pegasi

Wood boards are usually a white pine, the yellow pine is tougher. They are, as another said, often several different thicknesses - 1/4", 1/2" and 1" thick. They are usually 12" in height, and vary in width from 6"x12" for kids to full 12"x12" for adults. Some schools will only use the 1" boards, with the width varying from 4" to 12" depending on age and level. Other schools will use the thinner boards for kids, and the thicker ones for adults. Multiple thinner boards may be used for older kids who aren't quite up to adult boards yet. All things considered, a lot depends on the school's preference.

I too have a "well rounded" figure, but am short. So, I have to get larger uniforms, but end up taking about 5-7 inches off the length of tops and bottoms. If a top fits and the bottom is too big, you can resize it some by turning it inside out and stitching outer seams. there aren't usually outer seams on a pair of pants, but it should work to take them down a bit by just removing a bit of the "bagginess" of the material that way. You can do a "test run" by setting the machine to as long a stitch as you can, and loosening up the tension some, just enough to tack it together. You can then turn them back right side out and try 'em on to see the effect before becoming "committed" to the change you made.

Sadly, no insurance had made it such that I've only seen my GP. He helped where he could by working with me so I could get some meds via a mail order program for people w/o insurance that I could afford, and gave me the rx for the boot. I ended up waiting a week to get one, with all the figuring out of which model was needed, and trying to find one I could afford. Ebay came thru again! I'm in the wait til it doesn't hurt to try to stretch it before I can go back to class mode. I must've did it rather thoroughly, to still be in pain 2 wks later. I hate sitting around

I managed to tear my calf muscle, at the point where the muscle attaches to the achilles tendon. It's apparently a common runner's injury. I stepped backwards and went to move to execute a kick, and my calf muscle went crazy. I had had my ankle flexed and my knee straight, like the back leg is in front stance, and went to move, and the calf muscle just went out of nowhere. It felt like someone hit me with a bat in the back of the leg, it was that bad. Took me out of class that day, and I'm still out. It's been 2 weeks now, the leg still hurts in that area if I try to do some basic wall stretching, so I know not to go back to class yet. I'd rather be in class, but I know if I don't let this heal all the way first, it's likely to get reinjured. So, I'm trying to be patient. I'm stuck wearing one of those walking boot things, this one is an aircast pneumatic walker. I'm wearing it as much as I can stand, to keep the ankle bent to 90 deg, so that the calf won't heal shortened. I stretch it just a little every day, to the "pain point" where when it hurts, I stop. I hate this darned boot, but on the other hand, if it'll help things heal faster, and save me from having to rehab a very tight muscle, I can live with it. Anyone else did something like this? Any advice?

Restrictions based on age depend on the style/school. In my school, an under 14 is granted a "poom" black belt, a red and black belt, not a "true" black belt. The granting of a "true" black belt comes at age 14 -16. The master instructor decides when it's appropriate.

Damp feet are more prone to blistering. Use some cornstarch powder (NOT talc based powder!!) to absorb moisture. Ideally, switch to sandals an hour or more before class so that your feet can air out and dry out from sweating in shoes all day. The powder is an option if you can't switch shoes. You could also use sports tape wrapped around the ball of your foot, but you gotta use the good stuff that sticks really well. The cheapo stuff just won't hold up for use on feet when you're pivoting on the tape.

Thanks for all the good wishes. Had my test this evening, and passed with good marks. As I suspected, had to test two forms, not just the one for my level. Did Taegeuk Sam-jang and Taegeuk Yuk-jang. (makes you realize why practicing the previous forms all the time is so important) Got to do 360 roundhouse for my board break, and got to do self defense and one step sparring against my classmate of the same rank. We got to choose the one step techniques we did, just so long as they were the advanced ones, not the basic ones. Tiring, but worth it!

Congrats!

Most people don't seem to care much for chest protectors, but they can be a good thing if you get stuck sparring against someone with poor control. That happens. I don't especially care for mine either, I used to train shotokan karate, and all we used was handpads and mouthpieces. However, it has made me glad to have it when facing someone who hits more than with "light contact", thinking they're only using light contact....not! I think a common mistake is with sizing, getting one that's really too big. People who are wider than "average" or taller than "average" probably find it harder to get one that covers the important stuff but still allows movement. If I'm not mistaken, the bottom of the hogu should come to just below waist/belt level, not including the little "dip" part in the front, and the top should be low enough below the armpits to allow free movement of the arms, but still high enough to protect the ribs. Don't forget there's also a couple different types of hogu besides the "puffball" variety and the lightweight extra thin ones. There's also the "instructor" variety which has even more padding than the "puffball" ones. I've seen one, so I know it was THICK. Try moving efficiently in that!

I'm testing on friday for my red stripe, what some might call 5th Gup or 5th Kyu. This is quite an accomplishment for me, since I have permanent damage to one knee which imposes some limits on what I can do. I'm also 34 yrs old. I will be tested on the following: basic techniques, forms - Taegeuk Yuk-jang, possibly required to perform any one of the first 5 forms as well, self-defense techniques, one step sparring, and perform a board break. The "usual" break for red stripe testing is 360 roundhouse, head level. The ranking structure in my TKD school is as follows: Yellow,Orange,Green ,Green/blue stripe,Blue,Blue/red stripe Red,Red w/stripe,Red w/2 stripes,Red w/3 stripes,1st dan black Wish me luck!

Based on my experience with getting one for my son, I'd suggest you get one of the ones with the semi-flexible edges. The very rigid hard edged ones are not so comfortable. My son also preferred the style that fits into a brief, not a jock strap. To me, it looked like a hard plastic cup, but that the edges would have just a bit of "give" upon impact, so that you didn't get hard plastic driven into the edge of your groin. I know it's funny to get a reply from a lady, but just passing on what another male told me.

