aefibird

Hmm, I still doubt it, even accounting for the differences in horse tack. A good rider is a good rider with or without saddle and even bridle. A poor rider wouldn't last long in battle anyway, and probably wouldn't have been on a horse in the first place. It may be possible, but I certainly don't think that it was the main reason for training or using jumping kicks. Certainly, it's not the best reason or the be-all-and-end-all for using such kicks IMO.

Plus, if people have prior experience in training then it will help. I've been training in TKD for about a year now and I'll have my blackbelt probably after about 18 months of training. However, I also have a blackbelt in Karate and have trained extensively in other martial arts as well. Yes, if I said "I got my blackbelt in 18 months" many people would jump on me like a ton of bricks and claim that I was 'given' my belt or that I must train at a McDojo because I earned it in such a short space of time. Time scales are different for different people. It may take a person as little as 2 years to go from complete beginner to blackbelt. It may take another person in the same class 5 years or more. Each individual is different and, to me, there is no "optimum" time length.

Yes I know. I'd still like to see someone try and kick me off a horse, though, of any height. I'm not the greatest rider in the world, but I bet that it would be nigh-on impossible for anyone to unseat me with a flying kick.

pendakarshihan1, I thought that it was ironic you posted this, considering your screen-name...

Also, one of the reasons that people quit after getting 1st dan is also to do with the fact that too often schools do not have dedicated post-1st Dan programmes. Too often classes are geared towards getting the colourded belts their blackbelt and the existing blackbelts just tend to fall in with that. A dedicated syllabus and class time for blackbelts might help some to stay instead of quitting. Plus, some quit because the gap between gradings becomes much greater between 1st and 2nd dan than it is between coloured belts, Many students get used to grading once every 3 months or so, and can't handle the fact that they will have to be a 1st dan for a minimum of a year or more. This can be a big problem with children, who like the "goal-and-reward" system of the coloured belts, especially as 3 months isn't too long to wait for the next visible sign of advancement.

I train primarily these days in Karate and TKD (WTF style). I like karate kata (we use mainly Shotokan kata, with others as well) because of the many techniques that are in there - ground applications, close-in work, stand up striking, joint locks, etc. I like the TKD forms, though, because they are powerful and agressive, seemingly strightforward to look at but with complex application to them as well. Well, you're gonna need a higher kick than middle-high if you want to think about kicking someone off a horse on a battlefield. Secondly, if anyone tries to kick a rider off a horse in battle then good luck to them!! I've posted extensively about this topic on another thread, so I shan't go into detail, but generally, the idea about Korean kicking being to disable horseriders is just a good story and a good myth to try and impress students.

I like that one too. Very nice. Good luck Aodhan with the breaks and the testing!!

Please could you send good wishes my way on Sunday 14th May, because I'm taking my Karate 2nd Dan then. Eeek! I'm not nervous - much. I'm also testing for 3rd Kup (blue belt, red tag) in TKD on Saturday 27th May, so I'd appreciate good-will wishes for that too. Thanks!

Congratulations on getting your blackbelt, hope you get that instructor stripe!

Yeah, my belt has my name on it, so unless I was to find a person with exactly the same name as me, it is unlikely that I'll ever be able to pass my blackbelt onto somebody!!

Sohan, if you notice, at the start of the post it says "This is a story that was sent to me.", so I don't think this incident actually happened to "sdstories" personally. Aside from that, good point.

Even if the school owners do owe the GKR organisation money, then that is no way to treat them. Maybe they should've fought back, but maybe they thought that it would present an poor image to their students if they did so. Bad enough that you're accused of owing someone money and having your belt forcibly removed, but even worse if you're then seen to be brawling. Looks bad in court too, which is where this whole thing is gonna end up. As an aside, some of the reprasentatives from GKR can be very scary and intimidating. They're having a mail-drop and door-knocking campaign in my area at the moment and a couple of people called at my house a few weeks ago to tell me about their karate classes in my area. I told them that I wasn't interested because I already train in martial arts and they tried to talk me into leaving my current clubs and go training with GKR. I politely turned them down and when I tried to say goodbye and close the door one of the reprasentatives put his foot in it, jamming it open so I couldn't close it. I told them I definately wasn't interested and that if they didn't leave I would call for the police as they were now harassing me. They became abusive and threatening but eventually left. Because of this and of other stories I've heard about the GKR association I would never want to train there.

Good for her! Glad she was able to use her training. As for him having a gun... well, if he'd had a gun it wouldn't have made a lot of difference if she'd been 14 or 40. Guns can kill people of all shapes and sizes, male and female. If someone is determined to shoot another person then even the best MA training in the world wouldn't necessarily overcome it.

Good luck for going to college!

