Bridge

If you're on bottom with a zombie (even in your closed guard) you are behind and will need to play catch up. Make sure you breathe through your nose, keep your mouth CLOSED, pieces/parts start falling off...bam you're infected. Blech

It's the hybrid art of Grappling and Glock-fu that will carry you through an FSZE (Full Scale Zombie Event).

Congratulations!

Thanks everybody. Fun times in TKD class...after about 18 months I got my first TKD related injury. I thought we'd come to an agreement at the start of sparring...we'd try new things with no/little contact...He surprised me with the full contact spike to my chest in response to my flying knee... my landing was a little rough. Middle finger looked like < at the middle joint. Pop, crack, squish later and it's swollen but on the mend. The calss applauded me for "warrior spirit". I'd always told myself the "art" comes in at the end of the chain of: Balance-Control-Efficiency. I'm starting to think the "art" is in not exacting revenge.

If you can find a club I think it would certainly help you get started. The structure and camaraderie of a school or club are deffinitely helpful to keep you going back. http://www.martialartfinder.com/sd On the other hand if you are just really out of shape and super sore from over doing it; think about starting with a walking program instead of jumping right in to the deep end. Hope that helps.

Thanks all!

Very happy for and proud of my son. He said "I remember at white belt thinking how cool it would be to get here." I finally feel like I'm finding my place in TKD as well. It was a good day.

Fantastic; congratulations Biskit!

Incredible and well deserved from everything I've heard. Congrats to Master Palhares and all the schools under him.

Fantastic, thanks for the update. I am very happy those tips helped you. I am sure you will do well in competition, please let us know how it turns out.

Try setting it on a yoga mat, we do that in class and it seems to help. Hope that helps.

GeoGiant, There are a lot of things to do in Nashville depending on your interests. The Bluebird or Tootsie's for live music and Jack's for BBQ are things I recommend to get the flavor of Nashville. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the warm welcome all. Tallgeese, I purchased only the games portion online for $30, they have it broken out into sections at the online school. For my daughter and I it was well worth it. The Junior Combatives included in the whole $120 system is a slightly scaled back version of the Gracie Combatives program (no chokes). When she's ready I will just get the regular Gracie Combatives program for her. The grappling itself is solid/basics and the "packaging" for kids is fantastic. My daughter is very excited by the program, we adapted a version of their belt/stripe system re-using her white belt from TKD and Electrical tape for stripes. She's very motivated to put the mat time in and we have a blast. My 14 year old son who's never been into grappling keeps coming over to watch and laugh with us. Really hoping and thinking he will join us shortly. Variations of the upa,punch blocks, guard passing, mount control, side control, modified mount, double leg...all things I could teach my daughter...but their teaching technique and skill with children is well worth the money to me. Hope that helps.

Here's what I do: Before class I decide what my goals are in each area and "meditate" on them for a few minutes. In regard to sparring with my goals firmly in mind I'm more able to relax because I know exactly what I'm doing and what I am trying to develop before the class ever gets started. Once Sparring: If I notice tension in my shoulders or that I am breathing too heavily I just become more defensive and evasive for a few seconds...deep breathe, rotary jog, SMILE and shake my shoulders out. I create my own space and control the distance. If they attack at that time they always get a defensive front kick. If I can't breathe through my nose I'm working too hard so I adjust my tempo... I might work in more punches and fewer kicks to decrease my energy expenditure and thus reduce the physical "stress". Hope that helps.

Hi, I'm Tom from Nashville, TN. I'm 40 y/o and my kids and I are ITF Style TKD students at a local club. My 14 y/o son and I are upper green belts and my 9 y/o daughter is a blue belt. My daughter and I also play the Gracie Games in an effort to develop skills in all ranges of fighting. I've been lurking at a few TMA forums for a while to see where I thought I would feel most comfortable and karate forums seems to have the best discussions around.