Sam

Not too old fashioned.... just guess the organisation has gone for the more popular sport side of it .... get more people in that way....just out of interest what about quality of their technqiues ? did you get to see any exmaple of that?

do you know what the form set is called?

experience - without going out and fighting [which i hope noone does on this board ] hard MA training is the best experience you can get - so you dont freeze up when the time comes to defend yourself... so yeah i agree with Aodhan again

Creating your own tests [if your honest with yourself] i believe can work - you know your own problems [specially after training for a long time] better than anyone...

Sabumnim - wheres the 3 seconds you state come from? any personaly experience or is it just something read somewehre [if so could oyu link to the source for me].... just interested becuase all the fights ive seen out of the ring have lasted a lot longer.

Good luck with the result tomorrow.

I strongly disagree with saying 4 years or more it bad...... and thanks for assuming TKd is the same as other MAs... we get a lot of stick. 4 years or more is completely reasonable .... psychologically it takes 10 years to become expert in something [if anyone has any particular issue with that statement i am happy to post sources for the data]..... at least... so 4 years is less than half of being expert in your MA ..... it doesnt show lack of dedication, and certainly doesnt mean a scam..... all depends on the martial art doesnt it - generally scams are done iwth many belts in short time periods rather than long ones anyway.

It also helps mentally - being able to hit something solid like boards does take quite a bit of drive mentally specially if youve not broken before or are attempting a break harder than ones youve done before.

What style of TKD are you looking at specifically? or havent you decided yet?

No matter how good someone is - if you dont understnad a technique, or even doubt its effectiveness you should always question - a good instructor should always be happy to explain.... thats why i hate it when people just accept things - a good part of using a technique the most effectively is undertstanding how it works. I would always be wary of hero worship....having a deep seated respect for your instructors / superiors is natural, but to stop being inquisitive and just accept they are teh be all and end all of the art is wrong.... they are practitioners too, and capable of making mistakes as big as anyone elses [ just less likely]. Cant really comment on the old masters though so ill leave that to someone else.

Good luck with your trianing - hope you enjoy it.

yes...but still there is a chance for biting - so they have to allow it really .. if your gonna let people start putting things in each others mouths - they should be allowed to bite.

yes vovinam viet vo dao does work on the small / tall thing.... but it doesn also have some really obviously unrealistic techniques built in [a lot of the aerial work they do]..... I think with any style overall i would put my money on the tall person [higher mass].... but it would also depend on build [lanky versus squat.....]

NinTai - probably WTF style - the hands down thing is just developed for sparring and not meant ot be used in actualy defense.....but i agree it in essense seems like a bad idea.

thats not full contact - thats full resistance then..... full ocntact as Aodhan pointed out wouldnt involve training to a point where you and your partner would become a mass of injuries and broken bones... I agree training with resistance is a good idea.... but not the only way to train as there is a lot that cant be taught from a resistive training style..... its a good way to go once youve got the basics sorted though.

Bags are good for power and follow through, breaking for technique focus and conditioning..... use both.

So long as you mention they're honorary, i wouldnt hold anyone in any lower regard for accepting a honorary belt although i personally wouldnt.

Whenever i spar my instructor, he always goes in pretty heavy when we're not wearing sparring gear, but not through lack of control, its just an agreement we have sort of.... come of bumped and bruised a lot though.

1st dan ITF Tae Kwon Do

tkdBill i forgot to mention good luck with your 3rd Dan....

Yeha its not so much a failure as someone saying ur not ready yet..... but still havent not passed a test yet, I've seen a couple of people fail, but mainly its due to lack of effort rather than ability.

depends on where you wnat to be...... long legs help you keep distance, but generally give you a disadvantage up close with someone, unless of course getting them off the floor helps....

Its always a really weird feeling when you do remove a sense - even something as simple as hearing [while still having your sight] can really confuse you - your balance can go off, and youll naturally slow down slightly... its really weird.

Achieving 1st dan.... just how much trianing went in to it, and the run up 2 it, massive relief after i found out i passed.

fasting is generally bad for you just so you know....