balance but with better balance despite (because of?) impact. You would think that going against air--in a sense, "nothing"--would be easier on the body, but it just doesn't work that way. Good luck with that front kick.

I selected this paragraph to quote because of a video I found online, Gina Carano vs Julie Kedzic. In no way do these women refer to having been trained differently from men, and in no way do they demonstrate that they couldn't hold their own with men as well as with other women in their weight class. At the end is an after-event "interview" right there in the ring, with both fighters referring to women in the martial arts. It's some fight! http://ginacarano.proelite.com/stuff/video/18398/Showtime_Presents:_EliteXC_Destiny_-_Gina_Carano_vs_Julie_Kedzie

I've read others' postings, and we seem to be on the same page. The legal system is likely the problem. This URL leads to the BBM online article, "Possible Repurcussions of Using Your Skills to Defend Yourself": http://www.blackbeltmag.com/archives/277

That was excellent. How long did it take to practice for this demonstration?

You mentioned a tournament situation, DWx, and it made me think of a friend of mine who was point-sparring. His front kick was caught at the ankle by his opponent, but my friend hopped forward on the free leg and delivered a punch to the face to score the point. In a street/self-defense situation, my friend would probably have had to have spearhanded the attacker's eye, or generated enough bare-knuckled force against the attacker's nose to disorient him, in order to free himself from the ankle grab.

I read a reprint of an old article about an American who went to study in Korea with other Americans who also had dan ranking. While he was there, he was looking for a particular instructor in the dojang, and went by his office. The instructor wasn't there, but there was an older gentleman seated in the office. Remembering that he was in Korea, the American didn't just nod his head and say hello, he bowed. The Korean man could have simply nodded in acknowledgement of this sign of respect, but, instead, rose from his seat and bowed in return. When the American was outside the office, he asked a friend where the instructor was, saying that he had just checked the office and the only person there was an older gentleman. That's when his friend told him he had just "run into" Grandmaster Hwang Kee, founder of the Moo Duk Kwan. The American knew he did the right thing by bowing, but look who bowed in return!

I think you're being too hard on yourself. We guys freeze, too, when we don't know the next move, only we disguise it better, like a pause rather than a freeze. We'll improvise, rather doing something, even if it's wrong, than admit we don't know. Women, I feel, are more concerned about doing it right. The challenge for me is that the teens understand what to do, and with greater flow, faster than I, an adult, do. I've decided not to feel embarrassed or blame myself if I don't know something, or it doesn't flow as well. Are you able to practice outside the dojang? When in the dojang, can you reserve time to practice this drill with a partner? Some one-on-one might be helpful; I've sometimes had to do it, and it's been helpful to me.

Every so often, there's a post--or question in the dojang--about multiple attackers. This boxer was taking the defensive action of backing up, but firing away offensively against anyone within striking range. He zoned it just right, and though he didn't have as much space as someone might think a street fight would have (cars were seen moving behind him), he made use of what he did have in the most efficient and effective manner possible. He never let his guard down, with those hands up protecting his face whenever pausing to ground himself and assess. Isn't there a Taiji move, "Repulse the Monkey," that, when doing it right, will allow you to retreat while dishing it out to your attackers?

It was after my children started that I decided to make the commitment, and that was this year. I'm 56; the assistant instructor is 45; the chief instructor is 25. I'm very glad I started karate, and I have an online article published if you have the time to read it, "Age Is Just a Number," at Tang Soo Do World. The URL is: http://www.tangsoodoworld.com Just click on the Articles tab at the top and the article's title will be easy to spot.

I'm from Bayonne, NJ, just outside NYC. I study at a small dojang, but that's fine for my children and me for individual attention. The reason I clicked off the mostly male selection, say 70%, is that I've noticed that the younger students, the Little Tigers in particular, are about 50-50, but when going into the teens and adults, it's overwhelmingly male. What's funny about it is that the chief instructor is a woman, and her own teacher, who has her own school but visits us now-and-then, is also a woman. One of the teenage boys is a dan member, and he got his teenage sister and her friend to take Soo Bahk Do, but the sister dropped out early when a part-time job opened up, while her girlfriend stayed, working part-time, but earning a promotion (from white to orange belt) on the same test day I did. I teach in an all-girls secondary school, and I've found that the students who refer to karate will have studied it while in elementary school. Some who say they do or did kickboxing actually refer to cardio-kickboxing.

I have a condition called "positional vertigo," diagnosed when I was in my twenties. I wondered why others could go on roller-coaster rides or spinning ones and not get dizzy, but they affected me too much to try--let alone enjoy--them. It's like having your equilibrium thrown off, and there's no medication for positional vertigo, only avoidance. I don't have a fear of flying, but when it's takeoff, I have to focus on a spot straight ahead, even one as awkward as the bald spot on the back of a man's head who's several rows up, to give my equilibrium a stabilizing point. When I'm in the air and the plane has leveled off, I'm fine; even turbulence doesn't affect me any more than anyone else. Landing isn't as taxing as taking off. I live in the US, but I've flown to Europe five times, so this "trick" works well for me. When I want to do spinning back kicks, say for practice so that I'll be doing a number of them, I can't just spin on the ball of the forward foot and turn my head rapidly again and again. I'll be off the mark and dizzy as well. I've found that if I spin on the balls of both feet at the same time, it's easier for me to turn my head and execute the kick with reasonable accuracy. It's a slower kick than how fast the next guy does it, but at least I'm doing it.