I've heard of people in their 60s and older starting their martial arts training. I've also seen both spectrums of the physique, "in shape" to the not so in shape. I'm of the latter, trying to improve after several years of downtime due to injuries. I have my disability, but do my best anyway. So, don't let a few pounds stop you from experiencing something new. GO FOR IT!

I'm not very able for the jumping kicks because of my disability, but those who do them in my school seem to have better performance with them when they practice regular jumping to get their height built up before trying to add a kick move to it. Plyometrics, and simply jumping as high as you can from a neutral standing position, landing softly, can help build up the muscles you need to get "airborne". Being able to control your standing jump so that you don't thud down landing takes practice. I used to be able to do this, but not anymore, sadly. 4 knee ops kinda had that effect on me.

I totally agree with the hands up policy. That is the way we train at my dojang. My instructor has an emphasis on self defense, even when we spar. Our sparring is "hands up" and we'll get it pointed out to us if we don't. We also tend to do a bit more punching than I understand most TKD schools do. We also practice blocking. It does you no good in the real world to not know how to effectively block someone's attack, be it kick or punch. Sure, we may not do things the olympic style, but at least one has a better chance of successfully defending oneself in the real world. My instructor likes to emphasize "follow ups," regardless of whether it's a kick or punch, doing something beyond just one technique when sparring or in self defense.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that a first dan is going to be a bad instructor because he's new to teaching. We have always called our instructor "Master _____" . What to call the instructor can vary, depending on the level of formality that person prefers. Respect is the important part, so even if you call your instructor "Mr. ____" that doesn't really matter, so long as it's with respect.

Well, the training of a martial artist includes being able to outthink one's opponent, and to attempt to avoid things coming to a forceful conclusion. "We train to fight so that we don't have to." I personally believe one should try to negotiate one's way out of a confrontation, and only use force if necessary. My instructor is one of those who emphasizes training self defense techniques, and has even "borrowed" some techniques from hapkido, to provide a more rounded set of skills. Due to the nature of our training area, we don't train takedowns and such that often, but often work on things that are very helpful, such as breakaways, etc -- how to disenage and escape if someone has gotten a grip on you, or is trying to. For women and children in particular, emphasizing simply getting away as quickly as possible is often the best way to deal with a much larger adversary, as in the case of attempted abductions. It is not wise to fight back in such a situation, training to escape is much more practical.

Crescent kick w/ right foot then back kick left foot is a good one, as is crecent kick followed by side kick with the same leg.

One of my fellow students had to use one of the self defense moves to prevent a choking hold and to hold the person confined while help arrived. She was able to avoid being injured by a larger person, and was able to avoid hurting that person as well.

No one bothered to mention that one reason some people gag ,is that the mouthpiece sides are too long in the back, or the plastic on the tongue side is too thick. A bit of judicious trimming can fix that. I don't have the biggest mouth, so I tend to cut the back a bit short, so that the last molars arent biting on anything, and that helps stop the gag reflex issue.

My instructor focuses more on do what you can do, as best you can, not making arbitrary standards to pass a test. He's one of the best instructors I've seen with kids, especially those with focus/concentration issues. He has done a lot with some of the really shy kids too, getting them to be a bit more engaged in the activity. I have a physical disability which prevents me from doing any of the jump kicks, and I know I'll never do a flying side kick, for example, and even attempting a jump front kick has unwelcome results for me. My instructor teaches me substitution techniques to use in situations like one step sparring, where I cannot physically perform the usual technique.

How abobut blocking drills? There's a sequence that they go through with the kids at my school, to teach them the basic blocks with both forearms- circle block, high block, inside block, low block, double block. These are run through in this sequence, right side then left side for each block. The older kids are pretty quick at it, after they've been doing it a while. I think its a great drill for the kids, to practice on how to keep from getting hit. They don't do it with adults at my school, but it certainly wouldn't be a bad thing if they did.

what books do any of you use to help learn kata. I use Mas Oyama's Best Karate series, as recommended by my sensei. Any other preferred books out there?

I guess I'm one of those few TKD students whose instructor prefers to approach his teaching of TKD from the self-defense standpoint. Yes, we also do poomse, and some sparring work, but he teaches a lot of self defense in class. He even goes against recommending entering tournaments except for forms competitions. I rather like the "non competition" style of training, as it all doesn't center around how to score points in a match, but more on how to handle being choked or grabbed, that sort of thing, as well as how to apply the "basic" TKD techniques in self defense as well as traditional applications.

One tip I'd like to add is something my sensei taught us. When moving from one move to another, think of it as contraction/expansion. You contract - pulling your hands in to the beginning positions for the next moves, as well as stepping one's feet together, then expanding out into the next move. Keeping the arms and legs together when turning also helps balance and makes turning neater, not to mention clearly delineates the change from one move to the next. This idea can also be thought of as gathering your power for the next strike, block or kick. One thing that I was also taught was a bit regarding timing. Some moves are meant to be performed as individual distinct moves, whereas others are "combinations" executed quickly one after the other, until you hit that natural "pause" in the kata. Speaking of "pauses", if you think about it, a lot of the kata, not just the Heian, but also Bassai, Kanku, Empi, etc, have a "flow" to them, where single moves or combinations "fit" together to help provide that illusion of combat against imaginary opponent(s), which is what Kata are. I have found that some of the best instructors will often take pieces from assorted kata and show them in "stand alone" use, so that you can get a better idea of the application of the specific technique.

My first break in shotokan was an elbow strike and the next was a reverse punch. My first taekwondo break was skip side kick, testing for yellow belt. Next will be axe kick, testing for orange, and back kick testing for green, then roundhouse for green/blue stripe. etc....