penguin540

a direct kick is also known as a straight technique, an indirect is also known as a circular as far as i know: direct--side kick, front kick, axe kick, etc indirect--roundhouse, hook, crescent, inverted front kick, etc. there are also direct/indirect hand technique (direct would be like sun punch, etc, and indirect would be a ridgehand or a hook punch)

i personally only considered it when i just started, but now its great...even if i broke every bone in my body i'd try to go back again.

just so you guys know, i decided to work with the sai.......btw i'm already into arnis, sorry i never mentioned that.......

i'm thinking about starting to learn to use various weapons; i was wondering what you guys think would be better or more fun to start with: nunchaku or sai (or kamas but i'm not as interested in those) thanks!

I LOVE those snap kicks and fakes! Kicking high is fun...sometimes I think that people bash TKD's high kicks just because they can't kick that high... Anyways, yes there's nothing wrong with TKD...it just depends on how much you like to use your feet, etc. Plus people need to observe when a school is training for sport or effectiveness or anything in between........there's a HUGE difference. If you've seen one dojo you absolutely HAVE NOT seen them all.

it really depends.....for example, if you're locked up with someone, sometimes a hook kick to the (using the heel of course, not the toes like in the sport version) head will work better. Of course, you can always nail the kidneys, but the head draws more of their attention.

my build is extremely similar to your own, and TKD has agreed with me quite well. I have heard plenty of good things about hapkido as well. Like mentioned above, the korean arts look most suited to you.

I know nothing of shudokan, so I can't answer any q's, but welcome. Good luck.

College Station.....whoop go Ags....or not!

hey i'm new too

All i do is tkd 3-5x a week and an arnis class 1x a week. I would really like to cross-train into kung fu once i earn my black.

Well hey.....thought I'd share too! I'm 14 and I live in Texas (no, I'm not a hick! ) I currently hold a red belt in American Tae Kwon Do, my school a member of the USBBA i think. I've been taught quite a bit of arnis, but I'm not ranked in it....I plan to start learning to use the nunchaku and the sai quite soon, possibly the kamas and the bo a while on. I've recently developed an interest in weapons... btw, for anyone who feels like responding to this...what's the deal with all these different federations/affiliations/whatever..... I'm just now really noticing the widespread martial arts community, and some people seem to think that affiliation matters a lot. So if someone could fill me in, thanks.

i personally love my sidekicks and crescent kicks......jump reverse kicks are also very cool.....i like the tornado the best cuz its easy to lead into with a round kick in sparring....i also like most traditional blocks and stances.

it seems to me that ppl attack tkd because some schools choose to teach it in a largely sport-oriented way... i personally can say that my school is different too (wow, look at all those schools that "don't follow the pattern".......how odd that there are so many of them:-P) we train in sparring w/ grappling and takedowns and learn small-circle jujitsu and self-defense appliable arnis techniques (a lot of the movments and disarms).... i think that ppl shouldn't get so angry over this stuff personally.

My school doesn't start sparring until orange belt.....at which point full contact sport fighting (meaning no kicks below the belt, but anything else) is allowed. In brown belt and up classes, full contact, no gear sparring is allowed. Your stories of being kicked in the.......special spot....remind of one of the black belts at my school....she's a former army woman, and has a painful habit of using extremely fast front kicks to the waist to her advantage...but sometimes, especially on tall ppl like me, she misses (*wince*)