Icetuete

kirves is right - not only that u can grow in martial arts while training with ur dad, its very comfortable, too. u can train any time u like, at home, as long as ur dad has time for u and its at no costs. i'd be happy if i had this opportunity.

i dont quite get the sense of the topic... but u got a cool dad though. keep on training with him; cant hurt anybody (unless u dont work on ur aiming ).

i dont quite get the sense of girly pushups... what muscles are trained by those?

about 50% of them have the name: Billy Bob

i dont know much about american tkd, but as far as i am concerned the founder of the association grand master H.U. Lee invented his own style of TKD, because he regarded ITF (to which the ATA formerly was related) as not sufficent in some ways and now teaches Songaham TKD. it is said to provide a better self defense system and i think the patterns (/kata) are somewhat different, but since i am from germany, i am not in the position to judge

how does a girly push up work??

and as to WTF/ITF, there have been threads about it... more than one. this one sums it up: http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=1712

why not? some of the reasons are: 1. i am completely unexpirienced when it comes to martial arts. i am interested in them, but i didnt have the chance to learn one except for some judo training when i was 6 or something, i quit after my yellow belt test and that appearently is close to nothing. i regard tkd as a good point to start and i dont know yet whether i shall switch or not. 2. it is a good workout and i plan to get into a better shape. 3. the looks are cool and it makes u very flexible. 4. there are many belts in tkd so i have shortterm goals, which is important t me as a beginner (i guess). 5. the dojos in my area are very limited and its was hard for me to even find the one i am now going to join. i had the choice between about four styles, this dojo offers (the few others around rely on a schools gym while that one has its own building). it is judo, Shaolin Kung Fu, TKD and Wushu. since i am not that interested in grappling for whatever reason, Wushu is looks only and there is only one instructor at Kung Fu (i thought about either KF or TKD) while there are three instructors at TKD it was a rather easy choice. which brings us (and more or less already brought us) to number 6. the instructors. i visited a beginners class and they made a very good impression. i didnt see their best moves or something, but i liked their methods. i talked to two of them and they were very friendly and more than willing to answer my questions and even told me about another dojo in town, that i could visit in case their styles would appeal to me better. we had a 20 minute talk and i was impressed. they had everything i looked for in an instructor. many belts in many different styles, knowledge, i saw pictures of them doing moves, and they are friendly, but u have great respect. 7. in no.6. i mentioned the beginners class! no dojo around has a real beginners class where all of the instructors intensivly train with the newbies for some months. 8. the tkdists won several prices 9. i like the look of the white dobok 10. i regard tkd as a very good style in many ways. not only the workout and the flexibilty, but also the self defense, break tests, kata... err - yes; these are the main reasons why i chose tkd i think

the use of San Soo does not automatically end up bringing ur opponent to hospital, does it?

now i got it

what a McDojo is: http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=9276&start=0

trained for a few weeks and already planing what black belts u are going to get? kinda ambitious, huh? gradings every 3 months is kinda normal in tkd, as far as i'm concerned. in my dojang of choice there are 20 belts so grading can be done much faster than in other styles with fewer belts, like Kung Fu San Soo, where ur first grading is after 8-10 months. is ur instructor overweight? can he reach his toes? to u think u pay too much for what u recieve? then ur dojang might be a McDojang. there are many threads regarding this topic. i shall see whether i can find one.

is joining a school as an instructor an option for u?

there are always bad schools, bad instructors or whatever. but its rather hard to find a TKD dojang that does not teach u high kicking. since u do Kung Fu San Soo and as u stated, thats all u want from tkd @ sansoouser.

actually i dont study anything (yet ), but i liked that pic and took it as an avatar anyways. what i plan to study TKD. its hard to find dojos in my area so i had to wait till i get my drivers license. i plan to join in september.

actually i was interested in how from the ground up wanted to do something against the McDojos all around, but thanks anyway i never encountered one (at least i didnt notice ) but they are a threat to anybody who has no idea about MA but is willing to start learing and in addition to that they ruin the reputation of MA.

what do you have in mind?

this San Soo stuff is getting more brutal everytime i hear about it. jumping on the others head or kicking him when he is on the ground can probably be done by any Joe Thug from the streets, cant it?

yeah - think so. though i dont really like ur analogy i understand ur point. many arts use air kicking for simulation, but yes, certain techniques in San Soo (hair pulling, biting, groin kicking, eye poking...) cant be simulated. at least air-poking would be rather ridiculous.

agreed, some styles come closer to it than others.

is practicing at half speed all the time such a good way? the have to rely on air kicking as well... or how do they practice the real stuff at actual speed?

i dont quite get the training methods of San Soo. i heard kicking/punching in the air is not part of San Soo and sparring is not possible, because if done properly u might end up in hospital every time. so how do u practice the technique?

yeah, ur probably right, but is there such a style?

street expierence? i got none. and i hope i wont gain them.

i dont know for sure - maybe he regards TKD as too traditinal to be effective, or does not like korean styles for whatever reason. when he began showing interest in martial arts, he was looking for some Kung Fu style around, but wasnt succesful. maybe he still is into kung fu, but i dont know. maybe he sticks to TKD after a few years of training - we shall see.