KickChick

...yes, an informative site Bitseach thank you! Might I suggest the importance of CPR and First Aid .... everyone should know what to do in an emergency before medical help arrives. I cmpleted a CPR/First Aid course (since I do teach a cardio class it was required ... just in case!) I have my certification but its time for me to be recertified. You do forget if its something you don't practice or use often .... (and I haven't had to thank goodness!)

Opening August 9th!!"XXX", Vin Diesel plays an "extreme" secret agent I can't wait for this one! ..check it out!!! http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/triplex/ and here too! http://www.mtv.com/onair/moviehouse/read.jhtml?epiNum=5 _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Tae Kwon Do (ITF) Cardio/Fitness Kickboxing Instr. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-07-12 13:38 ]

First of all ... welcome back taezee (my TKD knight in shining armor) Why do so many people bash Tae Kwon Do? Ah, perhaps it's just that TKD is more popular and that there are more TKD schools on the average then any other style. But it seems that there is a large number of TKD McDojos, as Laurie brought up, and they are turning out black belts who can't fight their way out of a wet paper bag giving the rest of us a bad rep. Now let's focus on the general perceptions of those non-TKD practitioners .... (which really are the ones doing the bashing here) They seem to think that TKD focuses far too much on kicks with very little emphasis on punching, (this is generally found in sport/competition TKD), and seldom if any joint locks or grappling. So according to 'them' , TKD is vastly myopic in its techniques. ... again they are wrong. Most TKD bashers believe that TKD's strategy is fixated on a false assumption that TKD's range of kicks will be enough for self defense or combat situations as opposed to a more suitable line of defense that is completely left out of the TKD techniques. Further, it is the perception that TKD focuses on "high" kicks and no "low" kicking techniques. That is, TKD teaches a strategy that launches kicks at the opponent above the waist. I have seen the scenario played time and time again here ... this leaves the TKD guy in a position of weak balance so that he/she can easily be taken advantage of by even an unskilled opponent ... again this is a scenario from the non-TKD practitioner's viewpoint. I have also seen TKD'ists here try and defend their style of TKD. "that's not the way we train at our school!" or "We 'crosstrain' at my school with hapkido, kungfu, or bjj", ... which I can understand these different TKD schools opening up and offering more crosstraining to their students but this dilutes the traditional training of TKD. (as you can see I'm a traditionalist) You must first learn TKD and then if you choose to, crosstrain. Certainly does bring up another false perception of TKD.... why would one "need" to cross train? (I'm playing devil's advocate here!) Shouldn't all the necessary technique be learned already if you train in TKD? Soon more schools will be offering crosstraining opportunities to their students .... maybe TKD should be one of them! _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Tae Kwon Do (ITF) Cardio/Fitness Kickboxing Instr. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-07-12 10:01 ]

Depending on the particular style of TKD you train in ITF/WTF and what organization you may belong to then requirements may differ. Our school just joined the ITU .... and the ITU utilizes ITF Forms for traditional schools. Chon-Ji white Dan-Gun gold Do-San gold Won-Hyo green Yul-Gok purple Joong-Gun blue 1st deg Toi-Gye blue 2nd deg Hwa-Rang brown Choong-Moo brown 2nd deg Kwang-Gae 1st degree black Po-Eun 1st degree black GE-BAEK 1st degree black EUI-AM 2nd degree black CHOONG-JANG 2nd degree black JUCHE 2nd degree black SAM-IL 3rd degree black YOO-SIN 3rd degree black CHOI-YONG 3rd degree black YONG-GAE 4th degree black UL-JI 4th degree black MOON-MOO 4th degree black SO-SAN 5th degree black SE-JONG 5th degree black TONG-IL 6th degree black

I was wondering just how many of you follow a procedure of lining up and bowing in or out at the beginning or end of a training session. There are various opinions in the various styles as to why and how we line up or bow. Training in some dojos begin and end without any line-up or bow. Some only have an informal standing bow, sometimes without lining up. I have heard about one dojo which has a circular "line-up," the idea being that everyone is learning from the others. At our school/dojo the instructor calls the class to order with two quick claps of his or her hands. When the instructor commands "Line up for class," the class quickly lines up. The instructor will stand in front of the students facing the wall with Korean /US Flag. The instructor has other black belts or senior students line up behind him to his or her left by rank. The senior student in the class, the first person in the front row, will give the following commands: Charyut: The class will snap to attention. Kyungnyet: Everyone will bow toward the flags. The instructor then calls upon a student of his choice to recite the "student creed(tenets)" The instructor will now begin class instruction. At the end of class, the instructor will command "Line up for dismissal." The class will line up again as it did at the beginning of class. The senior student, the first one in the front row, will give the following commands: Charyut: The class will snap to attention. Kyungnyet: The class will bow to the instructor. I know in Japanese styles, students sit down when lining up ....how does your dojo conduct the beginning and ending of your training session?

http://sportsmed.starwave.com/media/mlb/2002/0709/photo/a_fans1_i.jpg and the winner is .... Nobody! Let them play! Let them play!" chanted the crowd at Miller Park. But commissioner Bud Selig called the All-Star Game after 11 innings and a 7-7 tie. You can't charge people 150 bucks a ticket and not play until somebody wins. You can't tell the nation that this is the only All-Star Game left that's still a real game and then tell them four hours later that it doesn't matter if anybody wins. Then there's the other side-- Theorganizations, and their managers, entrust their players to the all star coaches, and the last thing they want to see happen is sending home a guy who is not going to be able to compete for the ballclub that's paying his salary. So how do you resove this situation in the future then? Put more players on the rosters and just tell them that some of them won't play unless the game goes into extra innings. Or , play nine innings no matter what. Tell everybody from the start. And then, if it's tied, each team picks one guy, and you decide it with a Home Run Derby. BTW .... way to go Giambi!!

...you've been wished Good Luck!!! Come back and give us the scoop!

: - ) -: ... have you heard? U.S. immigration officers, the Justice Department secretly chartered a Portuguese jet to deport 131 Pakistani detainees who had been held for months at INS detention facilities around the country. Many of them were “extremely unhappy” about being deported (*I wonder why? ), according to Imran Ali, a Pakistani consular officer. The detainees were escorted to an airport in Louisiana by INS agents from 22 cities across the United States, including Baltimore. They numbered 130 men and 1 woman, officials said. According to Ali, 26 were detainees arrested on immigration violations after Sept 11; 35 had been held on criminal charges, including rape, larceny, burglary and cocaine possession; and most of the remainder were absconders. Oh, and speaking about money ...(seems to be what drives everything in your opinion...) After accepting bids, the government chose to use a Lockheed L-1011 jet offered by a Portuguese company, Air Luxor, for $342,000. Officials involved in the planning estimated that the cost of the entire operation surpassed $500,000.

NeoKarate is a small forum basically geared to extreme acrobatic martial arts ... (not as diverse as KF and not as popular) ... you're entitled to your opinions, sure but did you really have to post that??????

What most of this boils down to is what is reasonable under the circumstances and what the law deems as reasonable under such circumstances....and as a martial artist you must use violence ethically. The notion should be dispelled that there is a legal duty to "walk away" from a confrontation although. Years ago, many states required you to retreat before you could legally invoke self-defense. Nowadays, you can "stand your ground" as long as you are legally in a place you have the right to be, and you do not have to retreat when attacked. Because of the current status of the United States legal and civil court systems, you may defend yourself from an attack and still end up in jail or sued, or both. This judicial danger is so prevalent, that it often outweighs the trauma of allowing yourself to be a victim. In the book "American Law and the Trained Fighter", by Carl Brown a lawyer, he suggests that we should consider the skill level of the martial artist in determining reasonableness and also in determining whether the attack by the martial artist is "aggravated" (i.e., with a weapon). What Mr. Brown means is that since us martial artists all possess mystical and overwhelmingly powerful skills, we should be judged differently and if we use our skills, even in self-defense, we should be deemed to have been armed. Another informative book is "Martial Arts & the Law" by Dr. Karl J. Duff. This book is a good reference guide for any dojo and offers several illustrated hypothetical situations. _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Tae Kwon Do (ITF) Cardio/Fitness Kickboxing Instr. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-07-10 10:13 ]

