TKDLadyInSC

"IF YOU OWN A SCHOOL OR WOULD LIKE TO OWN A SCHOOL BUT ARE LACKING BLACK BELT CREDENTIALS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER TESTING FOR YOUR NEXT DEGREE THROUGH MASTER LEE.) The Black Belt testing center for all of Europe, Canada, North America, South America and the Carribean Islands is located in Orlando, Florida with headquarters in the heart of the vacation capital of the world, Orlando, Florida. Now you can bring your family on a weeks vacation to visit all the Disney attractions while spending a couple of days at our headquarters to prepare and test for your Black Belt as part of your stay in the Orlando area." Got this from that sight. sounds a little mcdojo to me. Come visit disneyland and get your blackbelt in a week?!?!?

We wear white dobaks. It symbolizes the purity of our art.

Have to agree thekuntawman. I was sufing the website of another school in my town. The chief instructor started training in 1969. Today he is a 10th degree. Too funny. 10th degree in 35 years?!?!?

Ahhh... many points to make. Point 1: What my instructor says makes sense. You can have 2 people, same level, in the same class. 1 plans to go to the tournament in 3 months. The other doesn't. Generally the one going to the tournament is going to train harder. They want to do well at the tournament. They will focus on becoming faster in their sparring, more artistic in their forms. Point 2: It's good to see how you are progressing against students not from your school. It's fun. You learn a lot. One of the black belts at my dojang said he had this same guy in his ring at all of his tournaments for 3 years straight. It took him 3 years to figure out what the guy was doing. He was very patient with his attack, but when he did attack he always got in with the point. After 3 years in this guys ring, my fellow student finally figured out this: the guy sat back and blocked waiting for his opponent to blink and in that instant attacked. Really neat. Got to try that. Point 3: Size doesn't matter. I am a 5'8" too many pounds female. I have been beaten by small people. But my most recent defeat was to a lady who is 6'2" and probably 50 lbs heavier than me. Really long legs!!! She beat me 5 to 0. Looking forward to our next tournament. Since that tournament I have been working on getting quicker and roundstepping. Point 4: I am so glad all of our tournaments are closed. Our organization has over 200 schools across the U.S.A. All of our schools teach by the same curriculum. So when we go to tournaments, it's the same standards and the same rules. Plus, generally you have the same people in your ring. With 3 national tournaments a year, it's fun to see how you progress. Point 5: As far as travelling that far to spar someone from your same school and losing the first round, part of our tournament guidlines is unless you have no other choice, people from the same school do not spar first round. Got a tournament coming up June 13 right after our national black belt camp. Should be fun. Can't wait!!!

Part of the reason our organization breaks is tradition. In times of old in Korea, armor was made up of cloth, leather and wood. In hand to hand combat, in order to hurt your opponent you had to get through the wood first. Part of the warriors training was breaking wood. My instructor told me this the other night after class. Did a little searching on the web and found other references to this.

I saw the pilot episode. I will probably watch the next two episodes just to give it a fair chance. Sometimes TV exec's try too hard on the pilot. If it doesn't improve, it will be out of my lineup.

Maybe we should open up a topic to find out what governing organization everyone is from. Our organization has 3 national events a year. It would be neat to be able to meet someone on here from my organization and then get to meet them in person at a national event. With 2000 to 3500+ people at our national events, I meet so many great people. Then by the next event it's 'I know your face, but can't remember your name'. I guess I answered your question in the other topic Kick Chick. Does your organization have a website?

Just curious if anyone else in this forum was from the same organization.

BKJ1216 Try this site. It has body fat, body mass, ideal weight, etc. calculators. Seems a bit more accurate. http://www.freeweightloss.com/calculator2.html

Partner Pressups Your partner stands behind you. You sit indian style on the floor. As you push up with your arms, they resist (enough to to make you work for it, but not so much your arms don't move). On the way down, they push down and you resist. It doesn't take many of these to make you feel every muscle in your arm.

Cauterizing doesn't always work. My podiatrist told me there was still a chance it would grow back, but normally it doesn't. Mine didn't

I believe the question is what is v training???

Final Hope, I had the same problem, I feel your pain!!! I still remember hitting a target with that toe one time when it was irritated. I broke out in a cold sweat. What type of surgery are you having? I had the edge of the nail on the side that was ingrown removed & the nail bed cauterized. Couldn't kick with that foot for about a month, but once it healed, felt great. After a while, the skin on the side pushed up against the rest of the nail that was left, and it looks completely normal. Go for it. Let the instructor know about it. You may not be able to kick anything or anybody with that foot until you get it fixed, but you will still be able to do kicks in forms where you just kick the air. Good Luck

I like #3 shortstick. I remember as a white belt and yellow belt it would take me about a week (forever to an impatient white belt ) to learn a new form. Now I can learn a black belt form in a day. It may not look like Jet Li, but I will know all the moves. Then I get to spend the rest of my life polishing it.

