Kicks

That's why I teach a kid's class, not rabbits. (I fear another 'punny' thread )

ROFLMAO!!!!

Yeaaah! I knew I'd win you over with my charm.

47MM No offense taken. I took a defensive position. I'll defend my statements because I can back them with actual, personal results, not hypothesis. I strongly disagree with your point of not eating before a tournament. It goes against what all experts and world class athletes say and do. I don't know how you have more expertise then them. When I compete it's usually at least an hours drive to the tournament site. I have to be there at 9:00 for the black belt meeting, so I'm up at 6:00 AM, eat, and on the road by 7:45 - 8:00. I then judge and coach all day. I don't get to compete till 2:00 - 3:00 in the afternoon. You're asking me to go famished all day and have no energy source. NO balanced blood sugar levels. A freaking hunger headache! That’s nuts! No offense.

47MM, in response to your disagreements to some of my suggestions: It's worked for me. You can't dispute my record. Naw, many times I've sat at ring side and heard people talk about they can't wait till the tournament is over so they can go eat. Yea, their focus increases...about eating. Each person has to find what works best for them. You may feel better not eating and risk not having stored energy source for anaerobic activity. Don't count on fat stoes for energy, that's more for aerobic (endurance) type activities. In sparring you need quick burst of energy. One thing for sure, don't try something new on the day of competition. If you've never eaten whole wheat pancakes before, don't wait till competition day to try them. You may have a negative reaction. Eat what you have conditioned your body to accept. This is due to being nervous. One of the aspects of MA training is learning how to control your emotions in such situations. I don't see your point here. A diligent martial artist will always strive to get better with each MA activity, wheather it is dogang training or competition. Are you saying I'm not diligent, and instead of getting better I'm developing bad habits? How can you possibly judge me? If you have to "over-exert" yourself you break a sweat then you're not ready for competition. By breaking a sweat your muscles are warmed up and blood filled and limber. Your joints are flexable. You are ready for speed and power. You don't have to wait till the first round to get all that conditioning done. My suggestions come based on years of trial and error and diligent research. I've read from and talked to sports trainers and world class athletes about competition day preperations and practices. Much of what they are successful doing I do. I figure if you want to be a winner, find out what winners do and just do it. If it works, good. If not, find another winner! Amen to that brother!

Looking good SevenStar. Trust me, skinney isn't all it's cracked up to be, unless you're a female super model. I used to be 'skinny' in my younger days. When playing sports it was difficult to keep up with the bigger (not fat) guys. I'm 5'11' and 170 lbs. I like competing at 165 lbs. I wouldn't want to go back to 145 - 150.

Jbone1 wrote: I'm a 4th dan with a major in Tae Kwon Do and a minor in Hapkido. I've been competing in WTF (Olympic) style tournaments since 1997. This has mostly been part of the USTU circuit, but have also done AAU and ITF. I've won many local tournaments in both forms and sparring. I've won State Championships in sparring 5 times and forms 5 times. I've placed second at USTU Nationals in forms and sparring and then won first in sparring in 2003. I started competing so I could gain expierence in order to be a better instructor. I couldn't imagine me trying to teach someone something I had no expierence at. I also felt it added credibility to position. Would you send your child to learn to compete in any sport if the coach/instructor never played the game himself? Would any of you take my advice if I didn't have any expierence to back up what I was saying? Since my kids also compete it has been some of the best years of my life sharing the expierence with them. Thay too are multiple times State and National Champions. They help me learn. They helped me get addicted to the competition and the expierence of the events.

Congrats Rotten Head!!! Wear it with pride.

I just want to be different, like everybody else.

Sasori_Te wrote: Do you know the name of the school and what style or organization they belong to? I'm in the New Orleans area, next to Slidell, and would be interested in looking them up.

GrrrArg I can only speak of WTF (Olympic) style. If you look at a WTF style match, get pass all the bouncing around, you'll see that the majority of kicks are roundhouse kicks; either single 'quick-kicks, doubles, or triples, an occasional back kick used as a counter, and then an occasional head shot (roundhouse, ax, spinning) used in desperation to get a needed two points or knock out to win. So while TKD is "known for its high kicks", in competition those are among the least used kicks.