Not another "kata is worthless" thread .... this deserved to be repeated. People like Bon who denounce kata/forms practice as impractical, may actually practice it themselves. Quote from G95champ: "However is there really a big difference in kata and shadow boxing? Thats a question... " Kata not a good form of training for actual fighting? ..... in preparation for fighting competition, a person may spend many hours 'shadow boxing', which is actually just a spontaneous method of practicing Kata. In all truth, there was a time in martial arts history when all Kata, in all countries, were only extemporaneous, because freestyle practice developed the freedom of movement and the unrestricted mind necessary for excellence in combat. First of all it is important to understand what constitutes true Kata. Forms that contain moves which do not have combat significant, especially those which are full of superfluous moves and most especially acrobatics, are not true Kata. In some of the older styles of martial arts ....basics, are put together spontaneously to form a kata. The practitioner creates the kata/form by visualizing attackers and moving extemporaneously to counter each one. This type of battle in the mind helps to develop a great deal of sophistication, through the study of technique and its application. The more modern type of martial art training which uses prearranged kata/forms, it is still understood that there is no single set of applications to the moves. Regardless of what martial art system you train in, the moves in Kata can be interpreted in at least five different ways. 1. the front or regular techniques. These are the obvious interpretations, where a punch or kick is done forthright. 2. meaning the rear or reverse techniques... meaning simply, alternative techniques, or literally the reverse movement forming new interpretations by doing the movements directly in reverse and seeing how they can be applied to actual combat. 3. Concealed techniques.... hidden in many movements, that seem to be preliminary moves or intermediate moves, are actual striking and throwing skills. Some of the most effective techniques in the martial arts are those that are 'concealed.' 4. Variation techniques, are the many modifications which can be performed using any of the basic moves. Many martial artists think that a certain technique can only be used against one attack or one type of attack. Yet the truth is, that once you understand the principles upon which the technique is based, and have a full understanding of combat rhythm, then the particular move can be applied against many different attacks. 5. Sacrifice techniques. These are techniques to be used when you are at a disadvantage or in an awkward position. These are techniques in which you purposefully throw yourself off balance which allow you to counter attack the opponent by surprise. To master all 5 of these areas of kata allows a person to have formlessness even in prearranged forms, and to develop a complete understanding of the potential of their martial arts in combat. This is the problem of practicing the martial arts as sports only. Each move should be looked at for what it can accomplish under any self defense circumstance. Kata is at the highest level of training takes place ... it allows you to develop a true understanding of movement through technique and it'sd application.

