aefibird

Sorry to hear that. Get well soon! Will you have another opportunity to do your test soon or will you have to wait a while?

It's stopped raining today - for about 5 mins!

I'm currently working on improving and refining Sochin kata for karate and Taeguek 7 (Chil Jang) for TKD. In my karate school we have the following order: white - Kihon orange - Heian Shodan red - H. Nidan yellow - H. Sandan green - H. Yondan purple - H. Godan purple (2) - Tekki Shodan brown (all 3 levels) - Bassai Dai To grade for 1st Dan a student needs to know Bassai Dai and can choose any other kata from Kanku Dai, Enpi, Hangetsu or Jion. In TKD the order is white- 10 basics pattern yellow tag - Taegeuk Il Jang yellow - Taeguek Ee Jang green tag - Taegeuk Sam Jang green - Taegeuk Sah Jang blue tag - Taegeuk Oh Jang blue - Taegeuk Yuk Jang red tag - Taegeuk Chil Jang red belt - Taeguek Pal Jang black tag - all previous patterns + Koryo black belt 1st dan - all previous patterns + Koryo

Well, for a start "regular" TKD is getting harder and harder to define as more and more associations are forming. The "big 3" of WTF, ITF and ATA are still pretty dominant but there are plenty of schools and practitioners out there who do not train like those schools and are not affiliated with them in any way. The forms that those 3 organisations train in are all different, especially ATA who have created and copywrited theirt own Songahm set of forms. Therefore, because of the vast differences there's a) no such thing as "regular" TKD and b) no such thing as a regular TKD form. Some clubs share common forms, many do not. I could name a whole long list of TKD patterns that plenty of people wouldn't have heard of or seen. Same for me - I've not heard of some of the forms other people talk about. Also, it's not just "Heian kata jumbled up". Many forms in TKD were specifially created for TKD, rather than just a transferrance of the Shotokanised forms, such as TSD often uses. The Taeguek forms used in WTF TKD are a created by TKD practitioners for TKD practitioners, as are other groups of forms. Finally, maybe TKD forms look like "jumbled" Heian kata because there's only so many ways a person can kick or punch? Techniques are common to many styles, as are the combinations of techniques. For example, forearm block followed by supported spear hand strike is found in Heian Sandan but also in other forms. Does it mean all other forms with it in are a jumble of H. Sandan? No, it just means that there are common and set ways of performing techniques in many styles.

My favourite is side kick, although I also like crescent kicks 'cos I'm good at them.

The best stance is one which gives you the best results for that particular moment in time. A stance isn't a fixed placing of the feet - stances and movement should be fluid and natural. Having said that, I like Shotokan's Sochin-dachi (also known as Fudo-dachi) - "rooted stance". Don't particularly know why I like this stance, I just do.

It has to be remembered as well that people train for different reasons. There are plenty of people out there who do not train for self defence or who only train for sports fighting, not for a "real encounter". Going full contact all the time is inapporpriate for those people. Training is different in different dojo's and if in one place there is a rule (unwritten or not) that people acknowledge a good hit then fighters in that dojo should follow that code. Perhaps those who do not acknowledge a hit do not know the 'rules' of sparring? Hitting them harder will not drive home the "acknowledge that I've hit you" message - it will just encourage them to hit back harder still.

Yes, "mum-do" is the most powerful force in the world, only matched by "wife-fu"! I'd always stick with my instructor.

Keep practising just chambering your leg to the correct position without actually kicking. Practice slowly but with lots of reps and it will help you with balance and help you to adjust to turning your supporting foot so much. Also, practice holding the kick out for periods at a time. Kick slowly, hold out for 5-10 seconds and then return your kicking leg slowly to the ground. Keep repeating, and see if you can build up your time holding out the kick. Work on correct footshape and body posture (turn of the hips, head facing towards target, correct shoulder positioning and the like) during the extension period. Another good exercise to practice is to get a couple of chair and balance a pole (a bo, a sweeping brush etc) on top of them, making like a 'bridge' with the pole. Stand parallel to the pole and practice bringing your leg up into the correct chamber position then slide the length of your leg down the pole. Hold out briefly and return to starting position. Try not to knock or move the pole at all. This can also be a good partner exercise.

Excellent news marie curie! Well done. Good luck for your MRI.

