aefibird

There's a lad at my dojo (aged 17) who has one of THESE and claims it is the best thing since sliced bread.

We've started wearing them in my TKD school, along with the foot pads. They're not compulsory (yet) but I bought a pair of the foot pads. They don't provide much protection but they're better than nothing. I have very thin skin on the tops of my feet and am regularly black-and-blue after a sparring session, so the pads help protect my feet a little. One downside of them is that they are hard to get on and off. I've not tried the hand pads yet but a few people at my school have a set. Personally, if it encourages more punching in WTF TKD then that is a good thing IMO. It is a very underused tecnique in WTF style sparring, but one that can score a vital point or two when needed.

WOW, well done!!

Cloth pads absorbe more sweat that dipped foam ones. Plus, they're usually washable, either by hand or in machine, whereas dipped foam pads are usually cleaned by wiping them over with a cloth. Usually it is just personal preference as to which people get, as both types are very similar. I prefer dipped foam hand pads but cloth shin guards.

Hi Dono, welcome!

Yeah, now if I could just retain it all. I feel like Homer Simpson...he always says that whenever he learns something new some of the old stuff gets pushed out.

lol, that's great! I suspect people in your dojo will remember that evening of training for a long time to come!

How about some good quality martial arts books? Are you specifically wanting a Japanses/Asian present? If not then a good bottle of whiskey might be nice or a watch or decent pen/pencil set (you can often get them engraved with initials too).

I kinda understand how the OP is feeling. Something similar happened to me a year or so ago. I was on holiday in Dublin with friends when we decided to go and visit the Dracula museum for a laugh. As well as info about Bram Stoker and Dracula there was a "chamber of horrors" sorta part that you walk through. I was stood in this one room reading this 'information board' when I felt something behind me. I turned round quick and there was a guy dressed up as Dracula in my face, leaning over me, mouth open as if he was going to bite me. Obviously it was just a bit of fun to make visitors jump, but I instinctively threw up my hands to protect myself. As I did so, I hit him in the nose. It was a pure accident and I hadn't meant to hit him, it was basically an automatic response to protect myself (even though I wasn't in real danger). I was mortified that I'd hit this guy and hurt him and I couldn't stop apologising to him. He was very nice about it (lol, maybe it's not the first time someone had hit him for trying to "bite" them) but I still felt awful. I also felt really guilty as though I should have done something different, but for that split second I just went into automatic defence mode and thought it was an attacker. I think that the OP should apologise/have apologised. Accidents happen, but apologies should always follow.

I've recently started skating a lot more, that's a great workout, for the legs especially. I'd like to join a womens ice hockey team but I think I might be a bit old. Might look into roller hockey instead. As well as my martial arts training I go horseriding when I can, along with swimming.

Because my karate club is above a pub, we get a few drunks coming upstairs and heckling. We get people walking in a lot at TKD too, cos the church hall is on the main road in the town and when we have the fire doors open in the summer people can see right in (good advertising though).

Good luck with the wedding preperations, hope you have a fantastic day!

Same here, I LOVE Pizza Hut pizzas! Mmmmmmm....

lol, never seen that poem before. Very amusing!

I agree. I enjoy watching the movies but reading the books is 100x better.

taekwondomom, good luck in your tournament!

Good luck, I'm sure your girlfriend will love it!

PS2 has a good choice of games and they can be picked up cheaply on places like eBay. It will also play PS1 games, of which there are still loads knocking about (try charity shops or independent games stores, they often have second hand games for sale). X-Box and X-Box 360 are great, great consoles but games are often more expensive and there seem to be less "family friendly" and pre-teen/early-teen friendly games available. Is your daughter sure she wants a console or would she rather go with a hand-held like PSP or Nintendo DS? What do her friends have? If her friends have the different consoles between them (e.g. Mary has a PSP, Sara has an X-Box 360) they she could try them out, see which one she likes and which they recommend. An advantage of getting a console that her friends have is that they can share games and play online with one another

Too right!! I hope I'm one of those martial artists that can still train in their 70's or even 80's.

I hope that you have a chat with your instructor - tell him you're stuggling and embarrased that you can't seem to keep up in class. BTW, it isn't something you should be embarrased about, everyone learns at a different pace to everyone else. It isn't helping you training with red belts (what on earth are they doing training in a "beginners" class anyway, where are all the beginners/low grades?) so you either need to move to another class or move to another TKD school. If you do move to another club then check out plenty before you join. Watch a couple of lessons and join in with a couple of lessons too before you decide to sign up. Short term contracts or no contracts might be a better option - if you're tied to your present school until February then that seems an awful long time to me, especially if you're getting stick off the instructor for supposedly not paying attention. He should be aware of the fact you can't keep up with the pace, not that you're slacking! His lessons are too fast, sounds to me like this beginners class isn't great and isn't really suited to beginners. :-/ Good luck with your training, I hope it all works out for you!

Thanks Zorbasan! I use the video clips on that site a lot, I looked for a Kory diagram but couldn't see it until you posted the link... d'oh.... Here is the specific link to the Koryo diagram if anyone else wants it. It's a bit confusing at first but great for anyone who already knows the "basics" of the pattern.

I totally agree! It is a worthwhile decision to make, whether you start TKD or Karate or any other art. Better to try it and know you don't like it than always wonder what it would have been like and regret not giving it a go. Welcome to the forum, BTW, A_Train!

Does anyone have a diagram of Koryo? I started learning it in class this week but want to practice at home on my own. I have a video clip of it, but I can't practice in front of the pc as the room is too small (keep kicking the keyboard, lol). If anyone has a diagram of Koryo then I'd be grateful if you could post the link, as I'd like one to print out so I can practice in the yard at home. Thanks!

Dang, that's me out then. I was gonna go with a flamethrower. If I can't have that then I would have to go for a Scimitar.

A full can of coke could make a good weapon. Hit an opponent with it or spray it in their eyes as a diversionary tactic. When we've talked in class about improvised weapons we've covered the usual stuff, keys, bottles, belt, credit card, shoes, bag, walking stick, pen, even watches and jewellery. I musta been off when Sensei talked about defending yourself with a carrot, I don't remember that lesson.