Sam

I know im only young (19) but ive broken both my knees 3 times each, so i get a lot of problems with these, similar to what a lot of the older guys i train with experience, and the best thing ive found for it is resistance training to increase the muscle strength supporting the joint you have problems with; butl ike i said im young so i dont really know how this would work on damage caused by wear.... Good luck to your daughter Kicks and hope her knees dont hold her back

wow, i thought i had loads to say on this, ive been through it a couple of times, but anonymousOne summed it all up, just (a) keep at it , and (b) find more than one thing to work on; I always find something new to look at, or a new aspect, adn then cycle through the various practices and areas of training, trying to mix them as much as possible.

I guess it sort of both - but i figure most people start out not being able to judge contact - or really know how hard they can hit people without it hurting even if they can control it, but as you spar more nad more you get used to distance nad power and how much people can take, so i guess you're more confident, not only this but you learn how to predict more of what they are doing. the wide eyed and squint thing i dont experience, so i cant really help there sorry mate.

Yeah short and powerful [imho] is the way to go.... All from the diaphragm - much air as possible in a short amount of time.... screams just annoy me and hurt my ears.

Nope didnt get a chance - i was officiating as well but i will ask around for friends who have photos.- however the results were Liam - silver [5th kup lightweight] dan - silver [2nd kup cadet heavyweight] me - lost in teh first round [1st Dan heavyweight] I was dwarfed by most of the guys i was up against - luckily enough the guy i did fight wasnt that much bigger than me. Im off up2 the scottish soon so ill be competing and officiating again and try and get some time out to get some photos this time; there was some brilliant destruction going on [540 reverse side kick - two black boards no spacers]. Anyways apologies for no photos, try and do better next time!

I'm pretty sure that there is another long set of posts on this - maybe on of the more long serving members will be able to remember which one, or just do a searhc

I agree - 10 years would give you so much more experience than just the 1, specially if you're talking about top notch training in both cases... Thnink if you narrowed the gap to like 1 year versus 3, it might be a little bit more even, would still give it to the guy with 3, but it wouldnt be so definite...

And as i remember you saying - first time he beat you correct? I had to spar one of the guys id been training with for ages a couple of tournaments ago, and lost which was pretty obviously going to happen anyway!

Yep - i wanna hear this - willing to give benefit of the doubt - maybe meant got a year of constant training or something liek that 24/7.... hehe

.125 too yay

Start at uni in 3 months - scary scary!!

Dont train karate obviously; do TKD but train around 6 times a week, sometimes more, never less than 5. Have some extended sunday session every so often as well [which are usually the ones where we are expected to be more disciplined than usual].

Yeha good luck - currently a assistant instructor - and off to Uni this year - but sorted a TKD club out over there so im alright... Just love watching other people develop through TKD and begin to enjoy it more and more... good feeling

Wow you put it much better than i did - i always have trouble explaining that: we get a lot of people taking breaks from training for various reasons...

Well i guess thats one opinion onthe matter - didnt realise he was ever that good - trained with ed parker or something like that didnt he?

surprised no ones mentioned its from ed parker lineage stuff - maybe a person to ask about this is parkeylineage - dunno...

Not that i know of - but im from UK so there may well be places you can learn it in America. I guess one alternative is to take a course in fitness instructing, or something similar. I get most of my stuff from books like "stretching scientifically" - or just tlaking to the guys on crossfit.com

Yeah i agree- dont think choi is a good exmaple - being the founder of TKD anyway - Joon Rhee - yeah good one Hee il cho? another one - iagree that is the definition of true 8th and 9th - they should be world renowned - you've convinced me now

Sorry for the lack of posting - had to work late last night and rush to trianing so it all got a bit hectic - youll get them this evening i hope!!

yeah that does seem a bit odd??? either way - if you get a chance to go - get some photos or something and put them up

Bit late now i guess - but still congratulations and hope you're enjoying the new training / techniques!!!

They're good for throwing / kicking at people to - if they're not warming up properly!! Try warming up with the same way with a mini bouncy ball even the most co-ordinated person in the world will end up looking like they're permanently about ot fall over

Its amazing what you can read into such a simple story! I like the explanation you gave parkerlineage - attention to detail!!

exactly - sometimes its not just about getting to the skill level and saying "right now im good enough i get my black belt" - sometimes its about waiting for it

Also - what about different styles? some have more to learn than others... different forms are easier to learn than others.... etc. etc. for info my organisation requires 3.5 yrs minimum no matter how much you train [at least 2 hours a week - so for instance i did around 7.5 hours [average] of training with my instructors a week. for 3.5 years. so that 1365 hours of training - but i feel ive earned the belt at least - and feel comfortable with my skill level. I agree with Paul though - its down to the students - we cant get it faster than 3.5 years but some of the students i know work with work for so long and so hard that they develop the skill quickly.... and also you get naturally gifted athletes and martial artists...