Kicks

Two other options: 1) Find a school where you can both attend 1 or 2 classes together and go to the other classes by yourself if the other can't attend. 2) Private lessons with an instructor who can meet your schedules.

Mu Ryuk, congrats on your accomplishments!

This is what I had to do for each rank below: white: spinnig heel kick, elbow strike 8th gup: running front kick, out chop 7th gup: back kick, palm heel strike 6th gup: skip side kick through 2 stacked boards, hammer strike to the side 5th gup: flying side kick over 6 people, vertical punch 4thgup: flying front kick above head high, flying back fist 3rd gup: flying roundhouse (head high), speed punch (drop board with one hand and punch with other) 2nd gup: 180 flying back kick, upper cut 1st gup: flying spinning kick head high, ridgehand strike Cho Dan Bo: 1st part: Ax kick, head high 2nd part: Hook Kick, head high 3rd part: double flying front kick and double vertical punch striking 4 seperate boards at same time 4th part: knife hand strike through 5 stacked boards. 1st Dan: 1st part: forward roll down with heel kick 2nd part: flying twisting kick (outward front kick?) head high 3rd part: flying double side kick (2 seperate boards) 4th part: down punch through 5 stacked boards 2nd Dan: 1st part: down strike using the middle knuckles of the 3 middle fingers 2nd part: flying roundhouse, hook kick combo with same leg, 2 seperate boards head high 3rd part: flying reverse punch & side kick at same time, 2 seperate boards head high 4th part: while doing a hand stand, double down heel kick, 2 seperate boards 3rd Dan: 1st part: Double Flying Reverse Crescent, 2 seperate boards head high 2nd part: 180 Flying Crescent above head high 3rd part: Flying Front with Roundhouse combo, different leg each kick, 2 seperate boards 4th part: Spearhand Down Strike (finger tip break) Now, as a 4th Dan, my first break I'm working on is a flyng double side kick, same leg, to 2 boards held at same height. In demos I would do a break where I was surrounded by 4 people. I did right hand knife hand to the left, then to the right followed by left hand middle punch. Then to the back I would either do a back kick or a right hand downward hammer fist.

Gyte: Thanks for catching that. I've made my correction to the original post. I've also added further explainations under each type of flexibility.

What MAs would you like to see in the Olympics? Karate Which would you remove (if any)? I wouldn't remove any of the MA events, but I'll say that I wouldn't agree to Muay Thai Kickboxing being introduced. To me (IMHO) it seems that this sport is too brutal for the spirit of the Olympics. From what I've seen, the goal is to demolish your opponent. While we see some very aggressive actions in some of the current MA events, to demolish your opponent is not the objective. The Olympics is supposed to have some overtones of world unity and peace. Would you change any rules for any of the systems? I'll quote my thought about TKD from the other thread about the lack of continuous action: Maybe the new rule change (floating in the rumor mill) with more points going for flying kicks will add some excitement.

I think TKD has the potential to be a very exciting, if not the most exciting Olympic MA event. They just need to encourage, or enforce, more action and less 'jocking around". If you watched the events this year you would have noticed the referee banging his fist together. That's a signal to the players to do something or face getting a warning penalty. I think they currently fight 3 rounds of 3 minutes each. Maybe if the rounds were only 2 minutes the players would have to get their points in a shorter time, thus more action. The word I heard is that WTF is going to allow 3 points for flying kicks to the head. I guess they will still keep the extra point given for a knock down that results in a standing 8 count. That would give the attacker 4 points for 1 kick. Here's a video clip of a knockout at the 2004 Olympics: http://www.livaudaisnet.com/mafit/videos/OlympicKnockOut.gif

I started at age 35. I know lots of people your age and older just starting out. Is your TKD school the only one you can go to? If so, if you want other people there your age it seems you need to do some recruiting. Invite your friends to come watch a class. Maybe the owner of the school has a promotion plan. At our school you get 1 month's free tuition every time you get someone to sign up.

Congrats! A well deserved honor. Keep up the good work and relationships you are building.

Hmmm, that's a relative question. How old do you feel? Those that know me on this forum, like Shorinryu Sensei, know I used that term in the most respectful, yet humorous, way. We have a small group of people over 35 years old from different dojangs that compete in local tournaments. We call ourselves the "fighting fossils". There’s a lot of respect and friendship in the group, so we have a good time competing against each other. Sometimes when they don't compete I have to fight the college age players. So, sometimes, I don't mind when in class a youngster goes all out on me (as long as its with control and not with intent to injure). But when the instruction is to go light for whatever reason, they better respect their instructor’s command.

I was just told last month that the resason I have cronic pain in my right foot's big toe and knuckle is because I have developed arthritis from jamming and breaking it so many time. They have me on Bextra...one of those arthritis medicines that are causing so much stir in the news. The OTC stuff really didn't work so I had to go with prescription.

