foreveryoung001

It can come back to bite you. At tournament last year, while I was working out with a Tang Soo Do club, we attended a tournament. The instructor of the club knew that another competitor messed up a Tang Soo Do form, but that time all of the judges were TKD. The Instructor was bad mouthing the judges when the guy that screwed up took 2nd, and nobody from our group placed. I was in the dark too. As a TKD guy, I had no idea that he messed up until the instructor started complaining. I did my form, I thought, without error, but I didn't place. I don't know, maybe the Russian judge was against me that day.

This is so true. I took first in forms at a tournament I was in this past June. My organization stays current with all of the WTF forms, but we also have others that our Grand Master added back in the early 70's. I usually do a non-WTF form at tournaments, but in this one I did Koryo. I messed up like there was no tomorrow... by the end of the form, anyone who knew what Koryo was supposed to look like knew I didn't do well, but not one judge was from a WTF style, only one was even TKD, the rest were from different karate styles, and because I didn't look like I made a mistake, no facial expressions of disgust, they thought I nailed it. It was the first time I had ever taken a first place trophy in forms, and it was, in my oppinion, my worst showing. I still chuckle over that one.

No matter what happens, HAVE FUN Remember that you are getting judged on your performance, not on your abilities. You can be the "best" martial artist in the world, but if you have a bad performance, you will not do well at a tournament. You could also be an average martial artisit that has a great performance, and does very well. Your abilities come into play on how prepared you are for your performance, but don't get to hyped up if you win, or to bummed out if you don't. Also, learn as much as you can from the experience, so you can be better and better with each tournament you go to. But most important... relaxe and enjoy yourself.

I would say that it would be the respectful thing to do, to ask your instructor. He may have some very specific thoughts on patches or placement of them, and it would be wise to ask him. Follow up question, For the time that that I was away from my original organization, I visited a few different schools and clubs, and I quickly felt out of place. In the USCDKA, we have and organization patch, our names our embroidered on our uniforms, and depending on the school, we might have some wording across the back. THat's a lot of stuff compared to most schools that I've been to. I quickly bought a new uniform, and left it blank, so that when I did visit a school, I would not be the cause of any questions or confusion. One time, before I purchased the new uniform, I heard a student confront his instructor about why their unifroms couldn't have patches when mine could. I didn't stay listen to the answer, I excused myself from class and didn't return until I had the new uniform. Just my thoughts on the subject.

As far as sparring goes, I think there are a lot of things that you can use in your attempt to gain points. The expression on your face is one certainly, body language can come into play too, in other words, do you look confident or do you look scared or nervous? The noises you make.... if you throw a kick, and miss by a mile, do you groan out of frustration, or do you give it all you got, and follow-up the technique to let them know that you mean business? Now in an actual self defense situation, I wouldn't worry to much about smiling at the guy comng at you with a knife... I would concentrate more on defending yourself and those around you, but in sparring... anything goes.

Welcome to the board. I do not know much about it, but there is a MA called Capoeira(sp?) that is supposed to be very flashy... flips and spins... I don't know how effective that would be in real life, but it might add the type of spice you are looking for. I'm sure there are others on this board who know more about this art, and might have some links for you. Good luck with the book. Do you have a title, or a basic plot that you would like to share?

Best of luck! I really like that form.

The Christian thing to do is the very thing that you said you did not want to do. That is to forgive her. Now by doing that, you do not need to befriend her, or reach out to her in any way that is uncomfortable to you, but you should find a way to releive this hatred and anger that you are carrying around. One way to do this might be to approach her, and make a pre-emptive apology. I know that you did not do anything wrong in this situation, but please think about this idea. I have seen this work with my own children. Approach her somewhere private. Maybe there is an office you could use at your dojo, or in the parking lot, but make sure you are away from other people so that this will be a private conversation. Tell her that you something you need to apologize for. Explain that your feeling were hurt with the different situations that you ahve described to us. Explain to her that you were feeling a lot of anger towards her because of those situations. then tell her you need to apologize for carrying that anger around. Ask her for her forgivness. I would almost place a bet that she will offer her own apology to you when she hears how she has made you feel. This is just one idea. Think about it. I'm not saying it will definetly work, but it might be worth a try... If she starts mouthing off again while you are trying to apologize, you can always go with the reverse punch... well, maybe not.

