swooshfinn

Talked with PSBN a little after class tonight and mentioned that I was going to take the little brats, er.... I meant to say the little brown/black belts, into the back room some night and run 'em hard when they get a little antsy, we both agreed that its probably just the change in season and a little cabin fever has set in and they just want to get outside and run around like the little kiddies should. Not sure if I got a definitive answer on the suggestion, but PSBN seemed to like the idea a little. Oh well, I guess I have better things to be worrying about as I am hosting the Finnish exchange student all by myself, as my parents are cruising the Caribbean, and shouldn't be home until this weekend. He can really whoop my butt in NHL 2004 on the GameCube, maybe I should look into a fighter game to rent some night when things get slow.

You know, while I can say that KSW is probably the best Korean art out there, I am not going to do that. What I am going to say is that you really need to visit the schools in your area, talk to instructors and students (past and present if at all possible), look at the costs of the schools, and above all ask lots of questions. Sit in on some classes and figure out if the students, instructor, the styles of teaching and the art actually suits you and your personality. If you get anything out of this post, get this main point I am trying to spell out for you: Educate yourself and take some time looking at your options, you'll thank yourself in the long run.

Prodigy is what I consider a really heavy, or industrial, techno.... they venture a bits towards rap and rock at times... most true techno fans would consider Prodigy a little to heavy to be considered techno, so they tend to classify Prodigy as industrial.

Ok, I have to admit that its great to be back in my home studio for KSW after taking a year leave of absence while I was learning important life lessons in Saint Louis. Last night though, my instructor (I should say temporary instructor until the real instructor recovers from his cancer (different subject I know)) asked everyone: "What the is the importance of a Ki Hahp is while doing multiple kicks, multiple punches, techniques, and forms?" After going through the few yellow, blue, and red belts that thought they had the answer, he calls on me, the brown belt in the back (with the conditioning of a white belt; the mind is willing to do what is asked of it, but the body is not so cooperative at this point). While the others had some good answers, it was I that actually pinpointed the correct answer of breathing. Needless to say I am quite dissappointed with some of my other classmates in that I was the one to answer it correctly. To tell you the truth, I am really not all that impressed with the effort and skill of the class as it is. I would have assumed that the higher colored belts would have taken a better leadership role than what they have currently, making things alot better for the three black belts in charge of the studio while our Kwan Jahng Nim is taking much deserved time off for his cancer. I am also dissapointed in the fact that the three black belts, while doing a relatively good job keeping things going, are not pushing the students as hard as Kwan Jahng Nim would. I realize that this is not an ideal situation for any of us, but I would at least expect the same high standards from a Pu Sa Bum Nim and two Jo Kyo Nims, that have spent a lot of time with our Kwan Jahng Nim, as from our demanding Kwan Jahng Nim. I also realize that a class of 20 adults can be a challenge, since most of are participating in the Saint Louis Tournament here in a short few weeks, but there are a few of us that are not participating in the tournament and there are quite a few "newbies" that just started in the past 2 weeks. While it is not feasible to have a tournament class and a non-tournament class for the adults and the kids, and while the non-tournament people (myself included) can assist the tournament and other non-tournament people. I have to ask myself is it all worth it? Is it worth dealing with a cute, but extremely unstable and rather immature red belt, who can't see the world beyond herself? Is it worth coming back to a system that is supposed to be getting harder (and it definitely is in some aspects) but at times overly simple? Is it worth dealing with all the bumps, bruises, bangs, scrapes, sores, aches, and pains that I was so accustomed to before moving to Saint Louis, but while in Saint Louis I have to admit that I didn't miss one bit? If it makes me a better person, sure, why not? I mean most of the students in the adult class are college kids from the local liberal arts college, so they come and go due to class schedule, graduation, and other school activities. And I was in the best physical condition when I moved to Saint Louis (I would have like to have a few more pounds off when I moved there). Most nights I felt like I had a good work out and occassionally I would be completely exhausted after class and the full slate of a schedule that I was doing, but I was happy. Now that I am back from a year in Saint Louis, I ended up losing some more weight (woohoo) I forgot how hard those first few months of KSW was. My instructors have all went through the same thing so they completely undestand where I am coming from, and we all agree that I should be taking it slowly (but I notice some concern (?) for not keeping the conditioning I had while I was in Saint Louis). But that maybe just be might be me being too hard on myself like usual. Hope to see some of you KSW peeps at the St Louis Tourny in a few weeks. In fact, I am trying to talk all the college kids into going to a Korean restaurant that I know isn't all the far from tournament. And REMEMBER: WE ALL NEED MORE PRACTICE!

I agree, liability is a fact of life in many places. However, i wasn't meaning i wanted a place where i could beat up and get beat up, i think that if people have enough skill, they should be able to hit each other, at least to some degree. I do not want to get hurt or hurt anyone, but would like a little more......... reality sparring i guess, so the skills i learn will be more usefull. At the dojo i used to go to we sparred alot, and usually without body armor, but they let people spar who had no control, and solved the injury problem by not hitting each other at all. Then we would have high ranks who would always throw techniques from far away and not really try to land them, meaning that you didn't really have to block because you knew it wouldn't hit you anyway. Also it made me wonder if the person could hit someone. It was hard to know, because they never had to. Having just recently started back up in my original KSW studio, I am not comfortable enough with my control and my body is seriously not as fine tuned as it was a year ago when I left. We did no-contact sparring last night and I could tell I just didn't have the control I needed... so I was playing my typical "non-aggressive" role and doing some reactive sparring, much to the dismay of my instructors and myself since on Wednesday night I was definitely showing signs of improvement in my sparring style with the pads on. I personally like the idea of the pads because a couple of people in my studio don't know what control is, and they get away with it. I personally am sick of it, and am about to refuse to spar with them for that reason. I think of the pads as added insurance in case you decide to make a wrong move or forget to cover or just don't have the instinct to cover hits.

