koreantiger81

A lot of good points here... Here are some mistakes that i've observed: 1)Fighting in a linear fashion. If you just go back and forth, you'll get hit. 2) Dropping the hands opens up your target areas.(Although sometimes it can be done if you're careful; in order, to draw a kick) 3)*Being too tense* If you're tense, you compromise speed, power, and also you become very telegraphic. 4)Trying to score with one kick. It's better to throw kicks that will set up your the kick or punch that will score. 5)Leading with the head. (I sometimes do lead with my head on purpose; in order to draw a kick in.)

Some people love to stick with their front leg when sparring, because it's quick and safe...... Some people love to use their back leg, cause it's powerful...I'm just curious to know which leg MOSt people prefer to use in sparring... Front of back leg?

when doing the upper block to block a downward strike on your head, do you make the nunchaku straight or do you form a slight triangle with your nunchaku to block this strike?

Linear sparring can be hazardous...Changing the angle of attack can surprise your opponent...Any suggestions about footwork in sparring in Tae kwon do? Any websites about this?

best complements your martial arts training? I would say Kinesiology...Any other suggestions?

I practice martial arts on a frequent basis.(4-6 times a week) Every 2 months, I hyper-extend my knee...sigh... I usually hyper-extend it when doing a tornado kick or a 540 kick...Anyway, do you know of any exercises to strengthen the ligaments in the knee?

How did you find Jackie Chan's new movie?

Do I really have to purchase insurance? Remember, this isn't even an official club. I"m not trying to run a business either. My university has open spaces available in the gym, where we can spar. My duty is not to teach sparring or to make any money out of it...The only role I play is bringing fellow martial artists together to spar. Here is is my add. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What to spar? This is not a sparring club and I am not an instructor. I'm a martial artist just looking for a bunch of guys or gals to spar with at the university, using both punches and kicks. There's no fee for this, and no I will not pay you to spar. I'm also not liable for injuries. Requirements: -Controlled, light to semi-contact sparring which includes: kicks to the head, punches to the head, and all other striking techniques above the waist. -Can be from any martial arts background (Tae kwon do, Kempo, Kung-fu, Karate, Kickboxing) as long as sparring is conducted in the above mentioned manner. -Intermediate to Advanced in any martial arts, utilizing the sparring targets mentioned above. (As this is not a sparring class, there will be no instructors to teach sparring for beginners.) -Have sparring gear.

I want to spar more..Therefore, I'm going to put a flyer to find people to spar with at my university...They can be from any martial arts background.. This is not an official club...I will not be the instructor...I will charge nothing...I just want to find a group of people to spar with.. My question is, could I somehow be liable for injuries???

also, try running up a flight of stairs with a quick constant speed.

well, I personally don't stick to one stance when I spar...I like to vary my stances...I fight upright when I want to attack my opponent. I go into my low stance when I want to be defensive. Sometimes I stick out my head on purpose, so I can draw a kick...I just believe no one gives the low stance enough credit...By fighting in both upright and low stances, it adds more diversity to your sparring...Sometimes you have to readjust your distance in sparring. Going into a low stance can influence distance quickly....

Fighting in a low stance has it's advantages. Particulary if you're tall, you can lean your weight back and make your oponent work harder to get to your target areas..In other words, you can lean back thus creating a greater distance for your oponent to get to your target areas. Another advantage is that you can fire your front leg with quickness. The drawbacks of a low stance are less mobility and difficult execution of the back leg. Personally, I think it's good to fight in both stances..Sticking to one particular stance has its limitations...

I practice plyometrics with my legs to develop speed. what i do is i cock my leg into a front round-kick(turning kick) position and lean against a wall. i then do 20 fast kicks without putting my foot down, making sure i bring my leg all the way back, so my heel hits my butt. (Remember proper technique is also a prequiste for developing power or speed.)Then I do 10 slow kicks..YOu'll really feel the burn. I repeat this on each leg. If you do this many times, the muscles in your legs will eventually relax and you'll feel like your leg is floating..try it!

It may be quite intimidating for a student to attend their first class. Kids are often afraid and some adults also feel this intimidation of attending their first martial arts class. So how does your do jo accomdate new bees so they have a pleasant first class? Here are some ideas i've seen: 1) Some schools start off with the student by giving him/her private lessons. In these private lessons, studio ettiquette is taught and what to expect for their first formal group lesson. 2) Some schools have classes only for beginners.

It can be quite intimidating for the general public to meet a martial arts instructor with their uniform. Having a black-belt can strike fear or intimidation in some people. With that thought, do you wear your uniform when conducting studio business such as enrolling new students into your school?

I've noticed some dojos are just intimidating to enter. Some dojos are behind big doors where no one can tell what's going on in the do jo. I've even seen do jos behind gates where you have to identify yourself through the intercom, before you can enter. Some dojos don't even have seats where you can watch..What's with that? Is martial arts supposed to be practiced privately? I think the older and traditional schools once believed that it was best to keep the dojo hidden because the general public would misinterpret martial arts as a way of violence.. Well, I believe a do jo with "see through" windows will bring business...People can observe without going inside the dojo and leave with no obligation...

how do you go to the olympics in canada or the usa? How long does this whole process take/

thugtkd. NO, even black-belts cannot kick to the head. There's no kicking to the head period. This rule really doesn't make sense to me. By restricting kicking to the head, you're limited to using the side-kick, front kick, or round kick. It would be difficult to use the axe-kick or hook-kick, if you can't kick to the head which happen to be my best techniques..Grr...I had no clue that a school under the W.T.F could regulate further rules on sparring. I'll have to sit down and think if i should continue at this school.....

