Ottman

Oh yeah I've seen those things. What do you do with it besides stand on it? Or is that enough to improve your balance?

it's soo bak? I guess the hwarang-do thing is really just a rumor. I'd like to hear if anyone has any more info on either.

Exactly. I have a degree in marketing so I can't fault them, nor blame them, and it's true that breaking is a great way to get people excited about martial arts. I always like to promote their then being substance behind all that show. What journey did that person go on to get to the point that they're able to look at a cinder block, (or multiple cinder blocks) and break it/them without fear. Im interested in that journey, and whether I can take a similar journey. Breaking is the hook, from an advertising standpoint, but any school will be nothing but a fad if they can't deliver the product (i.e. quality martial arts instruction) after hooking the customer. It's unfortunate that you can still survive as a business and make a lot of money, even with a fad product, as long as there are enough 'fish' to hook. This is one of the problems we are beginning to see in the 'industry' (I know, it sounds horrid) of modern martial arts.

I think it was called hwarang-do, and was used to kick cavalrymen off of horses. That's the popular rumor anyway. Don't know anything else about it.

We have the 5 tenets frightmaster mentioned, as well as the 5 D's: Desire Drive Determination Dedication Discipline We also have a school creed that is posted on the wall. We don't recite it or anything, but it's similar to what's been posted here. I spar with an Isshin Ryu Karate school that has the same tenets and also a similar oath, but I'm not sire if they recite it or not (never heard them do it.) I have a feeling that since the asian martial arts are so inter-related they will also share the same philosophies to an extent as well.

Yeah I haven't really liked much of Segal's stuff in the past 5 years or so, but this movie totally redeems him in my book.

Angus, I totaly agree with everything you've said (except I don't see myself ever smashing someone's head with a downward palm heel.) I was just trying to make the point that if you go into something like breaking with an attitude like: 'the more I break, the better martial artist I'll be' you're limiting your training to focus on that one thing (as you alluded to at the end of your post.) Breaking is a lot of fun, one of my favorite parts of martial arts training actually, and a very effective tool to teach focus, accuracy and power, but as you said, we need to be well rounded in our training, and I've seen students get fixated on one aspect of their training or another, and totally neglect a full training regimen that could make them excellent martial artists. Instead they become just excellent at breaking, or just excellent at sparring, or at a certain weapon, or etc. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's always good to excel, but I just don't like to see potential wasted, especially if I could see them become excellent, well rounded martial artists.

P.S. Eddie and christie are definitely the only characters that do Capoeira in Tekken. Maybe you're thinking of a different game.

I've been practicing Capoeira for about three years now. I got into it as a supplement to my TKD and JKD training. Since I've started, I've seen steady progress in my footwork, balance, flexibility, strength, and agility. It has also helped me with my kicking power, as my hips have gained a much larger and more diverse range of motion. Another thing I have gotten out of my Capoeira training is the ability to throw powerful kicks from unorthodoxed positions, which has increased the variety of attacks I can throw in my other martial arts sparring matches. Accuracy is another benefit I have experienced: When you can throw an accurate kick while standing on your hands in an inverted position, it becomes exponentially easier to do so while standing upright on your feet. If you're worried about not getting enough defense techniques out of Capoeira, then just cross train. As i've presented, I've found it to be a great accessory to other MA training.

Definitely look at the chest. While looking at the core of the body, where all movement should originate, you can pick up on telegraphs by seeing, as others have mentioned, the shoulders and hips moving. For taller guys, I'd say stay inside on them, within your own range, and attack. If they back off, chase them down and stay in, don't let them use their longer reach against you, instead make them have to pull back in order to attack you, and when you see them pull back, move in and attack first. For defending against someone who is coming at you, it's all about timing. If you can read their movement and time it correctly, you should be able to move in past their attack, and hit them before they can hit you. Pretty much everything comes down to timing IMHO.