Shorinryu Sensei wrote: Is that your 8 - 10 YEAR OLD students? I started TKD when I was 35. In two years I was in the best shape of my life! I was never overweight until I got married and my social and sports activity slowed down. But after joining TKD with my boys I was able to shed over 30 lbs in those two years and had better endurance and strength then even when I played High School football or sports in college. I'm 46 now and haven't been as active in tournaments as I have been in the past 8 years. I'm more interested in weapons right now, but I still spar twice a week. I'm trying to maintain some sort of conditioning, even if it's not competition shape. I've put a few pounds back on, but I can still run circles around some of the younger 20 and 30 year old kids in the class. Remember. it's easier to keep your shape then to try to get it back.

ROFLMAO!

I like rear hand up. That way it is cocked and ready to deliver a reverse punch at any time. With enough torque from the hips you can knock a person down.

Hey..have any of y'all tried this.... Sometimes in class I'll spar with 'one arm tied behind my back'. Not literally, but what I'll do is just use my forward arm and hand to block with and leave my rear arm to my back side. I won't even bother being aggressive so I don't back my opponent away. I'll encourage my opponent to throw punches and kick combinations. I found I can be just as quick with only one hand blocking. Just stay relaxed and use your reflexes. Just keep your forward arm between your body and his.

I do both. But for different reasons. While sparring at "fighting distance" (just out of range of a kick) I keep my hands up as described by cross. Melody's description seems a little too close to the body for my comfort level. The advantage here is if my opponent throws one of the more common kicks, like a roundhouse or side kick, I can quickly 1) drop my arm down into a downblock using a hammer fist to attack the nerveson the shin, or 2) quickly drop my elbow down on to their ankle. Remember, its quicker to drop your arms then to raise them. I will also fight with my lead arm down under a few circumstances. 1) when stepping inside "attack distance" (close enough to strike). Since I am confident my footwork is quick enough to step inside and not give my opponent time to get a kick up high, then only place he has a chance to hit is a body shot. So I protect the body before beginning my attack with punches and kicks. 2) When sparring an opponent who only throws side kicks, and I know a few like this. I'll mix my arm position back and forth between up and down trying to throw their attack plan off. 3) I'll keep my front arm low when I want to challenge my opponent to attack my head so I can trap him and launch my counter attack. This sounds like a foolish plan, but I only do it when I know the person I'm sparring and that there's the slimest chance of a snowball in hell that he'll actually succeed. Ok, I'll be honset, I do get more daring than that. 4) With front arm down, I'll place my rear arm farther to the rear then normal, opening up my body for attack. Again, this is a challenge to my opponent and I use this trap when I know I can counter attack my opponent. Hope this helps, and doesn't get you killed next time to are sparring!

In General... 1. The biggest love in life...spending time with my kids. 2. Health and fitness through enjoyable recreational activity. 3. Self defense. Specific events... 1. When preparing for tournaments. I think to myself, while I'm here at home taking it easy my opponents are out there training to kick my butt. It don't take long for me to get up and go after a thought like that. 2. When preparing for a belt test. I'm an over acheiver. I'll train and practice above the recommended or miminum requirements. 3. Desire to learn a new skill and perfect it. Right now it's sai and bo. Other motivational factors... Get out of doing the laundry.

Watching a movie at home with my wife and kids, the lights turned off, while eating popcorn and chocolate together. Training/practicing with my kids. The smell and feel of the air just before a thunder storm. Watching a lighting storm. An autum sunrise. It looks like the sky is on fire. Christmas! Making my wife and kids laugh. The sound of kids laughing is the best. Ice Cream. Boiled seafood...cajun style!

I contacted a man in Okinawa who sell on ebay. He got me a pair of Shureido Sai that I paid $146.00. See my auction at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=3697852049 If you can't find what you want in the US, try this guy.

We incorporate it in our Hapkido training. We use the walking cane with the hook on the top.

Check it out at http://www.livaudaisnet.com/mafit/mafit.htm

My mother was a Saint. Then she got traded to the Giants.

Somebody's got too much time on their hands.

Why does everyone think I'm paranoid???

You go girl!