foreveryoung001

Don't train too hard leading up to the test. Do light workouts for a couple of days leading into it. Maybe the morning of you test, do a little cardio work, but make sure you rested, and then just give it eveything you've got. No worries!

So now we are getting into different levels of McDojos? I suppose it's a loaded question since the definition of McDojo seems to be pretty subjective.

wouldn't work for me either

Can't a student, who is truly committed to learning, gain knowledge and a certain amount of succesful training, even from a McDojo?

Speaking as a TKD-ist, I can vouch for the kicking work that we do. I haven't had much exposure to any other styles, so I can't speak for them, but Taekwondo is very kick oriented.

I believe the drop out rate is quite high too. When I started in 1984, there were 30 of us, out of that original 30, only 3 of us ever made it to 1st dan. And there must have been at least another 50 or 60 over the years that had come and gone. So I would say that the percentage is very low indeed.

You might be a martial artist if..... You throw a kick at the back of your best friends head while he is not looking... just to make sure you could take him if he ever tries anything funny....

Welcome Pentex, I own a Pentex myself. Good Camera!

Welcome Lydia!

Welcome! Hope you will enjoy the discussions.

Well, that comes down to personal feelings. If you are looking for a way to justify it in your own mind, then I think you already have your answer on the morality of it. If you are simply just curious, then I do think certain aspects of smoking can immoral, to the point that you are ruining your body. Drinking to excess, I have some issues with that as well, but I have done both, so we see how for my morality has gotten me. It's not my place to judge anyone's morality, I can simply judge my own, and I have been guilty from time to time.

It all depends on what you would like to do to and with your body. I took ten years off from training, not long after receiving my 1st dan. I started smoking during that time, and then found it very hard to quit when I started training again. Did it make my MA suffer? I think it did. I certainly wasn't able to work out with the same intensity. Could I have still worked out and smoked? Most likely, but again, I would have suffered... suffered from the effects of smoking, and suffered from trying to hide the fact that I did smoke. It's not the type of things you want other students to see. As for drinking... The same thing goes. Is a drink or two going to effect you? No more than a single cigarette would. If you drink before class, then I would expect your instructor to ask you to leave, but if you go home and have a beer afterwards... besides the fact that beer is really quite high in calories, I think it comes down to a personall decision. There is a lot to be said for those who are dedicated to living a healthy lifestyle. I can't say I am one of them, but they deserve some respect.

Hey, I'm a TKDer, and I take offense at your lack of faith in the mighty, mighty art of TKD story-telling. Now, I personally have been in that exact same situation, and I used a jump 360 spin hook kick on the guy. Not only dropped him in his tracks, it ended up knocking out three people on his father's side of the family. The great grand master deluxe of Shimmy Sho Kwan Do Skidoo just happened to be looking on, and he ended up giving me an "honorary" 6th Degree black belt, and proclaimed me "Mighty Weasle-boy", which I guess is a real honor in his style. So, I have to think that he isn't in TKD at all, if his story stopped with a simple front kick. Just kidding. Who am I to judge? I've never been that close to actually using my training, but I do agree that for complete clarity, we need a few more details of the event....

I always knew some trees could be a little "shady" I think, though, that if we learn to live in harmony with them, they might just "leaf" us alone.

As the one who said he might be hypocritical, I would like to respond. My goal is not to "rail" against this guy. I only think he used improper judgment when it came to this child. As for the Auto comparison, let's compare apples to apples. I am not saying he shouldn't perform this demonstration, anymore than I would suggest that someone not drive their vehicle. But there is common sense that should come into play in both cases. Common sense tells us; buckle the kids up to lesson the chance that would be hurt in an accident. Common sense should also tell us; if we want to swing a weapon at someone's head, make it an adult.

This makes it sound personal. I've heard there are therepy groups if you would like to work out your anger towards our leafy friends... Reoeat after me..... trees are our friends.... trees are our friends.... Hey wait a tick.... I think that pine tree is trying to stare me down

I just happen to be looking out my window at pretty good sized pine tree... I think I could take it

I don't know.... I find this kind of insulting... Are you trying to pick a fight? Hey, one thing I have enjoyed while reading this forum, and chiming in occaisionally, is that even at the end of the heated debates, everyone can go on to the next and still share their thoughts and opinions. I would find it much more irritating if someone gave a strong opinion, had a good heated debate, and then never bothered to visit the forum again. Debate, even heated debate, can be a good thing. Arguing, for the sake of arguing, is where you start to cross that line, and I haven't seen much of that on this forum, even from those who have strong core convictions on some issues. Maybe I just haven't been around long enough for you to insult or irritate me, but from what I've read from your recent posts, I say, "Keep up the posting! Damn the asterisks, full post ahead!"

I don't know. It seems to me, IMHO that to believe that any human is infallable is a bit on the ignorant side. "Trust me, nothing can go wrong." seem like famous last words to me.

Sorry, it posted twice.

Rock, I don't know if your club does this kind of stretch, I've seen it used in some clubs and not in others. I've heard it referred to as stretch foot kicking, and a couple of other names. Get yourself a chair that is a comfortable hight for you to stand behind and use as support. I use one of my kitchen chairs. Stand behind the chair, with your left side facing the chair, gripping it with your left hand. Keeping your leg locked, swing your right leg up in front of you as high as you can. At the top of the stretch, your leg should be in the form of a front kick. Now, without breaking the rythm and still keeping your knee straight, swing your leg behind you, rotating your hips slightly so that at the top of this stretch it is in the form of a side kick. From there, go back to the front, then back, etc... each time try to get a little higher on the stretch, while still holding good form. I like to do this for about five minutes on each leg every morning. This excercise will help stretch the muscle in a safe and controled way, and will also help teach your body how it feels when your kick is fully extended. I first learned this in the TKD style that I have my 1st dan in, but I have also used it in a couple of the Karate schools that I've visited. You may want to check with your instructor to make sure the form on the side kick should be as I've described. In TKD Chung DO Kwan, we turn our hips over, when we throw a side kick, but I know there are some variations with different styles.

I agree that it really isn't that big of a deal. It just irks me as a father to see kids put in a position like that. If I really think about it, however, I'm sure I could come up with some pretty stupid things that I've done with my kids. That's why I don't want to think about it.... then I'd feel hypocritical. So, as long as I can maintain this constant state of ignorance, then life is good.....

Well, as a matter of fact, everytime I hit the snooze button in the morning, I mean every single time... I fall back to sleep for another 9 minutes. I have never failed at that. It took years of practice, but now I never fail. Other than that, I can screw up a lot of things.... even things I'm pretty good at. Like the other day for example, I was swing this nunchuck at my daughter head...

From the simple fact that he swung a potentialy dangerous weapon at a child's head. I don't care who this guy is, or how many years he's trained, or how many times he has practiced this exact same move. There is always, ALWAYS a risk. The question is; is it an acceptable risk? IMHO, when there is a child involved, it is never an Acceptable risk, especially when an adult, would not make this particular demonstration any less effective. To swing a weapon at a childs head, be it nunchucks, a sword, or anything else that could potentially damage the child, is reckless!

A common theme I see in these posts that physical fitness of a martial artist seems very much related to one's dedication to his training. I received my 1st dan at 18. I weighed 185, and was in, IMHO, great shape. Not long after that I took ten years off from my training. Over those ten years, I gained almost 75 pounds, and could not have punched my way out of a paper bag. Within a year of rededicating myself to my training, I dropped 60 of those 75 pounds, and am now feeling confident again about my abilities to protect myself and my family. If I was not dedicated to my training , once again, I have no doubt that I would still be rather round in the middle.