I can understand why it would be hard to trust people after this, but try not to let it get to you too much. IMHO, you've taken the right steps in solving this issue, but I would caution you about letting it determine your opinions of everyone else's values. People need to earn your trust, but don't block everyone out. I'm sure this was just an off-hand statement made out of anger and frustration, but try not to let her get to you anymore. but if she does continue to bother you, go with the kick to the head...

What about if it were an actual ministry within the church? I don't think the government can dictate what ministries a church runs. Could be wrong though.

I have heard from a couple of different friends that there are "McDojos" in England. He had a different name for them, but they were the same type of low quality, high priced, belt factory.

Glad here are things are at least taking the steps to get better. If you have any further problems with the mom, don't be afraid to speak with your instructor. I'm sure he will do everything within his power to keep his dojo running smoothly, and a good environment for everyone.

My grand master is a big believer in the walking cane. We don't really do much in the way of training with weapons in TKD, but in TKD Chung Do Kwan, we have one-step drills with the cane. We don't do anything flashy with it, like you might see with some other weapons at tournys and such, but we do use it and practice with it as very viable self defense weapon.

What?! Uh...... Uh..... No we didn't! Go see a doctor, you'll feel better. Now as I was saying, when I throw a side kick.......

Hey, how can we a lynching if you keep bringing common sense into this? Get the rope!!!!

I have no plans to chnage styles, but it will be interesting to see if I can eventually force myself to not pivot. I can hold it until I get about waist high, and then no matter how hard I concentrate, they just go with the flow. Oh well, an interesting expereriment.

You can see what happened with TKD and politics when they tried to incorporate all TKD under the Kukkiwon. Splits and factions, some kwans not even being recognized as a true Kwan... it was a mess. If Karate became an olympic event, there would have to be an organization to standardize the rules... and that's where things would begin to go wrong.

Just a thought. When I was learning Spanish, years ago in high school, my teacher told me that a person can not become truly bi-lingual unless they learn both languages before a certain age. I don't remember what age, but it was young.... 4 or 5 if I recall. If they learn any language after that, they can become fluent, but their mind will always translate what is said back to their orginal language. I have never followed up on that, to find out if it was true, but it made some sense to me. I have always wondered about the logistics of training in more than one art to early, but with the lagnuage theory in mind, I am now wondering if it might not be better to learn both from the begining. There is a topic in the "general MA" thread about hips, and the discussion came around to whether pivoting your base foot on a side kick is a common characteristic. In TKD we do pivot, and after almost 20 years, I just tried to throw a side kick without pivoting, but I am having a hard time forcing my body not to do it, yet there are styles out there where they do not pivot, so I know it is possible. Perhaps if I had learned to throw a side kick both ways from the beginning, I would not have this difficulty. Just a thought.....

I just tried to throw a couple of side kicks without pivoting, just to see how high I could kick, and for the life of me I can not stop my hips from pivoting. In TKD we like kicking high though, and the pivoting is just a natural part of the kick now............. Just tried again.... still pivoting.... and pivoting.... and pivoting.....

See what you learn here. I did not know that.

I have to agree that pivoting your base foot is vital in throwing a proper side kick... at least in TKD and TSD. I could see how it would hurt your hips if were trying to kick higher than your waist without pivoting the hips.

Welcome! Share your thoughts and opinions, and I'm sure you have a good number of... "conversations"

Congrats!

I understand that! I used to be one of them... long story, but I give glory to God for changing my heart. I just wasn't following the posts clearly and didn't understand the reference to the "Other camp". It is a shame that their hearts are that hardened. But if anyone can change hearts... keep praying! My students and I will lift you up too.

So-called Christians are doing this to you?