nyiaca

I posted before about moving from Soo Bahk to TSD (because I moved geographically--and no I'm not that happy with the move b/c there is no one on earth who was the martial artist that my old Sa Ba Nim was in demonstration and knowledge--but my current Sa Ba NIM is very good.) My Current Sa Ba Nim informed me that our federation of TSD separted from Soo Bahk Do when Grandmaster Hwang Kee announced he was going to appoint his son the new Grandmaster insted of basing it on seniorty. Does anyone else know about this?

ATTACK! As soon as the bell sounds,, ATTACK! In sparring, it's all about scoring points, and he who hesitates is lost.

Sign up at a soo bahk do studio.

Soo Bahk do defintely still teaches the Pyung forms 1-5, and there are 7 Chil Sung forms--b/c Chil Sung means 7 stars (the north star). I actually just moved from soo bahk do to a tang soo do studio, and it is different. The empphasis on the hips is much less so. We don't focus on one-steop sparring hardly, while one-step sparring is a big part of soo bahk do. I'm not even sure what organization I'm in, but they've changed the basic forms and some hand techniques.

I practice TSD in NY. Part of the Soo Bahk Do federation. Hands are defintely as much a part of TSD as legs, if you want them to be. Hey karate kid, I don't know what part of NY you're in, but there are studios on Long Island (where I'm from) and upstate that teach TSD.

That is well said! I had no idea of the "art" involed in martial arts until I witnessed the instructors in my studio. They create something new and explosive and yes, beautiful when they do something as simple as a low block or punch. There are people who have studied for years and earned a black belt, but they still, unfortunately, have no art in their moves or in their philosophy, they just know the motions and phrases. (I may be one of them, for all I know.) I don't know why some people are artists and some are not, I can draw a flower, doesn't make me Georgia O'keefe.

I jammed my pinky finger once during a block and it hurt like crazy. What I learned was that I can't be sloppy doing a block or a punch. In a street fight, if one actually did the half-assed blocks and punches that one does in sparring, you'd wind up hurting yourself. It's like the movies when someone cries that their hand hurts after they punch someone--that's true in real life unless you make a proper fist. So, I wouldn't say you're better off not practicing self-defense, your learning that you should use proper technique to be effective, which after hurting yourself, you'll probably concentrate on. When sparring though, it's easy to forget, for me at least, but I do try to remember. Although, I am assuming you jammed your finger because of improper technique, maybe that's not he case.

I didn't real all the msgs, somaybe this was posted. Without weights, if you stay in a horse-riding stance for as long as you can stand it. (Feet aprt, toes SLIGHTLY turned in and squating, with your back straight. I'm assuming that all martial arts do this, we do it in Soo Bahk Do.) As white belts, start with 2 minutes a day and work your way up. The best black belt at our gym (outside Sa Ba Nim) just hit the 45 min. mark. You will feel your thighs burn.

Posted twice by accident.

For what it's worth...In class today our Sa Ba Nim focused on and spoke about kicking before we practiced. As background, the logo of our school is a picture of our Sa Ba Nim doing a straddle kick higher than two guys with their hands streched straight over their heads. Anyway, he spoke about the different muscles or areas of our bodies that we use to do different kinds of kicks. Specifically, the difference between jumping kicks and kicks that follow an opponent. I was surprised to learn that the strength from jumping kicks is not necessarily from your thighs, but more from the muscles on top of your feet. One of the ways we work on these is to get down in a squating position and walk or hop. I didn't know how much I absorbed this until I tried it, and it's very hard. Also, watching my Sa Ba Nim do this, you could clearly see that every muscle is developed in his feet and he has the use of them all at will. It was really unbelievable. Kicks during sparring when you follow you're opponent are more dependent on your big thigh muscles. Anyway, I can't do the information he conveyed justice, but it is these kinds of talks that inspire me to keep practicing, because there is such a wealth of knowledge in the martial arts, that is so right-on, but non-western in mindset, you can't find it anywhere else. It's finding a whole new sense of the world. Does anyone else have these kind of moments?

Any move that surprises a black belt.

I study at Master Kwan's studio in Manhasset (Long Island). He also has a studio in upstate NY. I've only been at it for almost two years so I don't know about Monticello. Plus, we don't do any grappling at our studio (soo bahk do). Maybe when you're more senior, you learn it, but not as far as I know.

Our studio is the same. We get along and are friends, make jokes etc. But usually the mood of the class is determined by our Sa Ba Nim. If he's in a bad mood, watch out. No jokes allowed. But he's the one who encourages us to be more of a community--not just a gym where you come and go and nobody notices. So that carries over to when we spar, practice self-defense, or forms. Everyone tries to help each other learn--without being too preachy or know-it-all. Although, we have one senior black belt who never shuts up. He's a nice guy in real life, but when he teaches a class he talks and talks and then yells if you mess up. But he's the only one, and our Sa Ba NIm doesn't have him as a full-time instructor. Of course, there's a couple of psychos in class--but it's strange, they are nice people, and it seems like they don't even realize when they kick you or hurt you. Then you say, "Hey, that hurts," and they look abashed and apologize profusely. but otherwise, most people are great.

I practice soo bahk do (tang soo do) and all of our moves and power come from the hips. I don't know if that is true for TKD also, because we have a few black belts in TKD who practice at our studio, and their kicks are different--they don't use their hips. They are very snappy. Also, when they spar, they never use their hands--well, they start out using their hands but after a few seconds they forget them and just drop them to their sides. In sparring during soo bahk do, we punch just as much as we kick.

In my dojo, we spar sometimes with pads, sometimes without. What I've learned so far is that being able to control yourself in a sparring situation is more important than hitting someone. You should be able to control how close you come to someone. Black belts, for example, should be able to execute a move and come within an inch, or ideally touch the uniform of, their opponent. When I spar with people, especially black belts, who hit you anyway, I lose respect for them, because they demonstrate no self-control. Not to say I don't get bruises from blocking,etc. But practicing the proper moves and being being able to get a clealy defined hit and on top of that getting as close as you can without touching them is difficult. And believe me, we go at our studio.