BACKFLIPS(tucked/layout) 1) For a backflip in a tucked position: At the top/apex of your jump/takeoff, stretch, then tuck and rotate your knees to your chest/face as if you were "whipping your knees over your head"--most beginners don't set and erroneously throw their backs/torso backward without jumping/stretching UP first. You want to be as long/tall as possible before you tuck into a small ball so that you rotate much more quickly (in physics, it's known as the law of conservation of angular momentum--anytime you shorten something, it spins faster depending on how much it is shortened). BACKHANDSPRINGS First, you should already have a good handstand. 1) Most beginners don't sit back far enough (they jump with their weight/center of gravity over their feet instead of behind their feet) because most are afraid of that off-balance feeling they should get before jumping. Lean/fallback/sit-back first and then bend the knees before jumping. Make sure the knees/shins don't protude forward. You can drill yourself by having doing backhandsprings/drills facing close to a wall so the wall prevents you from leaning forward/(not siting back far enough). When doing it from a round-off, make sure you snap your feet down so that you land with your weight behind your feet,shins angled backwards/up,and bottom/pc/hips tight and tucked under. 2)Make sure rotate/arch your upper body AFTER you jump so you land on your hands (with your shoulders over in line over your hands)--most beginners don't rotate enough so they land on their shoulders/back instead of their hands. Most beginners also arch/rotate too early (when their weight is still over their feet or before they even jump) or too late after they're in the air). Make sure you swing your arms super-fast before you jump so that your arms are by your ears by the time you jump--most beginners swing their arms too slow. 3) To prevent the legs from flying open while performing a backhandspring, lie down and squeeze the knees/ankles together while someone tries to pry their legs apart. You can also arch your bottom off the floor to simulate the arched in-flight position while doing this. You can also jump while holding a ball between the legs. Gymnasts who jump with their legs open tend to depend only on arching (instead of arm swing/strong jump) to land on their hands--they also usually have bent knees (bad form). Stand on the toes and squeeze the bottom and legs and you should feel this same tightness in the toes and legs/bottom/pc when you jump through your toes. Make sure the feet are pointed straight ahead and not angled away from each other when in the start position or from landing a round-off--feet angled away from each other causes the legs to open when bent. 4) Conditioning: Exercises that build your shoulders, triceps, and trapezius muscles are the most effective for increasing your speed and power. Handstand push-ups are one the best exercises for students if they can't do military/shoulder presses. FRONT HANDSPRINGS 1) Make sure that you hurdle and reach far ahead of your feet as your reach for the floor 2) Make sure you start to pushoff/block through your shoulders/traps early (before both legs hit vertical) so you float high--most beginners push off to late 3) Forcefully stop the movement of your first leg once it reaches vertical after kicking it up so that you'll transfer its momentum to your torso so your torso rotates up--most beginnners neglect to stop their leg and kickover to fall onto their back 4) Conditioning: same as back handsprings PRESS INTO HANDSTAND FROM SPLITS 1) From the splits, place your hands about shoulder-width apart and close to your inner thighs, hollow-out your chest, and press upwards using your shoulder strength (you can also use your hips to help yourself up). Keep your legs tight and toes pointed for best form. 2) Conditioning: Shoulder exercises, especially front dumbbell/barbell raises to the front with palms facing each other or down. For video clip: http://www.geocities.com/ox_pasture/Tbflip.html

Hey Bits.... visa versa too! hey we have a plethora of accents here in our own country too! (actually you'd swear Greenwich CT was part of England!.... talk about posh!)

For ad, Eye of the Tiger and the rest of you who want to bodybuild without using weights or to bulk up, I would like to recommend book on bodyweight conditioning exercises entitled Combat Conditioning:Functional Exercises for Fitness & Combat Sports written by Matt Furey. Furey is a martial arts world champion, the first American to ever win a gold medal competing in China, and a no-nonsense authority when it comes to disseminating quality information on grappling. Matt has immense knowledge on both mental and physical conditioning. There is a variety of bodyweight-only movements! Some of them basic, some not -so...(such as handstand pushups, reverse pushups, wall walking, fingertip pushups, and jumper squats. ) What he features is the "Royal Court," which consists of three exercises: Hindu pushups, Hindu squats, and the king of all exercises, the back bridge. All the exercises in this book will give you new challenges, muscular endurance and confidence!

Yes, I have seen this site. Examples shown of basic bodyweight exercises ...in the Martial Arts Exercises section ... (back bridge, hindu squats, and hindu pushups). Good info on injury prevention, and tips on dealing with sport related injuries.

"World War II brought America the title of "Super Power". Why is that?? Because we bombed the hell out of Japan - our vengeance on the Japanese was horrible, to say the least. Our dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima caused the world to take notice - "The Americans aren't playing". But what did that do to our collective conscience? Who, in this country, as a school child after that incident, has not seen the terrifying film... the absolute ruin... the people with half a face... the dead and the dying. We caused ruin. We caused devastation. We ended lives, and we ruined the lives of those that were left. The WWII generation surely felt (as we now feel) that the ends justified the means. Generations since then have felt the grief, pain, and sorrow that we wrought on the Japanese. The reason somehow is obscured by the terror we wrought. You question why we act outside of our borders ... why we continue to commit the unthinkable against those we see as our enemies. We eliminated the Japanese as a threat (and they shove that in our faces every day as we buy their cars and their VCRs)... but we allowed Russia, indeed we invited Russia, to become great, powerful, strong. And then we saw that they could ruin us when they became the USSR - more people, more intelligence, more ability. So we sought to remove that threat from our planet. We play dirty - view the Hiroshima films, no one will deny we play dirty, and we did in the cold war. Does that mean we are wrong? Perhaps, but we removed the USSR as an enemy. The US is a global presence. We will, as a people, continue to pay our penance for having dropped the bomb on Hiroshima by being the globe's peace keepers. We cannot, as a collective conscience, allow people to be murdered for the sake of any one government's views. Yes, we are hated, we are taunted, but... "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to break free, the retched refuse of your teeming shore; send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" We offer hope to many. We will not stop because one madman, or a dozen, or a hundred dozen, decides that he hates us. We are here. We will prevail. We will not run. We will not rest. We will be here for all those that hope for a better tomorrow." _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Tae Kwon Do (ITF) Cardio/Fitness Kickboxing Instr. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-07-09 10:44 ]