I like Robert Miles and ATB

TWO WORDS: KI BREATHING! (and maybe your favorite discman blaring your favorite CD into your ears, I really like techno/trance music for this purpose)

I remember one night at my studio in central IL, we did full contact Mah Chi Ki (I think I got that spelled correctly, I don't want to have to dig out my handbook for the correct spelling)..... I felt sick for a week after that night. But in retrospect, I figure if we do that type of exercise more often in the studio, maybe it wouldn't be such a system shock and cause all that nausea.

I don't think that it really makes any difference on which color your uniform is, as long as it follows the guidelines that are commonly accepted by your style or martial art. I am personally glad that KSW uses black uniforms, because if we used white ones, I would probably be buying a new uniform every month due to my body chemistry. My white belt after a period of two months at that rank is totally discolored by my "toxic" (heehee) sweat. And I should make a comment on the KSW bashing from earlier in the thread, but I think it is in my best interest in letting it slide save this little thought: There are many martial arts out there, and just because the one I choose to study is something different from the one you did, doesn't make mine any less of a martial art than yours. I don't know why you chose to bash KSW and some other martial arts like you did, but I hope that you would actually make a statement like that based on some first hand experience of the martial art you are refering to, not just your opinion. That being said, I am keeping my peace on this thread from here on out.

Here I go again into another spell of uncertainty and studidity. I probably should explain, and I'll start out with my degree. I have a B.S. in International Business (business concentration in Insurance, language specialties of Finnish and French) from Illinois State University, and although I wasn't the "perfect 4.0" student, I am extremely wise and bright for my age. Unfortunately, I am having an extremely difficult time convincing H/R people that I am the right person for there job openings. They want to put me into sales positions, which I despise. Why do I despise these positions? I have plenty of reasons, but I am not going into these reasons here, that is for another thread. So for the past year, I have struggled alone in St. Louis trying to make it on my own.... at this point I am doing fairly well, but the job is a total dead end. There is absolutely no way that I can make the sales quotas that the company I work for is force-feeding me. I have already taken a 10% pay cut, which has proven to be very very interesting on the financial side of things for me. At this point I am left with little choice but to admit a symbollic defeat and move back in with my parents and apply for the Peace Corps or a TEFL position in my beloved second home of Finland. This minor set-back of moving back home and paying off some of my accumalated debt (from college) seems to be the most logical move that I can make at this point in time, while allowing the applications to move through the proper channels. Another option that is open to me at this time is to consider graduate school, although I am not sure at this point in time that the added debt of another few years of school, the added degree and the lost "real world" experience will give me a better chance to find a decent job and career path at this time. So at this point in time, I am opening the floor up to you, my fellow posters here, feel free to answer the poll question, because I am really looking forward to your input.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT! I have to agree with you completely!

I recieved my nickname back before I went over to Finland in high school as an exchange student.... I was very fond of my comfy Nike apparel and wore it all the time in high school, so that is where the "swoosh" comes in... and since I went to Finland, I was going to be meeting a lot of Finns... so that is where the "Finn" is from... my dad just combined the two and it has stuck to this day

thats not what I meant, the first year and a half was very interesting, just enough to wet my appetite!

Pickled Herring, smoked salmon, moose, reindeer, a Finnish rye and malt pudding called Mammi

I have a few: -Hazelnut Coffee or Hazelnut Cappucinos -Marc Jacobs cologne for men (my personal favorite) -a nice natural (real wood) fire roaring in a fireplace

BEWARE: HEFTY SPEEDING TICKETS AHEAD! http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=15&u=/ap/20040210/ap_on_fe_st/finland_speeding_fine

Year and a half of Kuk Sool Won, just enough to get to the interesting stuff!

Careful with head breaks.... took me 7 times to do the break with my head, and that was with my instructor slamming it down hard.... I was knocked a little silly for about 30 seconds or so (even though I did soccer as a kid and thought that it would be a breeze) and had a nasty little bruise on my head for a week

in my original KSW studio, you can make it to black belt in 3-4 years with determination and a constant 4 nights a week in the studio... In a year and a half, I made brown belt... and figure another year or so before I would be ready to test my first time for black belt (if I ever get back in the studio, unfortunately career is coming first at this point in time in my life)

I use it mostly as a relaxation and meditation technique even though I haven't been in the studio for close to a year now.

Originally from Galesburg, ... Now in St Charles, MO about 20 miles from downtown St Louis

I am originally from Galesburg, IL. Currently in St Charles, MO (just 20 miles from downtown St. Louis). I have seen a few Finns here on the boards, I know there is an Estonian, and I think I have seen a Swede, might have been my imagination though.

I miss falling and rolling! I was one of the only ones at my original school to actually do rolls and falls without the mats

I think my most common mistake is just to spar in the first place!!! But to be serious, I have to admit that I back up a lot, and I dont do a good job blocking

Ok.... I am about 6 2 and about 240 lbs... I find it difficult to spar the smaller females in my class, but I also found it difficult spar against people that were taller than I. I found myself trying to conserve energy against smaller opponents by trying to remain in one spot or only shuffling around a smaller area. But facing more athletic bigger guys than me was a challenge... I had a harder time with their longer arm span and leg span.... The best advice I can give to a bigger guy facing smaller opponents is to try and make yourself a smaller target, get into an almost crouch-like stance while keeping a lower center of gravity and try to use your longer arms and legs to score some hits. As for the larger opponents... I am still at a lose on that one.