What are scalloped pavers? I thought breaking was about proper technique and focus, and not neccesarily to break as much stuff as possible. I have broken cinder blocks before, and it is cool, and it feels great to be successful at it, but I never thought that it helped me in my training too much. I'd rather break 1 board with a technique I'm trying to develop perfect accuracy and form with, than all the bricks in the world just to see if i could do it. Breaking to me is a test of form, accuracy and technique while at the same time using full power contact. It is very tough (IMHO) to be accurate, and powerful at the same time, and this is the use I always saw for breaking. For brick breaking, I have only seen people do it with downward palm-heel strikes, and if someone is laying down infront of me, I don't think it takes much accuracy to be able to hit him hard.

Steven Segal. It's a new one, March 2005 I think and it's a scorcher. I highly recomend it. Segal actually wrote this one and I'm very impressed at his screenwriting skills. I took a screenwriting class this summer, and it's a lot harder than it sounds.

Great post shogeri, I think you made all the necessary analyses here. Thanks for the history lesson too.

Ong-Bak, Into the Sun, Kill Bill V.1, Return of the Dragon, Game of Death, and of course The Karate Kid series.

Of course it does. It angers me too, but as martial artists, we should have a better control over anger and be able to resolve our issues in a peaceful, non-violent way.

Mean Fighter, I know you're new to this forum, but this argument has gone on, on various posts on this forum for a long time, and it has always resolved the same way: Each instructor is different, regardless of which federation (or organization) they are affiliated with. Yes there are some problems and political issues in modern day TKD, and there certainly are those schools that teach only for sport, but if you think that a label, be it WTF, ITF, ATA, USTU, USSSA, etc. can describe the ability of any individual martial artist, you are seriously kidding yourself. First of all, it seems that the school you trained at while in WTF was severely lacking in martial arts know how. No one gets three levels away from Black belt in 2 months, even if they are a master in another style. This particular school you trained at is obviously misrepresenting themselves as a martial arts school. Second, no 10 year old is as powerful as an adult. Ever. Sorry, but it's just not physically possible. And finally, it's my personal opinion that no TKD federations, or any martial arts organizations of that sort are necessary at all. You find an instructor you like, and put your all into your trainnig, and you will be successful. That's all there is to it. there are no shortcuts, and no amazing masters that can make you a great martial artist. Only you can do that for yourself.

Well fighting these guys out in the street isn't going to prove or disprove anything. I think you should reconsider how to handle this predicament of yours. Maybe try talking to the instructors they train under and/or your instructor. If any of the instructors I know ever found out that someone from their school was using their martial arts, regardless of the style, for street fighting it would be a bad day for those students. I understand you want to confront and stop these bullies, but there are much better ways to go about it. You're setting yourself up for a bad situation. Remember that those old martial arts movies are movies, not real life.

To me, it takes more of a man to walk away, and restrain his force, than it does to go out of control and hurt people. I know I can hurt people if I wanted to. Why should I need to prove it?

P.S., when you're kicking and holding with the ankle weights on, make sure to take it slow and don't snap the kick. This can damage your joints. Full power kicking with ankle weights on is a BAD idea. Make sure to go slow. Also, try not to support yourself on a wall if you don't have to. Train your balance to be able to do this exercise while free standing, and it will pay off in the future. You'll be rooted to the ground, even while standing on one foot.