Welcome to KarateForums larryjf

Did I say that? thread was not meant to be man vs. woman .... but male strength(muscle) vs. female strength(muscle) When comparing the same amount of muscle, there is no difference in strength between the sexes ... so that is how I reconcile it! As far as luck with the thread.... the "hits" speak for themselves.

... so all in all, you will soon be an all-round good fighter! Welcome Don! Hope you are enjoying your training in TKD ... you'll slim down in no time! Thanks for the introduction ... and do hope you'll find time to frequent our forum with your knowledge in firearms ... (as I have seen you have :up)

Hey Ti-Kwon-Leap ...

Martial artists should train to achieve the following physical development Muscular strength Explosive power Muscular endurance Respiratory endurance Flexibility Speed Yes plyometrics and a variety of stretching will help with the flexibility. You need to be consistent ... and break in the routine and you won't see the results. Just as there are different types of flexibility, there are also different types of stretching. Stretches are either dynamic (meaning they involve motion) or static (meaning they involve no motion). Dynamic stretches affect dynamic flexibility and static stretches affect static flexibility (and dynamic flexibility to some degree). I also include PNF stretching in my workouts. PNF stretching is currently the fastest and most effective way known to increase static-passive flexibility. PNF is an acronym for proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation. It is not really a type of stretching but is a technique of combining passive stretching and isometric stretching in order to achieve maximum static flexibility. I don't know if you're a grappler or judoka, but if so you would especially need great static strength in extrreme rnge of motion to get out of holds and locks. You would best develop this strength by isometric stretching and weightlifting. If you need examples of stretches email me .... possibly I will do an "article" one day here for various stretches a martial artist should do for his specific style/discipline. _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Tae Kwon Do (ITF) Cardio/Fitness Kickboxing Instr. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-07-08 07:18 ]

I like the "real thing" Ti-Kwon-Leap! No "virtual" anything for me.... thanks! I used to be pretty awesome at Atari!

It's that time AGAIN... Lots of you members know what we look like .... now it's your turn! Post some pics!!! Show us your

ITF Tae Kwon Do .... Started training at 33 (10 yrs. ago) at the school of a friend. His wife was wanting to get back into TKD after a long hiatus after having kids and I started training with her. I also started my son and took family classes with him. My daughter then began and I had another child and now he is taking TKD. I especially prefer "traditional" TKD as opposed to "sport"/competition TKD because I have found that it is of particular importance that the two aspects of Tae Kwon Do, the spirit and the technique, must be taught together. Yes, TKD is self-defense. But our aim is also truth, goodness, "perfection of character" and beauty in the form of balance between our physical and mental development.

... so you are comparing yourself to a woman? :pony: Granted, I don't want to be stronger than my man .... I like the idea of "him" having the upperhand (so-to-speak) when it comes to strength. I am sure most women would be "turned-off" if they were stronger than their man. Could you imagine having your girlfriend fighting your battles? LOL But I must say, "I" for one, am stronger than most women ....meow!! (and for me that is enough)! What all you boys are failing to realize is the reason I started this thread. It wasn't a man strength vs. woman strength .... it was the basis of achieving strength within the relation of the said sex ... ("In fact, the average woman gains strength at a slightly faster rate than the average man does.) Her strength with relation to his strength is not in question here.... it is the strength that defines her ability. Get it???? er uh .... _________________ KarateForums Sensei 1st dan Tae Kwon Do (ITF) Cardio/Fitness Kickboxing Instr. [ This Message was edited by: KickChick on 2002-07-07 13:54 ]