I had to deal with this situation last night. I'm not quite as old as some of the fossils here, but I have a similiar story. I was a guest instructor at a friend's TKD school. We are all preparing for our AAU Regionals. Since its only a week away I gave a little talk just before sparring that we all need to be careful not to get hurt or hurt anyone. We should do our drills but with light contact and control. I spoke for about 2 minutes and asked if everyone understood. They all said yes. When I paired up with this 14-year-old black belt his very first move was a 360 flying roundhouse to my face at full force. Where was he when I gave my "be careful" speech? I know I said it in English. What possibly could he have not understood? BTW.. I blocked it. He continued sparring at full force and I just studied his technique. After the 1 minute round I gave him a few pointers and reminder him that when he sparred the next guy to tone it down and work on the tips I gave him. The next guy he fought was my 16 year old son. The kid again went full out. Now my son is a higher rank and knows to fight lower ranks at just one notch above their level, Just enough to let them think that they could beat him, all they have to do is train a little harder and they'll get him next time. (I know, I'm letting out a black belt's secret, sorry). After they finished I told this kid again that he was doing too many flying techniques and jumping up too much. I explained how dangerous that could be in a tournament against a better fighter. He looked at me like I was from Mars. His next fight was once again against me; and guess what...full force jumping and flying again. Well this time he spent more time on the mat than in the air. Every move he made in my direction I put him on the ground. He made be quicker than me, but my timing is better than his, so it gives me the appearance of being faster. Twice he jumped up while I was doing a back kick. That meant he got hit below the belt. Yes, it hurt. Yes, too bad. I did, again, review his sparring style and choice of techniques after we finished, but this time to a frighten face. He didn't stick around after class. I hope he becomes a better fighter, a better sportsman, a better person.

Yes, this was just for "Kicks" and Giggles (who is Giggles?). However, the research I did on fireballs led me to some interesting finds about Gatka, which I had never heard of before. So I enjoyed the researd and write up. I hope y'all enjoyed the sense of humor we tried to have on this day. Oh-Ki Do-Ki ?

I had to do a lot a digging to find those. It all depends on what you use as your search words.

I did a search on Google and found these links: http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_improvement/furniture/1273111.html http://www.modernman.com/hardware/320-1.html http://www.acehardware.com/sm-ace-bookshelf-project--bg-1300489.html http://www.askthebuilder.com/337_Dandy_Bookshelf_in_2_Hours.shtml http://community.middlebury.edu/~harris/bookshelves.html http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/lu_shelves/article/0,2041,DIY_14098_2270524,00.html http://www.digsmagazine.com/lounge/lounge_buildbookcase.htm Good Luck!

CrippledFingers. LOL, I like that first one, and my daughter will LOVE it!

Yes you can email the seller on eBay, if you have an eBay account. Go to the auction site at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=16044&item=7144455177&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW and look in the box on the right. There is a link to "Ask seller a question". Click it.

traz, Good question. There are three types of flexibility: Dynamic flexibility (also called kinetic flexibility) is the ability to perform dynamic (or kinetic) movements of the muscles to bring a limb through its full range of motion in the joints. Dynamic stretching involves moving parts of your body and gradually increasing reach, speed of movement, or both. Dynamic stretching consists of controlled leg and arm swings that take you to the limits of your range of motion. Dynamic stretching improves dynamic flexibility and is quite useful as part of your warm-up for an active martial-arts class. Fast kicks are an example of dynamic activity. Static-active flexibility (also called active flexibility) is the ability to assume and maintain extended positions using only the tension of the agonists and synergists while the antagonists are being stretched. For example, lifting the leg and keeping it high without any external support (other than from your own leg muscles). Active stretching increases active flexibility and strengthens the agonistic muscles. Active stretches are usually quite difficult to hold and maintain for more than 10 seconds and rarely need to be held any longer than 15 seconds. Static-passive flexibility (also called passive flexibility) is the ability to assume extended positions and then maintain them using only your weight, the support of your limbs, or some other apparatus such as a chair or a barre. Note that the ability to maintain the position does not come solely from your muscles, as it does with static-active flexibility. Being able to perform the splits is an example of static-passive flexibility. Research has shown that active flexibility is more closely related to the level of sports achievement than is passive flexibility. Active flexibility is harder to develop than passive flexibility (which is what most people think of as "flexibility"); not only does active flexibility require passive flexibility in order to assume an initial extended position, it also requires muscle strength to be able to hold and maintain that position. When you do slow kicks you are doing a static-active exercise. When you are kicking with faster movement you are doing a dynamic flexibility movement. Your momentum is moving the weight of your leg through the full range of movement. As I practiced the slow kick exercise I was eventually able to lift my leg higher and higher as I developed balance, strength (muscle and core), and flexibility. Then when I would do my fast (full power) kicks I was kicking higher than ever before. And people noticed! They also started asking me where all my power was coming from all of a sudden. http://www.cmcrossroads.com/bradapp/docs/rec/stretching/stretching_1.html

Welcome aboard! Friday is double coupon day. You're allowed to make twice as many posts for half the cost.

Shorinryu Sensei wrote: Believe it or not, this will also increase your speed and power. Speed because you are building muscle memory; and power because of the resistance training involved. After I started doing this routine people started commenting how quicker and more powerful my techniques were.

pineapple: I was curious too, and had a little time on my hand...so I looked at his feedback for just the month of March. For CD's with certificates, and counting only those buyers who left feedback, he sold in March: 3 TKD 3 Aikido 1 JiuJitsu 2 Hapkido 3 Self defense/MA instructors certification programs. He also sold over a dozen (12) CDs to design and print out your own certifucate. One of his buyers left feedback that said "Now I am a SUPREME GRAND MASTER in 15 different styles! Ha! (evil grin)"

The seller also has the same for TKD; and to think I went the traditional route.

Don't you mean all three? You forgot the one with the bunny bringing decorated eggs and chocolates to all good boys and girls. I got nuttin'

Right back at ya! http://www.grayace.com/dex/bunny.html

Since its Easter...bringing it to the top. Happy Easter everyone!

baronbvp It's called 'bonding'. At least that's how I justify it.