Well, good luck to her is all I can say. It is obviously a martial arts business and business is clearly the important thing at that school, but what's wrong with that? Too often people in MA seem to think that because a school is earning money it goes against MA principles. Yes, it is noble and honourable to teach for free, but that doesn't put food on the table. At least this website is honest, albeit with marketing 'spin, and says that they recommend private lessons in addition to classes. The place doesn't look like it's my kind of thing, but that doesn't automatically mean it is bad.

Same here. The British Taekwondo Control Board (WTF) has set Dan requirements up to either 5th or 6th Dan (not quite sure which). Yesterday the assistant instructor at my club tested for her 3rd Dan (and passed!). She knew exactly what it was she had to do as there were detailed guidelines and specific requirements for candidates.

Not all Korean's are great. Some are outstanding, but some are mediocre and others just downright bad. There's been a couple of international WTF events near where I live recently and I entered them. Some of the competitors from the Korean team seemed to just not care, which puzzled me, as they'd flown half way around the world to have a bad attitude and a poor performance in a small town in England. Others were good, but there were a lot that weren't.

Yeah, there's loads of TKD video clips out there. Some good, some bad, some just plain wierd.

Is your instructor competing?

There's a girl in my dojo (she's about 13 or 14) who wears her step-dad's belt from when he used to train. It's pretty worn but she's the 3rd person to have it - it was her step-dad's and before that it belonged to his instructor. I think it is a great tradition and there's definately something great about wearing a belt that 2 or 3 or even more people have had - just think of all that history!

True, many Korean schools concentrate their pad training on kicking and nothing else. I attended an ITF school for a while and never saw any hand techniques being drillled at all, either in 'air' or on the pad! Now, that's NOT to say that this was a representative ITF school and that all ITF is like that, 'cos it's not. However, there are plenty of TKD schools out there who concentrate so hard on the sport and kicking aspects of TKD that they miss out on everything else it has to offer. SD applications and other things are all-too-commonly seen as second best and just something that has to be learned for doing belt tests.

Youkai.no.Tamashii, hope you did well at the tournament and at your blue belt testing too.

Good post Jill (as always! ). Motivation can be a tricky thing for people once they reach 1st Dan. Coloured belt tests happen on a pretty regular basis in many schools and for a student to go from testing once every 3 months on average to being told that they have to wait a minimum of 2 years (or whatever) to be able to test for 2nd Dan can sometimes be deflating and can cause students to lose motivation. Plus, once many people reach black belt then they think that "that's it" - they've achieved their objective and can sometimes feel that they are "done" with martial arts. This is where schools need to have a good post-blackbelt programme in operation to encourage their students to keep training, keep learning and keep aiming for a goal, whether it's to get 2nd Dan, to learn a new form or weapon, or to take a few classes or whatever. In my karate school my Sensei teaches weapons to 1st Dan students. He does staff work for brown belts but black belts are allowed to learn other weapons, as well as other techniques (such as some judo techniques that we incorporate). We've found that is is a good way to help people stay will MA after black belt and help them to keep motivated.

No, I can't say I am, actually. Personally, I'd prefer to see more judges and a different scoring/point awarding system to try and make it fairer. I think that there could be a lot of errors with electronic scoring protectors and also they don't account for the type of technique used or which part of the body is actually making contact with the protector.

Why is it? Just because someone has studied Karate doesn't mean they automatically know the ettiquette and correct titles for use in Taekwondo. It's like comparing someone who has years of experience playing baseball but no experience of basketball - just because someone knows baseball doesn't mean they automatically know basketball too. I've studied karate for a long time but when I first started TKD I asked my SBN what he wanted to be called. Personally, I'd recommend that Multi_Talent asks his/her instructor what he wants to be called. Some people prefer a title (SahBomNim or the like), some people prefer Sir or Mr ____ and others just like to be called by their first name. As for Multi_Talent's instructor "only" being a 1st Dan - you can learn in martial arts from people of any grade or experience. Everyone has something to teach other people. A white belt can help another white belt, even if it is 'only' to show them how to tie their belt or where to line up! I'm sure that having 20 years in karate will help MT to make a good judgement about whether or not his instructor is suitable. Why does a 1st an have no right to be teaching? Every instructor has to start out some point. Do you suggest that they wait until 2nd Dan? 3rd? 10th? MA teachers have to start teaching at some point. Also, just because a person has 20 years experience in one style doesn't mean that they can transfer over to another style straight away. It also doesn't mean that they will be "going crazy" at "learning from a beginner". I would've personally thought that a person with 20 years MA training would have more respect, self control and willingness to learn than you imply. Yes, 1st Dan is still "beginner" but a person with no TKD experience is even more of a beginner. If a person has trained long enough to get a 1st Dan then they obviously have some knowledge and can teach a little of the style. Multi_Talent, I wish you good luck in your training. I've trained Karate and TKD and, although similar, it isn't always an easy step to take. between the two.