I can only imagine your fear. Fortunately, the students and instructors at my school are very courteous sparrers. That doesn't mean I haven't got my bell rung (sometimes I completely forget about that blocking thing ). As far as what to do now, I think you need to get back in there once you are completely healed. My reasoning for this is we are learning to defend ourselves. If we freeze or clinch up everytime someone punches or kicks at us in the dojang, we will do the same thing on the street. For your own safety, I believe you have to get back up on the horse that threw you. I agree with the schools decision to dismiss the blackbelt. If someone in my school did something like that, the first thing that would probably happen is my instructor would gear up and give the person exactly what they just gave out. In sparring in our school we have guidelines. Higher rank sets the pace and intensity, lower rank sets the contact level. The harder the lower rank hits, the harder they are going to get back. But we don't send each other to the hospital. We are not there to show that I can spar better than you (that's what tournaments are for ). We are there to find out each others strengths and weaknesses and help each other improve on them.

Interesting point capn_midnight. This brings up another factor in bone strength. Muay Thai fighters condition their shins with repetitive strikes. Generally, this does not cause a break in the bone, but does cause trauma to the bone, creating calcification. Kind of like if you break you ribs, once they have healed (years down the road, not immediately after healing), their calcification makes them stronger than they originally were.

I am a 1st degree black belt in taekwondo. Our school is of the Chang Hun style from the lineage of the Chung Do Kwan.

Very intelligently thought out post rb. Made me think . Thank you. I will try to find out the conditions of the study. Here are my thoughts. The following is not anything I have been taught, but my conclusion after considering what I have been taught and what you have just said. It seems that these board to bone ratio would have to be with the bone supported as in a board break. I guess that would make a speed break (board dangled from one hand unsupported) a more accurate measure. Also, you would have to take into account 2 identically sized pieces of the same type wood can be 2 completely different strengths (ie. one may be full of sap or knots), no 2 are the same. Bone is the same way. There are many factors to take into account: bone size (even though many of us like to say we're not fat, just big boned , there are differences from one person to the next in bone size, not just length, but also diameter), age (which would affect bone density), muscular structure support. As martial artists, we are taught to find our opponents weakness. This is why I would take aim at these smaller bones if necessary, but if attacked on the street, my first attack is a side kick to the side of the knee. As a person with knee problems I know how detrimental an injury to the knee is. However, we have strayed far from the subject. Thank you again rb for your thought provoking and informative post. Back to subject, I like board breaks

Oh, please do comment.

To me, it came from my instructor. For him from his instructor. Some where down the line there was a study done. It was found that it takes certain pounds of pressure to break different bones. Then they measured different boards, different sizes, until they came up with a close equivalent in pounds of pressure to break. Also note, we do not use spacers. If you use spacers, you would have to rework the equations. When spacers are used, you create multiple points of impact. You have the initial contact with the front board. Then it creates a new contact point. In the space is an area for acceleration between the boards.

I feel board breaking is useful. You can hit a bag all day and thing you are hitting the exact same spot. Do the same thing on a rebreakable board a few times and you will learn for certain wether you are accurate or not. I believe real wood is easier that a rebreakable. With a rebreakable you have one grain line to break on. If you don't hit it center, it's not probably not going to break; whereas on real wood you have many grain lines. I also like the equivelancies of boards. I know 1 12x12x1 inch board is equivelant to a floating rib. 2 of these boards is equal to the bones in the lower arm. Try breaking with a defensive move rather than an offensive move. Break 2 boards with a low block. If you can do this, you know if the bad guy punches at your gut, and you block it effectively, he won't be punching anyone anytime soon. Know this isn't to say I break daily. In our organization you must break to pass testings red belt and above. We dedicate one week of every testing cycle to target drills/board breaks. We will refine our techniques during the week on targets and bags. Then on Saturday we will have board break clinic. You learn how to set up board holders, proper chambering, penetration and accuracy. Plus the kids love it!!!

At our dojang, once you make black belt you are required to do an alternate (previous) form selected by the judge at your testing. Even if your form was great, your sparring phenomenal, and you break your board, if you cannot complete the alternate form correctly, you do not pass. We are taught that black belt means proficiency and maturity at taekwondo. Not just proficiency in what I learned today, but all that I have learned.

My "dojo buddies" are the best. We encourage each other (in class & in personal life). We go critique all the new martial arts movies together. It makes tournaments a lot easier. When we have to travel, we'll share rides, split hotel rooms. That is the greatest thing about tournaments. Seeing all my old friends from other schools. Our association has over 200 schools across the U.S. and schools in England. We have 3 national and 2 regional tournaments a year. I love getting to the hotel before the tournament and seeing all the familiar faces. I hope to visit the England schools in the next couple of years.

NO!!! You are more likely to do harm to your training than improve. When you are tired and not 100% focused your chance of injury multiplies.

See a sports medicine orthopedist. Usually they are more understanding about your desire to continue training. Most specialists in this field are athletes of some kind themselves. I had a regular orthopedist tell me that I had to quit tkd because of knee problems. I saw a sports medicine orthopedist after that. Instead of telling me to give up training, he told me how to modify my training until I am 100 % physically.