Get a set of 2 - 5 lbs. ankle weights and kick out (slowly) and hold your leg out with proper foot position for at least 5 seconds. repeat at least 5 times on each leg and do this for turn kick, side kick, and front snap kick. Then stretch out. Keep the ankle weights on, lie down on your back and do 3 sets of 25 "fold-ups" which is a leg raise and a crunch at the same time. (You're folding yourself in half at the waist. Get it?) Try and hold the foldup at its peak for three seconds on each rep, and don't let your legs or back hit the ground on the way down. Try and hold your legs and back at about an inch off the ground for 3 seconds on the way down. Stretching after each set is good, but not necessary. When you're finished, take off the ankle weights and practice your best, most powerful, highest kicks. Do at least turn kick, side kick, and front snap kick, but I'd recomend twist, hook, inside and outside crescent, and back spin as well; anything you anticipate using in competition. Do at least 5 reps on each leg per kick. Remember to stretch again when you're finished. If you can do it everyday, you'll have phenomenal kicks two weeks from now, but at least every other day will be sufficient. Take the day before the tournament off from this workout (but remember to stretch anyway.) I used this plan in April 2 weeks before the USSSA Region 1 TKD championships and won the whole thing. Good luck!

It isn't about creating or not creating a hybrid. Everyone has their own style of fighting regardless of the style(s) they train in. You're right, tkd-student, that we should keep as many options available to us as possible, but if you don't have a solid base in the fundamentals of the movements of martial arts, you can't go about refining your own style and making it work for you to the best of your ability. For instance, a beginner student who is trying to master the basics of TKD, needs to focus on TKD and how he/she can best perform it, before incorporating other styles into his TKD training. If the said TKD student decides to take Aikido while he is still working towards a black belt in TKD, that's fine, but trying to combine the two into one training session before you have a mastery of each individual art, is a very difficult thing, and can result in missing some of the essential basics of either art, and thus performing that art improperly which can lead to injury, or overconfidence in a fight. Accumulating as much knowledge as you can is useless unless you understand how to apply the knowledge. Master the basics of each art first, and then go about figuring out when to use different styles in different situations. I think you'll also find, that once you have a mastery of one art, it becomes much easier to pick up the basics of another art.

I agree that the quality of teaching is all that matters, but I picked westerner over Korean, (even though I thought that the choices here were rather limited) because of all the Korean Masters I have met (which amounts to around 6 or 7) they have all been profiteering, ego-maniacs, so I guess I'm just biased because of my experience. This does not speak anything about their teaching ability, as I haven't ever had a class with a Korean master. It's just my perception of their character, based on the ones I have interacted with, which I think is a big part of a good, effective instructor.

I think most instructors are favorable to cross training. My school offers TKD, which is the primary style we teach, but also Ju Jitsu, Nunchuckudo, XMA, and we used to do Aikido as well, until the instructor had to move. We have sparring sessions with a few other TKD schools, as well as an Isshin-Ryu Karate school and another Ju Jitsu school. My master instructor in TKD also trains in Wei Chi Ryu (if I spelled that right) and encourages black belts (or any student really) to cross train, and bring their new skills back to the dojang to share with everyone. It's a great atmosphere to train in.

I paid between $25 and $50 for colored belt tests, and $150 to the school for BB tests. This includes the cost of the belts, certificate, and a video of the test. I only got Kukiwon certified for my 1st dan and I think it was around $250 or so. 2nd dan kukiwon fees last year were the rediculous amount of $360. I didn't pay it. The kukiwon does absolutely nothing for me, so why should I pay them? I'm certified by my instructor (also included in the $150 testing fee) who is a 5th dan Hall of Famer and Female Master of the Year in 2005, and that's enough for me.

Yeah this type of teaching seems very counterproductive. It's one thing to crosstrain; for instance taking one class of a certian style and another class in a different style, but if you teach different styles in the same hour class (or however long your class is) I would predict a certain amount of confusion in the students, especially if you're expected to be able to destinguish between the two different styles. As Warlock said, you really need a certain amount of mastery in one or more individual arts before you try and combine different styles into a hybrid. This doesn't mean that you can't cross train and be mastering two different styles at once, but to try and combine them initially, right from the start is a lot for a beginner student to take on. He/she needs to get a base in the fundamentals of each art before trying to meld the two together. Studying multiple styles with the intent to combine them into a hybrid style, such as in the Jeet Koon Do philosphy, is an advanced form of training, and really shouldn't begin until the student has a black belt in at least one art already (IMHO).