The Red Guy

I joined because initially I wanted to be able to stand up for myself when it's needed. But now I just love the sparring, it rules!

Thanks! But how do I make the pain in the standing leg (thigh) go away?

Oops I'm confused apparantly, I meant below...

Hi How do I condition my hands to cushion any punches or give them? And is it better to punch with knuckles or those above the knuckles?

Nice words Sens55!

And how do I strengthen my leg muscles on the back leg, supporting the sidekick? After a certain level it seems that my leg trembles... When I try to stretch for a side split, how do I get rid of the piercing pain that occurs just below the hips, is that the pelvis?

After stretching the quad muscle, what should I do? Because it doesn't seem to affect much... Thanks!!!

I've seen some TKD people do side kicks really high (about head level, I'm starting out so I'm stuck at the waist), how do you train them? Although it's not really practical, but it's good enough for those i-can-do-it-too thinking. Thanks for any advice!

Thanks, you're right about appreciating it, the practice sessions are cool! Anyway I'm going to sign up tonight, thanks guys!

Hmm well I'm signing up for a course for tkd later tonight, and I was thinking what's the difference between karate and taekwondo uniforms? I've a friend who's quit karate and still has the clothes in good conditions, he wore for only a couple of months. So is there a great difference in the uniforms?

Thanks! But I'm quite concerned whether it'd have been better to start earlier... are there any disadvantages?

Hi I'll be 15 come december, and now I've started to take an interest on TKD. Is it too late for me to start learning?

I'm currently starting to train on that (splits), but I find that 1 after sometime my knees (the front leg) hurt slightly at the joint? Also, is it normal for my back leg to be slightly crooked, meaning that it always slant when I start to go forward.

Hi I've checked the "splitting" reference topic here, but found nothing from you guys here. So could you share how you got started, what types of stretching you did and how long you took. Thanks!

Hi I've visited the Stretching sticky topic at the top, but found nothing about stretching the hips. The problem is when I try to kick high the muscle above the thigh (on the side facing outwards). Is that the hip muscle or any muscle? How do I stretch them? Also, how long do overstretching related injuries heal? Reagrds