shimizu

Nunchakus are cool - thanks for that vid!

shuto uke is knife hand block, however shuto uchi is knife hand strike - they are different as a block comes from a different part of the body moving in a certain way that is different from the strike which comes from another place to ensure maximum damage

martial art isn't dead

You should always arrive to class/session if you are fit and physically able to train and you should arrive in your suit/gi/dobok/etc. unless you haven't it with your for whatever acceptable reason. You should bow before entering and leaving the training hall/room/dojo/dojang and should never walk in front of a higher grade as that can be seen as disrespectable. A lower grade should walk round a higher grade to get to his acquired destination.

Unless you're going to a grading, examination, demonstration or competition or anything like that - you don't really need to be wearing your gi/dobok/uniform/etc.

You should use martial arts seriously only to defend your self or family/friends or the weak. You must never use it unless someone is in actual danger. Don't just go about using martial-arts (as "self-defense") on whomever you want.

the old karate kid movies with ralph maccchio and pat morita

I can answer your middle question as it is similar to ITF Tae Kwon-Do: it is because kicks (and maybe head punches) score more points than body punches do and judges can score head kicks and punches easier whereas it is a risk with body punches as the judges may not see the punch and not score it - which is frustrating

I don't know whether or not you have already chosen but you should choose (or have chosen) Tae Kwon-Do because that's cool

I'm not sure if your query has been answered somewhere above this post but a roundhouse kick (mawashigeri) is performed with the part of your foot where your laces on your shoes would be and a side kick can be done in two ways: YOKOGERI is a kick performed with the heel but SOKUTOGERI is performed with the foot sword (outside edge of your foot).

"tie" "k-won" "dough" - this is how I would pronounce it (I believe this to be the common pronunciation in England) however in Korea it would be "tey"-"goo-an/gwan"-"tow/dow"