specialk0783

The basic rule for short people is to get inside your opponents reach. You have to stay close to him, where you can kick, yet your opponents kicks are jammed by your body. You have to watch out for him to do retreating attacks though, as well as hop back kicks and such. Fake to get inside...do your stuff, and then back out to a non effective range again....non effective meaning non effective for both fighters. Make sure you do some retreating attacks to back out, so that you dont get caught with a technique moving back through your opponents effective range.

do three reps of the splits three times a day...and hold them for a minute each time. Flexibility is about teaching your muscles to relax...try not to fight the stretch, just let your weight do the work. If you can stand up, and put your foot sideways on the top of a chair-back, then your hips are able to do the splits...and its just a matter of teaching your muscles to relax.

When doing a roundhouse your toes/ankle should be flexed downward to strike with the large bone on top of your foot/instep....using the ball of your foot on the roundhouse is asking to break toes, though it is good for the front kick because the simple direction of the front kick.

Give herb perez some video of wallace fighting...he'd have him beat the first time they stepped into the ring.

Baseball players don't guess. You don't have to see the kick to guard from it. In order for them to kick, their shoulders have to move...and his shoulders don't got 60 mph.

The people that "outgrew" it, most likely werent into real hip hop. Pop rap doesn't count.

yup.

Ummm...u just dont understand hip hop, and dont have a good ear for music. Nas is the second best rapper alive. And thats not even up for discussion...every real hip hop head will tell you that. D12 is garbage, and there are no complex country songs...all country lyrics are simple as hell. "nas isnt that good" - sheesh.

beastie boys are garbage...period.

baseballs come at 90...they are tiny, and they are hit with a bat thats about 3 inches wide. are you sayin it cant be done, or that it would just be difficult? I understand it would be hard, thats why hes a champion. But what if herb perez can kick at 40 or 50 mph...wouldn't his greater arsenal, and ability to throw faster COMBINATIONS of kicks be superior?

^^^ Yes sir. Here is a good example of exactly what we are talking about... Common: Somedays I take the L to gel with the real world Got on at 87th, stopped by this little girl She recited raps, I forgot where they was from In 'em, she was saying how she made brothers cum I start thinking, how many souls hip-hop has affected How many dead folks this art resurrected How many nations this culture connected Who am I to judge one's perspective? Though some of that * y'all pop true it, I ain't relating If I don't like it, I don't like it, that don't mean that I'm hating I just want to innovate and stimulate minds Travel the world and penetrate the times Escape through rhythms in search of peace and wisdom Raps are smoke signals letting the streets know I'm with 'em For now I appreciate this moment in time Ball players and actors be knowing my rhymes, it's like

Then try real hip hop...not mtv hip hop. Talib Kweli, Common, Kanye West, Nas, etc. MtV doesn't know hip hop from pop....I hate how they promote garbage rap so the generation of adults have more to attack rap for. Rest assured, what they play on mtv and bet half the time is not real hip hop. People say to listen to rock and the political songs, or punk, or whatever. I'll tell you for a fact, intelligent hip hop is by far the hardest art to write, lyrically. You have to write two to three times more for each verse, and it has to have a more meaningful flow. However, the upside to this is that the verse can be much more creative, and much more powerful. Put up some punk lyrics that you think are good, or some rock lyrics...and I will blow you away with some amazing hip hop lyrics.

This is rather ignorant. If a guy wants to spar me, and I know he takes BJJ...I'm not going to hop into the ring with him and hope that my TKD works, if I've had no prior training or understanding of BJJ. You're asking to get beat. If the guy is a boxer, I'm going to research some boxing (which is fairly simple sport) - I'm going to get into the ring knowing to expect all punches, and I'm going to go from there. I'm not going to look at him as just another fighter. If a guy says he does TKD, I'm not going to step in there hoping to perform wrist locks on him from karate. I'm going to know to watch out for fast and powerful kicks.

He has a far inferior aresenal of kicks though as a kickboxer. It doesnt take a 60 mph kick to knock someone out...and if he only has one kick that is clocked at 60 mph, people kinda know what to look out for dont they?

No, I'm just sayin that in terms of...WTF tkd people dont train in the use of hands at all to the head...so obviously they would be at a high disadvantage. The point I was making is that they have superior kicking techniques.

You can kick with leg weights on if you do slow, deliberate kicks and practice holding your leg out. That will greatly improve your leg strength in muscle specifics (the muscles used for that specific kick). kg

Rip cord - makes your kicks perfect and hella fast!