Of course you're all invited - I thought you'da known that!! There'll be a BBQ - if it ever stops raining.... *sigh*

I LOVE hockey! My team is the (UK Elite league) Sheffield Steelers, but I will watch any game, any team, any leage, although I do admit to particularly liking the Odessa Jackalopes. As for NHL teams, I was hoping the Coyotes would win the playoffs this year, but it wasn't to be... I'm a Sheffield Steelers season ticket holder - just spent £250 on a piece of paper!! That's the reciept for next season's season ticket - the real thing will (hopefully) arrive in the post any time soon. Roll on September, I can't wait for it to arrive - it's the start of the UK hockey season again!

There's plenty of people on here I'd like to meet, both past and present users. Aodhan, karatekid1973, ninjanurse, Sohan, gheinisch, Pacificshore, kieran-lilith, scottnshelley, and tons more ofthe great people. As for the BBQ, I'll come! I'll bring some beer and nachos.

I like Dae Do, but I've also worn Blitz, adidas and Cantury. The Dae Do and the adidas were the best quality ones IMO.

I have a tournament cut Tokaido, it has served me well for several years and it is very high quality. I've never worn Shureido but my instructor does and swears by it.

I found that at first with my Shureido satin blackbelt. What worked for me was to slightly dampen the belt before wearing for the first few times. Then it gradually became easier to tie. Mine is a Shureido and is wearing very well (I've had it 4 years, wear it all the time for training and it is still almost like new) but a friend of mine, who graded for blackbelt after me, bought a Tokaido. His belt was looking old and raggedy after about a year/18 months of wear so he just wears that for special occasions now and bought himself a tougher, longer-lasting one out of cotton.

Belated congratulations on your promotion KarateK! Congratulations to your little girl too! Hope you enjoyed the party. :D BTW, nice to see you on here Rig.

Good luck! I'm sure you will be fine. Are all your testings done in two parts or is it just this one?

At my karate organisation there are double gradings but they're rarer than hens teeth. I've only known 2 double gradings in all my years of training there - both from white to red belt (bypassing orange). One student was very very naturally talented and had learned the material for red belt quickly. The other student was a person who had previous MA experience. At the TKD club I train at they also have double gradings, but it isn't that common and it is generally only for the lower kup grades/people moving from white belt - you wouldn't get somone going from (say) 3rd to 1st kup. I actually triple graded (from 10th to 7th kup) - the only person in the organisation ever to triple grade! That was only because I have previous martial arts experience.

Oh, aye! The Guinness was flowing well on Sunday after the grading. Thank you to all for your congratulations.

Eeek, ouch! I've only ever used one once. It was good, but I can't afford one, so I just stick with stretching every day.

I can *almost* do side splits and am about 3/4 of the way (or maybe a bit more) for doing front splits. However, not being able to do the splits doesn't seem to affect my kicking height - I can kick to above my own head height with ease.

£7.50 per individual lesson is a bit steep (I pay £3 per individual TKD lesson) but I can see why the instructor runs it like that. It's better to have someone who is going to commit to training for sessions at a time than someone who will just pay the individual fee. At least if the school has been paid for a month's worth of instruction, then the owner will have a student who is more likely to turn up for that instruction, rather than someone who will just pay to train as-and-when and may be more likely to not turn up. If you've paid for training then there's a greater chance that you'll attend. As for him telling you to take the monthly option, it's better for both of you. He get's a student for at least a month, he get's a month's worth of money (always an important consideration for MA schools - getting money to pay the rent!) and you've got a much better deal than if you were to pay for each lesson on an individual basis. There's quite a few schools operate paying policies like that - charging more for students who don't want to or won't commit to paying per month. It's better for the business. A lot of people seem to think that MA and business are dirty words when talked about together, but they're not. There's no reason why a good instructor can't operate a good business as well. People are often more than happy to pay high prices for music, tennis, swimming, lessons from a good instructor, but seem to think that MA instructors shouldn't make a profit or should just do it "for the love of it". Yeah, that's OK if you're loaded to start off with!! Anyway, that's a side-issue. If you're happy with the other issues at the club then go for it. The price per month isn't that costly - there's a lot dearer martial arts clubs out there!

It's good to go back to the 'old' ways of doing things from time to time. We spar like that at my karate club (as well as having competition orientated sessions where people wear pads) and it is great fun! Some people aren't keen on it but Sensei never makes anyone do anything they feel uncomfortable with. If someone wants to wear a mouthguard or whatever then that's OK. Most people prefer to go "old skool", though, as our Sensei is an "old skool" kind of guy.

Congratulations! :up: