foreveryoung001

Well, I tried to NOT think about MAs for a while last night... just to see if I could do it. I tried to think about what I would do with the Billion Dollars.......... I ended up deciding I would spent it on traveling around to MA schools in different countries... maybe spend a few years over in Asia, learning a few different traditional styles.... Guess I lose.

As a TKD fanatic, I will be no good to offer advice onstyles, but I will encourage you to find a good school and just start going. It sounds liek you are in well enough shape to begin training without a problem. If you wait until you are in "peak" physical shape, you might be waiting a long time. Begin your training, with whatever style you finally choose, and I gauruntee that if you committ yourself fully to it, then you will get in shape.

The Subak Worriors also called the HWa Rang Dan around 700AD used used Soo Bak Do, also called Tae Kyun. The name Tae Kwon Do was chosen as the "official" name for a Korean art because of the similarity of the name to the ancient name of Tae Kyun. You can still find schools that teach Tae Kyun, and there are some similarities to modern TKD, but in reality, TKD was more influenced by Japan. Tae Kyun is definetly more of a kicking art, and that may ultimately be the biggest influence it has on TKD. I don't have an exact date as to when the name TKD was first chosen, there are several people who claim to have made up the name, but I know it wasn't until the 1960's that it was widely accepted. There were 17 different "kwans" or schools in the 1950's, and I think it was 1965 when the Korean Government formed the Korean TKD Assoc. So, I guess to answer your question, TKD has had many influences in it's creation, and some of those influences were from styles developed where kicking someone off a horse may have been their only chance of dismounting a rider.

Welcome to the forum! As for fighting stances. In Chung Do Kwan TKD, we teach students to keep their lead hand up and their back hand below the lead elbow, letting their rear forarm cover their midsection. This is the formal way we teach the stance, yet when it comes to sparring, I encourage students to find a position where they are comfortable, and protected. I want them to move, bounce a little, stay light on their feet as it were, and I find it very hard to do that myself if I have to hold a technical fighting stance. I encourage them to keep their lead hand up about chin level, and the rear hand somewhere near their stomach, but they are allowed to try whatever they would like to. It's easy to teach them to keep that lead hand up with a couple of quick backfists to their forheads, but it takes a while for them to find what works for them. I see some of them like to keep their rear hand almost tucked under their lead armpit. I like to sneak a lot of front leg side kicks up under their lead arm if they raise it to high, so this is a bad habit some of them have gotten into. It really limits the usefulness of their trailing hand if they have it wedged up there. I also see a tendency, and maybe this is just because a lot of them watched the olympics, but they want to drop their arms a lot. I'ts not to hard to persuade them to put their hands back up after they get pegged a time or two, but it don't want them getting over confident. Chung Do Kwan is very self defense oriented, not sport oriented, and we work a lot on how to deal with real life situations... I've never been in a street fight, close a couple of times, but I would hate to think that any of my students would keep their arms down at their sides in an actual life or death situation.

That might fall in the TMI catagory

I didn't think I was going to live through it. It was two days. Day one was infront of the black belt review board and they drove us until a bunch of us (not me thank God) were actually getting sick Literally. We ran, did our forms over and over again, ran some more, sparred, one on one, two on one, three on one, ran some more, advanced forms, ran some more, self defense sparring, ran some more (this is where they started getting sick). Then we ran through all of our techniques. If you made it through day one, day two was a snap. That was family day, where friends, relatives, etc, could come and watch, take pictures... we did some breaking, did our advanced forms again, a little sparring. Day two was much more relaxed. Day one was everyone doing their forms together, no break, more running.... day two, we did them individually, so we could rest before we had to go up, there was no running, and by then you really felt like you had made it. I'd say 1/3 of the 35 people going for 1st Dan didn't make it all the way through day one. It may not have been that many, but I remember that a lot of them didn't come back for day two. I honestly don't even consider the second day a part of the test. It was more for show.

#1: A lot. #2: How about you give me 5-million and I just cut down on how much I think about it?

Dang Shane... I was just about to go out and rent the movies so I could learn a whole new style. I learned that TKD was greatly influenced by Shotokan as well during Japan's occupation of Korea. But I can't be much help wither.

There is a really nice web site where instructors share lots of great ideas. It's not a forum... it's more like a bulletine board. Some of the ideas are only so-so, but I have found a lot of new ideas that my students, both kids and adults, are really enjoying. http://www.4kicks.com/

I have trained primarily in Chung Do Kwan TKD, but have also spent about a year at a Tang Soo Do school while I when I first moved into this area. Between the TKD and the TSD, I found only slight differences in the actual application of techniques. The kicks, blocks, punches, were very similar. There were some different theories on weight transfer, body movement, and slight variations in how the technique is thrown, but the TSD instructor never wanted to get into it much. I enjoy the science of the art, and was specifically looking to learn the differences, but either this guy didn't know why he was teaching certain things in certain ways, or he may have felt that since I had my 1st Dan in TKD, that I wouldn't want to change the way I did things.... The forms were different. The Chung Do Kwan, has followed the WTF with some other added forms, where the TSD taught the Pyung Ahn forms.

I definetely enjoy teaching my kids. They have such a good time with it, that it is contagious.

Welcome Nick. In answer to your question, I think you should listen to your body. If you have the motivation to go twice a week, give it a shot, but if your body can't handle the workout yet, then back off and build up to it. You're young and it wouldn't take you much time at all to build up to twice a week... if you can't handle it already.

Fear and excitment. Tjey are chemically no different. One person going over the top of a roller coaster is scared to death... another is excited and happy... their bodies are producing the same chemicals. One just interprets the situation differently than the other. If your mind takes the situation, interprets it as something to be feared, and interprets the adreneline as a bad thing, and you freeze up... then I agree, "fear" could be a bad thing. On the other hand... if your mind interprets the situation as something potentially dangerous, but knows that you can handle it, and the adreneline is viewed as "getting your blood pumping", and you don't freeze, but use the adreneline rush to your advantage, then the "excitment" of the situation could be a good thing. I think it all comes down to how prepared you are. In my signature, you see that the master wasn't prepared.

Against someone their own age, they may be able to. It's all relative. In my style, they would allow a child under 18 to test for junior black belt... it was not as rigorous or demanding as the normal 1st Dan test, but as soon as they were 18, they had to quit wearing the 1/2 red 1/2 black belt and go back to 1st gup red. I waited until I was 18 before testing so I didn't have to go through it twice.

Wow, Love Connection's got nothin' on KF My nickname used to be "The Shower" because I'd sweat so stickin' much when I worked out. It's still pretty nasty, but I'm the instructor now, so my nick name is usually "sir"...

Does this make anyone else feel queezy? Personally, it only took one time early in my training... I have never gone without one since...

I don't know of a video that specifically focuses on those kicks, but through my organization there is a video call, "42 foundational kicks" (At least I think it's 42. I let students borrow it so I don't get to practice with it much). It covers all of the kicks, and then breaks them down and demonstrate different ways to throw them. Example: A side kick is a side kick is a side kick, but there are many different ways to get to the point where you throw the side kick. Spinning, shuffle, cross-step, drop, jump, flying, etc... So the video covers all of these different applications of each kick. I don't know exactly what you are after, but you can find some more info about this video at: http://www.uscdka.com/ProShop/tek9.asp?pg=products&grp=32 The instruction on this video does assume that you have a basic understanding of how to throw the different kicks, and is really only used as a training aid in cooperation with a regular instructor, so this might not be what you are after....

interesting...

I don't know..... They used to say that teaching Fottball players ballet was a waste of time too, but look at how many coaches in the NFL use that very technique............ well, I guess none of them do....... you know,I can't even think a college coach who does...... okay, you're right, it is desperate.

Ah, the question that will be dabated until the end of time. I've heard it expressed this way on this forum before... The best style is the one which you will commit yourself to learning. I can speak to Chung Do Kwan, a style of TKD, and say as far as combativness, it is probobly lacking in some areas. We teach a lot on how to avoid a fight, where in your career, that doesn't always sound like an option. There are other people on the forum with this career, and they, I'm sure, will be able to help you more in this area. Good luck!

I knew I caught something when I went out last week without a hat. I need to go lay down... I'm coming down with obesity*caugh*... I just feel so weak...*wheeze*... must get to sofa and lie down before....I........pass..........out

I enjoyed the "Dragon Lance" series when I was younger.

I got a kick out of his remarks regarding the sparring between boys and girls and how it was teaching them to be sexist. I guess by his definition, I should refuse to teach people of other races because if I have an African-American, and a white guy spar, I'll be promoting the KKK or something. I'll get an articale written about me..."They already run around in their white pajamas, now all they need is the hood" I don't know anything about this school that he wrote about, but I can at least say that the article didn't have any notion of being journalistic. Opinionated, narrow-minded, and completely one-sided.

Well put. I think there is way too much focus on who was first. I've seen other threads about Bruce where people try to discredit his accomplishments because he may not have been the first at this, or the first at that. Whether he was the first individual to implement the theory of fluid motion... who cares. Whether he was the first to implement some different training techniques... who cares. He was a great martial artist... whether its ever agreed upon or not about his fighting abilities. Henry Ford didn't invent the first automobile either, but it never stopped people from buying his vehicles. Bruce had some great accomplishments, entertained many people, exposed MAs to a whole new segment of society... enjoy what he did, and what he accomplished. Just MHO

I have to agree with finding an instructor. In my style of TKD, I find takedowns and grappling to be a little lacking. I began working out with an old family friend who practiced Jiu-Jitsu for many years, just so I could properly teach my students a more expanded curriculum. I tried learning a couple of things from videos and books... since I am not proficient in grappling, I found it very difficult to gain a propper understanding of various techniques. By working with my friend, he was able to explain the theory and science behind each movement, and to help correct mistakes that I wasn't even aware I was making. His help has been invaluable.