joesteph

Whether it's a side kick or roundhouse, there's a lot of torque on that supporting leg. For me, it's in the knee. Turning the foot so that the heel of the supporting foot is in the direction of the kick is easier on my knees. The feeling in the hip that you're getting is probably because you want to kick to a good height, which goes right to the root of the supporting leg, and that's foot placement. Turning the foot gives me height without feeling it in my hip; if I don't turn the foot and keep practicing side kicks, the knee feels it, as I said above, but I also don't get height, which I believe is due to the hip being "locked" instead of allowed to turn more with the body. The hip joint is a ball-and-socket that has so much flexibility for the leg's side extension and no more. Perpendicular sounds like someone working on a stretching exercise for the leg at the hip insertion, and would be done slowly, without true kicking force, perhaps even leaning against something for support.

As a high school teacher who often lectures, I have to project my voice, as someone on stage does, speaking with inflection (monotone can ruin the most interesting material to present), and repeating this in more than one class, more than one day in a row. There is no way to do this if I "project" through the upper chest; it's just shouting. I have to project through the diaphragm, or I'll just strain my voice and tire myself out for the next class. That's a self-inflicted health imbalance to me. Look at a sleeping baby and see how nature has the baby breathe through the diaphragm/upper abdomen, the floating ribs moving with the expansion and contraction of that central area. (Watch out for babies that are awake and crying. Wow! That is one piercing sound coming from such a tiny person.) Singers use the diaphragm as well; that's the core area. My instructor's teacher has visited the dojang on a number of occasions, and she has run us through proper breathing not only when practicing hyungs, but also when sparring and, of course, for the kihap. She emphasizes the kihap as coming from the diaphragm. When I did Tae Kwon Do many years ago, the instructors had no particular yell, such as "Kihap," just that we yell. It was natural for me to yell something like "Hawh!"; it was a long loud shout, though, like "Haaawwwwhhhh!" I was kidded that I was scaring the h___ out of everybody, but my instructors had no problem with it. Comparing sounds, just yelling "Yah!" involves the diaphragm better than another sound/word, such as the example of "Pizza!" That "p" sound is holding your air back; another letter to start with that would be more natural would be an "h" or a "k." I took some cardio-kickboxing classes recently, and the instructor, who had studied Isshinryu when younger, had us yell "Ka!" at certain points. Personally, I yell "Kihap!" at appropriate times because it's approved, and it comes from the diaphragm, but if I felt it would be accepted, I'd avoid the two-syllable "Ki-hap" and choose a one-syllable, easy-starting, vowel-ending yell. The core of the different yell? The diaphragm.

I like the different perspectives and suggestions, but I wondered, Bushidoman, about the dojang rule not to punch to the head, only to kick. Is this for sparring only? TKD is well-known for its high kicks, but do you practice hand strikes to the head in separate self-defense techniques/drills?

I'm a social studies teacher on the high school level. My sons are in the autistic spectrum, and I followed the advice of a specialist by enrolling them in special needs karate classes. The art is Soo Bahk Do, and I wound up taking classes myself. The story of my starting karate at age fifty-six is in an article, "Age Is Just a Number," published online in Tang Soo Do World (http://www.tangsoodoworld.com). I've been reading the articles posted in KarateForums and have saved a few. I'm already enjoying the exchange of ideas.

I especially liked the example of "grab my wrist and see what happens." My instructor had introduced different releases from such a grab, as well as the appropriate self-defense responses. The other adult males tend to be larger than I am, so I am actually happy to have them use a strong grip when practicing, and certain responses are to break the grip first, then continue with a counter-seize or a strike. I have never had a problem with breaking the grip of any of the males in the dojang. When my father grabbed my wrist, I made the move that broke everyone else's grip, only to find his hand still seizing me--his arm stretched out, but still holding on. He had done exactly what I had asked him to do, to hold my wrist as tightly as possible, but he had not tightened up his arm as though he were going to harm me, meaning it was, well, like spaghetti. I spoke with my instructor, who understood how this sometimes happens, and that as the other students in the dojang are looking to play the bad guy by gripping as hard as they can, they are working against their ability to flow with my move--which "spaghetti arms" will do. But what do I do if I run into this in a real-life situation? Suppose the opponent does the same or is just lucky? She showed me how to twist more at the hips/waist, moving my seized wrist in a greater arc, stretching the grip of the opponent beyond the bounds of the dreaded spaghetti arms maneuver. It was actually fortunate for me to have encountered this surprise. The dojang offers the ideal conditions; outside the dojang, the other guy doesn't have a copy of the script. I've incorporated that greater twist into my release, so that now I do it automatically.