After 5 months of struggling to choose an affordable martial arts school in my new city, I found one where the master was generous enough to train me for free. It is a W.T.F school, so I knew there would be no punching to the head. (Coming from a style similar to the I.T.F, it was dissappointing to take away my punches to the head.) Anyway, I was further dissappointed to discover on my first class, that there would be no KICKING to the head. Also, sparring would be conducted in a level below "semi-contact". I was choked. I had no idea that a W.T.F school, could further regulate the rules by restricting kicking to the head. The master claimed that kicking to the head causes the potential for injury and fear, thus driving away students of Tae kwon do. (even if you're a black belt.) I strongly disagree with his statement. I believe if you have control, kicking to head is ok. (if you're also sparring in a semi-contact manner, there should be no reason not to kick to the head.) I believe it's mandatory to kick to the head. The W.T.F has imposed too many rules on restriction of techniques, which has made their style of Tae kwon do ,evolve into a sport. This particular W.T.F school that has further regulated restrictions on kicking to the head, is limiting the tools of a tae kwon do ist. What do you guys think? Does your school kick to the head.?

maybe young adults in korea are too busy with "so gae ting", soju, tambae..j/k..nah.. well, most koreans learn tae kwon do during their elementary school years. Once they hit junior high school, all time must be devoted to attending school, because of the very intense educational system in korea...once they graduate from high school, they have to join the army..once they are out of the army, they focus time lost into school...These stages disrupt learning tae kwon do. here in america, our educational system and society accomodates and promotes physical fitness.~

I don't know if there is already a thread about this, but many have debated the merger of the two federations....I think if the I.T.F and W.T.F were to become one, the W.T.F would have to assimilate into the I.T.F. I believe if the two federations united, a strong upright system of tae kwon do would emerge.. Here are the strengths of each federation: I.T.F -Understanding of the theory of power/Sine wave -Self-defense joint-lock techniques -Use of two fighting distances(Kicking and punching) W.T.F -Awesome Foot work -Good use of the back leg -Good at closing the gap quickly This is how the I.T.F and W.T.F can form one system: For forms/patterns, I believe there has to be a compromise. You would have to delete some forms/patterns from each federation. For example, for white belt, you would do a W.T.F form/pattern. For yellow belt, you would learn a I.T.F form/pattern and so on. For black-belt, you would have to learn each form/pattern from each federation. (You could learn all the forms from each federation, but then this will take a student over 4 years to attain black-belt) For sparring, W.T.F practitioners, would have to incorporate punching...There will have to be a decision regarding if sparring should be full-contact of semicontact, since punching will be involved... By uniting the two systems, the strengths from each system, will form a strong complete system. anyway, this is my brief overview. What do you guys think? what are your opinions?

I attended a tae kwon do class the other day..It was 2 hours long. THis is how the class was broken up. 40 minutes of intense stretching and conditioning 1 hour of kicking 30 minutes of stretching and conditioning to finish the class. I found that my attention span and my energy level ran out after 1 hour...I frowned that I had to pay for a class of conditioning...I believe it's the responsibility of the student to practice conditioning outside of class...I paid to learn how to do tae kwon do, not to do an aerobics class...This long session of conditioning tired me out thus compromising my form when it was time to kick and punch...Furthermore, after all that stretching I pulled my hamstring.. In my ideal class, students will come 10 minutes early to stretch on their own..Then we would warm up with easy/light kicking and punching...I can't remember where I heard this, but I heard that stretching for a long period of time before intense kicking and punching will actually increase the chance of injury..If you stretch for a long period of time, students actually have the chance of over-stretching their muscles, thus causing injury during intense kicking and punching....Furthermore if your warm up is too long, the efficency of learning decreases. anyway, is this true? HOw long do you warm up for so that your students don't die when it's time to do kicking and punching?

I have trained in martial arts for over ten years. During those years, I have spent $10,000 (Canadian) on training. .. I have come to the point where I don't have the money to train...Martial arts has become so profitable for martial arts instructors and definitely less affordable for the average person...It's frustrating for the time being, that I can't continue learning my martial art...I'll have to practice on my own, until I can afford it. .Anyway, I was wondering how much do you pay for your training?

The other the day my grandmaster discussed the possiblities of me establishing a franchise of our martial arts school...I always had plans on opening my own school, but I never thought about franchising with him...I train in a "similar" system to the I.T.F....It's not too common in my country, Canada. I know by franchising I get to use his name and get his business plan and stuff...Our martial arts school is very successful and one of the bigger ones in our city..Part of our success had to do with how my master conducted business and our very well developed system of TAe kwon do.......HOwever, i don't see the point in franchising because our system of tae kwon do is uncommon...Could I even legally opening up a school teaching his unique system of tae kwon do without franchising? Do I have a choice?

ckdstudent.. I started this thread, 'cause i've become critical about tae kwon do patterns...Bruce Lee didn't believe in patterns..He believed that if a person wants to learn how to fight, he actually has to engage in real sparring...I haven't totally accepted Bruce Lee's view about patterns; however, I believe if you're going to do a pattern, you should practice techniques in the most practical, efficient, and effective matter. I'm not saying that punching from the waist is ineffective.Yes you can do damage by punching from the waist...In some cases it is effective, such as punching to the kidneys..However, there's a more efficient way of punching. By punching from the waist, you compromise your guard and speed. To punch from the waist, you first have to pull your hand back to your waist and then punch...as a result your hand has to travel a greater distance...wouldn't you agree that this doubles the time to throw a punch? it becomes too telepathic... Take a look at boxers..they never punch from the waist...It wouldn't make sense...It'll just open you wide open..