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We train in both muay thai kickboxing and point sparring in our school. Do I need to take a punch to show I am a bad *? No. Can I take a punch? Absolutely. Have I? Yes. Is point sparring useless in a fight? No, because point sparring teaches you how to block and counter, avoid punches and kicks; it teaches you to look for openings when your opponent is off balance. Would I use point sparring in a street fight? No. I would fall back on my self defense, which is to do the most damage in the least amount of time and GET AWAY from my attacker. One of the most important aspect of learning martial arts, I believe, is knowing when to fight.

Do you want something that you are going to stay with or do you want something that you can learn and utilize quickly? If you want something you can utilize quickly, I recommend CDT developed by Tom Patire (see articles in Black Belt Magazine). I have taken it as a compliment to the style of TDK I study (Chung do kwan).

I'd use my 120 pound German Shepard.

Welcome! As an older practitioner (40), I would ask if you are warming up properly before you begin your class? If you don't have a formal warm up prior to the start of class, you may want to arrive a little early and work on warming up with some joint rotations, jogging in place 5 to 10 minutes, then stretching prior to the start of class. I beleive most injuries/soreness occurs from not properly warming up.

There is a baseline we use in grading tests. Everyone starts out as average. Your performance brings your average either up or down. If you show poor balance in stances, which in turn reflects in your kicks, blocks and punches, then you have brought your average down in all of these areas. Further, we look at how the student is trying. If the student who you felt is not as good as you are was giving it 100% effort, while you were coasting through on 75% (since you are so much better), your score goes down while his goes up. I don't ask for perfection. I ask that you perform your techniques to the best of your ability.

We do to the extent that we will have kids come in and try to work out who have not eaten all day (this is more boys than girls) and then almost pass out. I give the student the analogy that not eating all day and then working out is like expecting your car to run without any gas in the engine. I also advise them that they should make sure that they have eaten perhaps some fruit or nuts an hour or so before class so they don't "run out of gas."

We advise the student that if they cannot particpate in class then they will have to bow out. Have only had to bow out one student in the whole time I have been teaching.

Our chief instructor teaches at several schools in the area, specializing in "difficult" kids. He has taught us to ask the kids questions that they have to answer positively. Such as "That's a nice kick Susy, but do you think you can kick a little higher?" We do play with the kids a lot, so when we have to crack down on bad behaviour, it usually startles the kid into instant compliance and if not, we bow the kid out of class. Be consistent in what you expect from the kids. Obviously, with his parents getting divorced, your pupil is in a lot of turmoil, throwing him out of the school should be an absolute last resort. Maybe he would be better off with private lessons for a week or two to get back on track and give him the attention he is obviously craving. This would also be a good opportunity to reinforce discipline and behavior in a group class.

If he is a younger student, approach his parents and let them handle it. Frankly, we have a number of students whose personal hygiene is their most deadly weapon. You grit your teeth and bear it.

Look at CDT. https://www.cdt-training.com

Try his website. https://www.superfoot.com

I find it is easier to teach adults because they can understand the concepts behind techniques. However, teaching children is very gratifying, especially when the lightbulb comes on and they finally "get it." It is simply a matter of making a connection with the child.

In our school, generally speaking brown belts and above can attend the instructor's classes. With our head instructor's permission, lower belts will help teach other lower belts. Depends on what is being taught. An orange belt who has his hyung down pat might help another orange belt through the form. Or a lower belt who was a Golden Gloves boxer, might help another student with boxing drills or guarding drills.

It depends on whether I am multiple sparring or what type of opponent I am fighting. If I am multiple sparring, I use straight line kicks to keep opponents back. If I am fighting an agressive fighter, I will use more of a sidekick, which can be modified into a sneaky back kick when they think they have me on the run. I will also use a front to the belly fake and modify it to a roundhouse or hook to the head/chest.

What type of splits are you trying to do, half or full? I can do a half split, but not a full. When you are warmed up, work more on your stretching, do it when you are sitting around watching TV, etc., eventually it will come to you.

Talk to your instructor. Let him know your concerns. Having kids in our classes are not such as concern since if they start acting up, they are bowed out. We also don't accept kids younger than 7, since our chief instructor does not feel that the younger ages have the capacity to pay attention required in class.

We also have all ages in our classes, since, all ages learn the same material, it would be senseless to separate the groups. Also, I think if you must use your self defense skills that you can't pick and choose who you would use them against. In other words, if you are a 16 year old female, do you think you would be attacked by another 16 year old female or by a 30 year old man? Same for a 7 year old child. You don't get to choose. Therefore, we teach students how to defend against multiple types of attackers. We also spend about 20 minutes per class stretching and warming up to prevent injury. That is simply common sense. You cannot train effectively when you are injured and warming up and stretching prevents injury and puts you in the right frame of mind for training. As to people who you feel are ranked inappropriately, my Sabunim states you must be able to perform the techniques to the BEST of your ability. I am not speaking of memory work for forms, but for things like jump kicks. I am a 40 year old woman, even though I am a black belt, I can only do twemio yap chagee to chest level - about 5 feet high. Does that mean that I do not deserve the rank I have worked for, since I have 17 year old students that can do a jump kick over their heads? No, because I train to the best of MY ability, which is what my instructor asks me to do. Regarding tournaments, ask your instructor. He may feel you are not ready to compete yet or he may support your decision to compete, however, you won't know unless you ask.

We pratice mixed martial arts in my dojang, however, we are based in TKD. My instructor, who has been in the martial arts for over 25 years, started in ITF TKD, but found many systems offered knowledge benefits and began cross training. He incorporated that cross training into our school's cirriculum. Which is why we learn judo break falling, grappling and ground fighting techniques, kali, and weapon skills etc. Martial Arts are Military Arts - it is an evolving, living thing. Another nice thing about MMA is we can troll all the boards....

When judging forms, I look at stances and intensity. Are the stances long and low? Are the heels coming up off the mat? Does the contestant have good balance or are they wobbling and having to adjust? Don't rush your forms - hit every stance and hold it for a second as if you were letting someone snap a picture.

The ozone smell of rain right when you are going to have a ripping thunderstorm; Old Spice aftershave (reminds me of my grandfather); Yves St. Laurant perfume.

I have a 2003 Honda Silverwing (600 cc). It has all the fun and power of a motorcycle but none of that pesky shifting. Lots of fun to ride and faster off the line than most of my friends' bikes.

Sit on the floor and point your toes, so that there is a horizontal plane going down from your knee to your toes. Now flex your toes back so that you are highlighting the ball of the foot (this is the area below your toes and above the arch of the foot). That is the kicking surface we use for front kicks and roundhouse kicks (except for courtesy rounds when sparring). If you are striking with the entire surface of the foot, toes to heel, it is more of a push than a kick, since it does not effectively penetrate the target.

I hate the sparring partners who are so stiff and jerky that they cannot control the contact. Every hit has to be a knock out. My rule is I go as hard as you go (for my belt level - under belts I go easy).

Having competed in many tournaments, you will learn as I have, that some black belts have earned respect and some simply want to demand respect. Unfortunately, you may have run into one of those. If you intend to compete on that circuit and this is a BB you will have to appear in front of often, I would suggest you make nice with the guy. Maybe he was having a bad day.

Good luck and stay positive!