tommarker

Depends on the instructor's feeling towards forms. There are plenty of karate folk who also only do the kata because it is required. TKD tends to be more sparring oriented. If you follow the logic that most of what the forms teach you (takedown, locks, knee breaks, etc) is not applicable to the point-sparring arena, then it's easy to see why some instructors may discard form training.

If he "left" why not politely decline his offer?

I'll bet Wang Shu Jin was an awful teacher... and a fatty.

MAN!!!! That link from Vinson is SWEET.

no, but it is possible to do a poor imitation of intermediate technique

Don't let yourself get nervous... Treat it like a really hard class. How much time do you have until the test? My suggestion: Every class you go to from now until the test.. Pretend that the testing board is watching you secretly. Everything you do is part of the test... from tying your belt properly, bowing in, basics, and hyung. Pretend those eyes are on you all the time, or that your grandmaster could walk in at any moment. Show that you are not only ready for Cho Dan, but hungry for more. Be relaxed, but intense. Focus on the tasks you are performing, and do them to the best of our ability everytime. Tang Soo! Tom

Popping would involve a snapping motion like a whip or a towel, yes. Slashing would use a heavier rope, but would move just like a short stick. Both will leave nasty welts.

rope techniques feature many popping and slashing techniques that I would consider offensive.

awesome! best of luck.

See if your University has a Study Abroad program. A lot of Unis are tied in with schools in other countries for such purposes. usually you have to have pretty decent grades to be considered, as competition is tight. If I could do it over again, I'd definetely try spending a semester in Spain or another country.

Thank you, Sir!

Break-a-thon: sponsors agree to pay per board broken. participants try to break as many boards as possible in a given time. Kick a thon: usually number of consecutive kicks you can rattle off on a target in 1 minute. Pushups... you get the idea. My idea was that some people just HATE breaking, and would therefore not want to do it. But instead of not havig eager volunteers, let them help out with an alternate activity.

Does anyone here have any experience in running this kind of event? I'm looking at trying to put one on this summer to benefit a local charity (and draw a little attention to my school, yes) and am wondering how successful these tend to be? I'm thinking of offering all three because some people just hate to break, and I don't want to exclude them. How much wood? Is it unrealistic to get a shop to donate? Do I need waivers? Is this kind of thing even interesting?

Hi Bart, I'm sorry if you got the impression that I don't like what they do, just sharing my feelings from one of the tapes. I think these guys are peeling away a lot of the fluffy layers of martial arts.

Cho Dan is just an intermediate beginner, and not the end-all be all. It's just a matter of having practiced enough to be prepared for learning more.