Sam

that or he'll look like a mutated helicopter

I would have to say just be in better condition than your oponent... if there is anything that competitions prove that dont go on points is that it tends to be the fighter in better condition.... trainign for fitness is just as important as technique.

As sauzin says it is generally a bad sign.... the 6th dan may acutally be a gifted student.... just the intructor has chosen to motivate by very short promotions...

frightmaster - you have to remember when breaking it is a performance [im not saying you dont]. Im just saying that breaking is and always will be a test of focus and technique under conditions you control.... thats why i think its good for practice but only trains you in certain parts of MA.... i really do advocate its practice though.

Rob makes agood point about circuit training for anaerobic... also anaerobic exercise increase both anaerobic and aerobic enduracne whereas aerobic exercise only improves aerobic.....

Yes - but then again their instructor may as mentioned start grading at first Dan - it maybe an obscure language where Dan actually means grade... so he really would be blue belt.... lol No i agree it seems really suspicious..... just handing out 6th dans gives the wrong impression

what does (*) all the above mean? im confused

Yeah that sounds like fun, lol... might wanna work in some fast squats or something like that just for a bit of explosive powerin your legs.... didnt relaly understand what you were on about iwth the knee pushups.

Yes, and no i dont have any pictures.... my parents shift furniture about quite a bit between places, and have loads of old stuff from way back they chuck out, so i just nick it and practice.... Ill try andget some pictures next time Itll probably just be a bookcase or something tho, or a table.

Lol, I recommend a heavy bag personally - thats more of a personal preference than anything else. Seconly mine weighs about 140lbs ish.... so around 65kgs. The weight depends on what you want ot do with it, boxing wise [since thats ur style] you might want something a little light - ill leave that to someone else ot recommend. I picked 140 because i do a lot of kicking work on it and so need something heavy enough to withstand the kicks without going all over the place, but not too heavy because i have to take it down / put it upwhen i want to use it. Cost wise mine was £80 so around $150 i think hope that helps.

To quickly address mattyj's comment about ITF not having sport orientation..... i didnt mean it was wholly sport oriented, buti was saying that sport tae kwon do has place in both WTF and ITF styles, WTF tends to be a larger part of the training is sport..... but ITF does have a sport side.... but is mostly traditional.

I wear shoes sometimes if im teaching the kids class cos the gym is so cold and i dont move around that much when teaching the kids.... but only sometimes.

Again the murky waters of Korean history come up.... its amazing how important people found it to try and give their art credibility by making it sound older

just to mention judoguy i was simply pointing out it might be getting to the clinch that something happens.... or whatever, all im saying is , its impossible to train for every circumstance so you should train with that in mind, rather than just repeating a few scenarios all the time. Oh and i agree that the responses in grappling are hugely more limited than with someone coming at your striking.... no arguement there.

yeah i would immediately say that mostly that 13 yr old 6th dan is a bit suspicious far above the rest.... just ask them how longit takes between belts.

You should always look at what you'll get out of your training and your payments.... will it just be the lessons, and learning some moves.... then thats probably not enough, you need to find somewhere that you enjoy, i think thats the most important thing with starting MA, cos if you dont enjoy it hten you wont stick with it or apply yourself.

Kunyongdo - i dont think JusticeZero was saying that you were less valid because of founding oyur own style, neither was he callign you a fraud.... he was just mentioning that going to a class where the instructor is self promoted to 10th degree in their own art, you should look at the class for the quality of it - not the qualifications of the instructor, and look for similarity in ability between similar grades.... i think he was just saying be weary rather than actually insulting anyone.

Yeha i remember discussing this before - as you get so senior [near 9th or 10th] you should really start becoming an ambassador for your art, and therefore recognised for it.

I disagree uptheirons - i would say generally dont..... but in some cases it works out... i dont think there is a plain black and white yes/no answer to whether its ok to date... depends on age / attitude / will.... among other thing.

You cant win without both... unless you defend really aggressively.... but to succeed in a fight or self defense situation you will need both. And strategically i agree with glockmeister - being on the defense all teh time puts you in a bad position as you arent necessarily in control.

Just to address "violence never solved anything" thing..... personally i think anyone who said that hasnt ever really looked over a history book - violence has a habbit of settling a lot of things very well.... just should be a last resort rather than a first.

I think what people are saying [ or at least meaning ] is that fighting should be a last option once you've exhausted everything else.

when you cant get your sofa out your living room when your moving house, you decide its a good time to practice your destruction....

Thats the one thing that bugs me sometimes when i train.... when you train with younger kids who dont necessarily do the work out / exercises correctly and so dont get tired - and just say "oh that was easy" and then we end up getting more, so all the older people [me included] are absolutely shattered, and there are some people who are barely out of breath because they've not done much.... sorry had to let that out.

really? wow - did you still expect the punch line? Thats the main problem with that joke - its a bit predictable.