The reason is because having your hands down keeps your body relaxed. When you are relaxed, you kick faster and stronger. If you notice, they will only keep their guard down while they are bouncing at a safe distance. If a kick comes to their head, they are fast enough to get their hands up (i dont call it blocking, because its not, its called having a guard). If you try and block kicks you're going to GET kicked. If you have a good guard, you will be a good fighter. WTF fighters (the ones you see with their guards down) are either experienced fighters that know when their guard needs to be up....or they are ignorant fighters who get kicked in the head a lot. At my school, we teach the kids to keep their guard up. as for the black belts, we tell them that they can do whatever they want, as long as they dont complain when they get kicked in the head. WTF sparring is much more realistic. I believe ITF is point sparring? - I've never done ITF before, but this is what I've heard. WTF is good beacuse you can kick full power to the body, controlled power to the head...full power to thead in black belt division You can punch to the body and the arms, but not to the head (this is because drawing blood is a disqualification) - and the point of Takewondo is kicking. Taekwondo is looked more at like a chess game, and not a fight. Its the skill of the opponents to score points on the other. Its not about knocking your friend out -though it is about knocking the other tournament fighter out if at all possible. One thing I like about it that I believe is extremely realistic is that...even if you kick someone your hardest in the chest guard, or the head guard, they can still keep coming at you....it trains you to fight until the person is down (which in reality, without a chest guard, a kick from an experienced wtf fighter to the ribs would probably be the first and last kick you'd take there for that day). Is it unrealistic to not punch to the head? yes. Is it unrealistic to not kick to the legs? yes. Is it unrealistic to not catch kicks and throw people? yes. But every art has its ups and downs. Thats why I train in BJJ, and box, and thats why I stay knowledgeable about other styles - so i'm not ignorant to how a fighter might attack or defend. Does TKD have the strongest kicks of any martial art? yes. Are we usually the fastest kickers? yes. I think Taekwondo is the best base style that you can have. Its so simple and straightforward that its easier to be effective at it (as long as you practice everyday). It doesnt have complicated joint locks, hand techniques, etc. (that usually arent going to work for you anyway) - it teaches you how to have devastating kicks...fast and powerful, period. If you want to be able to defend yourself, its all about the mindset. Don't be ignorant. Go train in BJJ for some ground work, go take boxing so you can punch properly to the head and practice fighting that way. Taekwondo kicks are just as devastating when done to the legs as they are to anywhere else, but its the mentality of knowing to throw to the legs in a street fight. No one martial art is going to fully train you for self defense. Every martial art can be used for self defense, but there isnt a martial art that will fully train you for self defense. Its all about how you train yourself, and what you decide is best for you.

Judo is more sport, less defense these days. Do you live by Gwinett mall? There is a place called "Francis Fong's Martial Arts Academy" - Francis Fong is amazing. He travels around the world giving seminars, so his other instructors are there most of the time. But he teaches classes once or twice a week. Francis has trained with Bruce Lee, Dan Inosanto, Royce Gracie...all the greats. They teach Wing Chun Kung fu, Muy Thai, Kali, BJJ, and JKD. Its pretty expensive, but its a good school. If you want a Taekwondo school and you are near Suwannee/downtown duluth, Karate USA Taekwondo is a great school - i'm the chief instructor there and you can stop by to ask questions any time. Its the corner of Mcginnis Ferry and 141.

Herb Perez would knock some wallace's out. I mean...its not fair to judge them now...cause wallace is like 60 somethin years old. But back in his prime, Herb Perez would tear him apart. WTF kicks are too fast and too powerful...a highly skilled TKD fighter will rip apart most stand-up fighters in the ring - providing that they have the mindset to fight against a different style. Some TKD guys get locked into TKD rules. If they fight a muy thai guy they end up on the ground from the leg kicks. Its not that the muy thai guy was better, its that the TKD guy was ignorant to the muy thai techniques. I watched the last K-1 tournament live in Vegas at the Bellagio. Seeing them in person, and live, and watching them fight, I know for a fact that any member of the national WTF team could beat every single one of them (if they got a chance to train punching to the head for a few months prior).

Yes, quitting is one thing. Forcing them to BEGIN martial arts is another - especially when you have set an end in mind (ie: they can quit at black belt, or when they turn 16) - its just not the right thing to do.

To be a real fan of jet li, you have to watch his old movies, not his new ones. His new movies are garbage martial arts compared to his old ones. The best martial arts movie ever made, IMO, is Fist of Legend. Its all real martial arts, no wires, and to my knowledge, its not sped up in any sequences. Its jet li at his best. I suggest you buy it or rent it. It was made in 1994 i think. As for his style...he is Wushu. He was on the Chinese Olympic Wushu team, and won 6 years in a row I BELIEVE...dont quote me.

Giving away belts is not an option. Quickly promoting them is disrespectful to your art. It is not the parents decision for the kids to take a a martial art. Its not up to the parents. Its the childs decision. If the child does not want to take a martial art, it is your responsibility to respect that childs decision, aside from whatever the parents want. This isn't school, college, baseball or soccer. Martial arts has a ton of mentalities behind it...honor, integrity, perseverence, self control, indomitable spirit, humility, etc. Children that are forced through the program have a very high chance of ignoring everything that is important about the art. They will end up disrespecting it, not caring for it, and not advancing or applying themselves. Its just not an acceptable situation for anyone. If it were my situation, I would discontinue teaching these kids. As for giving the parents a reason? Who needs a reason, its your school. Tell them that you don't believe in forcing children to take martial arts. Its not for everyone, and to be a respectable martial artist, you must truly love your art. Offer to the children that when they are older, if they decide they would like to return, the door is open. But they have to truly want to do it.

Hey...my first day on this board and just wanted to introduce myself. I'm a 2nd dan in WTF Taekwondo. I have been an instructor for 2.5 years and plan on opening my own studio within the next year under support and help from my master. I'm from the home of the Hawks, and I'm 21 years old. I teach 6 days a week for about 5 hours a day. - and when i still have energy left at the end of the day i like to take some time to MYSELF and practice...lol. I hope to contribute to the board as much as possible, and perhaps learn some new things from everyone else. I'll be back on tonight when I have more time, hopefully this board is very active. kg