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We train with a white uniform to the green belt rank, then can add either black top or bottom with a white top or bottom. Once we reach black belt rank we can wear whatever color we want. I tend to stay away from white simply because it gets dirty looking and sweat stained. My tournament uniform is blue, unless I am planning to compete in the tradition class, then I wear white. We have a member of our team who was invited to join Team Chat, with its rather unusual Shredder from the Ninja Turtles uniform. Just because I don't like his uniform does not mean I don't respect his art. Mr. Reyes has opened martial arts to a whole segment of society that would not see it otherwise. Is the interest he has drawn to the martial arts bad? In that case, the interest in the martial arts generated by Bruce Lee, David Carradine, Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles, Karate Kid, Joe Lewis, Bill Wallace, Mike Chat, must also be a bad thing. Frankly I think a lot of dojangs have had kids come in and want to train because they saw Mr. Reyes on TV and said, hey, I want to do that too! Frankly I don't think its a bad thing.

My instructor has a saying: I have taught you everything you know, but I have not taught you everything I know. When sparring, he will and he instructs us to also handicap ourselves to fight on the level of the person we are fighting. Our job is to make out students better and more confident in their abilities - beating them does not teach. I will spar a kickboxer differently than I will spar a point fighter. I will spar an orange belt differently than I will spar a brown belt. I have beaten one of my instructors in tournament sparring, does that mean I have less respect for her? Absolutely not. That means on that day, at that time, point sparring, I won. Next time, she may beat me like a drum and I will learn.

Self confidence, great friends and mentors, competitive spirit and compassion and just a few things I have gotten from TKD.

We teach our students a quick rule of thumb when kicking, blade your foot or break your toes. Hitting with the flat of the foot is not a kick, it is a push. We don't have breaking for rank testing until blue belt, however, we do have breaking for demo purposes prior to that. We use 1 inch thick white pine for breaking and depending on the size strength of the person executing the technique, the board will be from 8 to 12 inches long. Our team was involved in a demo where another school was also doing breaks, but using 1/4 inch balsa wood with shavings on top. . . . what's the point of that???

Best kicks I have ever seen belonged to Bill Wallace. Not flashy, just fast and accurate. Superfoot is the MAN!!

No one mentioned it, but you should always make sure you are extremely well hydrated for a couple of days prior to your testing. I don't know about your instructor, but ours does not let us break for anything except to throw up and then it has to be in a garbage can and not in the bathroom! Since our tests for upper belts can last between 4 and 6 hours, the importance of being well hydrated prior to testing is evident.

My favorite: faking a rear leg front kick low to bring my opponent's hands down, then changing into a roundhouse kick to the head, followed up by a reverse punch.