Icetuete

stickmen really rock - i couldnt help myself from while watching some of the https://www.sfdt.com movies!! very good one @ HachiKyu

that definately is a good one

funny site!

i like them

something i dont quite get (i'm a newbie though, so pls dont throw any insults for such a stupid question )is for what purpose people train fight with weapons. it is hard to believe that u use them for self defense because how can u carry ur katana around at any time? is it for fun then? do u enjoy the use of weaponry? what other reasons are there?

sounds reasonable to me but i think ITF TKD is the better choice for me. though getting into shape by doing sports is one of my main interests. i dont want to compete that much or something and am nonetheless interested in meditation and the philosophy. thanks anyways

i agree with kirves - u pointed out the main arguments. if only u would not write that much just kidding - keep on with it

sry, but never heard of it

thanks for the many replys... though some of them are kind similar to each other

very interesting - and surprising...! reminds me of the good old greeks with their four elements. how old exactly is this flag? is it as old as the greeks or did it come up after korea was liberated from the japanese ?

now THATS a little exaggerated for me my style is "just" a hobby. i do it for sports and fun and everything. it makes a good addition to my life and was not planned to completely replace it. maybe i am never going to be 4th dan with this kind of attitude, but i think i dont mind that for i am not going to open my own dojang or be an instructor somewhere.

this is a rather good site in my opinion! http://koreantaekwondo.tripod.com/

that probably was not what the shade wanted to hear i guess

though i am not an expert it both looks kinda good to me. and though it might be a rather plain advise: why dont u talk to the advisors of both schools and visit several training lessons? if u cant decide by style maybe the price varies. or one of the schools offers training method that fits u better (visit lessons to find out).

i chose it because in this dojang there are very fine instructors, tkd looks good, is not wrong for self defense and most of all it gets me into a better shape!

good thing that we agree @ green dragon good point with the bad guys though...!

agreed. there is a lot bashing of karate u say... my brother just decided to begin with shotokan. there is even more bashing of TKD. guess what i am going to begin asap? on the other hand, i dont think it'd be better to call one MA the best of them all, because bashing is "not allowed". though people who critize should have attended class before they open their mouth. otherwise it is likely to happen that they do not improve silence by their talking.

Kirves hit my point rather well in his first post. nonetheless: i think even a TKDin that trains for tournaments has certain advantages in such a situation, though, very often bashed in this forum. maybe a self-defence-only wing chun student/blackbelt or whatever is far better suited for this kind of fight, but knowing how to kick well (like our tournament TKD fighter) can not be wrong, e.g. in comparison to the "average" person that gets into trouble with a robber/raper/drunk. dont u agree? u of course dont know who ur opponent is, but i assume that no blackbelt would use his skills to start such a fight. though, under certain circumstances, once every 1000years, when sun and moon are in the same line it might happen to be, that u come in this situation, that a black belt (either drunk or not) thinks it is a good idea to start a fight with u, i would not train a martial art that prepares me for that.

what style to u refer to, GuyverGirl?

inhowfar? more effectiv in beating the hell out of the guy trying ro rape/rob/piss you of or whatever? that would be what i was talking about. this does not make a good self defence MA. except in case u run more save with'em. that would make a real difference. nevertheless, any martial artist, no matter what style, has a big advantage in such fight i think.

I dont get why some martial arts are considered to be better for self defence than others. ok - to a certain extense it might be better to know a good grappling technique or to hit specific point in ur opponents body to make it more painful. but if u know how to kick or to punch well, no matter whether u r a taekwondoin, karateka or whatever u have an advantage over most either half-drunk or no brain just brawn brute force guys. sure - ur opponent might be a martial artist as well and perhaps better than u r. but dont martial arts teach to not use what u've learned to begin a street fight? these fights are more often causes by the not so well teached people. ur answers and opinions are appreciated!

it depends on how much u train and how much classes u visit in a week. and of course what effort u put ur self in it. as far as i know it take about 4-5 years to achieve black belt in TKD; not talking about a mcdojo

excellent choice - after all THAT probably is one of the reasons u started martial arts i guess.

if u like kicking better than striking TKD it is. if u dont, u will probably like karate better. but it still cant be wrong to try out both!