tkdrocks

One of my favorites: When your oponent throws a jab: Inner-forearm block, backfist to the head with the same hand. Slide inside and reverse hook punch to the ribs, roundstep behind them and ridgehand to the head with the other hand going away. Finish with a spin heel kick to the head.

I would agree that against the average person on the street, one hard, well placed strike should be the goal to end the fight. However, what happens when you are faced with another skilled fighter that knows how to block or dodge your attack? Most boxers do not gamble on a single blow, but rely on a setup strategy to get them in position to land that devestating strike. In a similar fashion, when facing a skilled fighter, it is desirable to have a strategy. This is the time that I would be prepared to throw attacks in many regions (Multiple targets). If a fighter is expecting a low kick, that is when I can surprise them with a kick or punch to the head. I would not recommend kicking to the head if you are not accustomed to doing this. Another aspect to the single blow fight against a skilled fighter is the percent chance of landing. When I am sparring my instructor, I almost never land the first punch or kick that I throw. However, if I double or triple up my attacks in the middle of a combination, my opportunites and resultant percent landing increase dramatically. I do agree that you should continue hitting until the fight ends. Your article was great. I hope to see more submissions.

Most of our commands are English as well. This is just as well since many of the schools in our region are rather "rural" and "country" I am sure the Korean pronunciations get badly butchered. This part of the country is bad enough on English.

Went through the firearms training last year. I thouht it was very interesting. The instructor (a 5th degree) kept re-itterating that these techniques would only work on a person that was mishandling the weapon. The whole purpose of a gun over a knife is to gain distance. If the attacker is in your reach, he is stupid. In a robbery situation, I would give up my money to the gunman. If it is someone just bent on killing (like a terrorist) I will use whatever means or tools or weapons, chairs, etc. that I can find to get myself and those around me to safety. I like my odds in that situation anyway, cause, I would not have any more to lose than my life anyway.

In our organization, board breaking is required from Red belt and beyond. We use the plastic rebreakable boards for several reasons. They have different colors for different ages. 1. They are calibrated such the same amount of force will always break the board. 2. In order to break, they need to be hit in the center. 3. For testing, you get 3 attempts. A rebreakable ensures that 3 strikes did not break the board, only one. We do not allow anyone to use their fist until they are a 2nd degree Black Belt which the youngest age would be 15. The heal, elbow and ball of foot can deliver a lot of punishment with little risk to injury. In fact, I much prefer breaking boards over holding them while they are broken. Breaking boards really is not a big deal, but the mental aspect of mind over matter is really important. Also, IMO, it does help with technique. A person that is having difficulty breaking a board with a sidekick is probably not chambering correctly or not using their heal or their aim is off. Also, in our testings, board breaking is the last thing we do. So, everyone is very tired after working out, forms, one-steps, 3-steps and sparring. This is another one of the mental aspects focusing when you are exhausted. We do not use a point system. Each person must pass every aspect of their testing. My wife, who is a 1st degree Black Belt always tries to provide drama by waiting until her third attempt to actually break her boards (at least that is what I kid her about).

Racism, no, it has not been an issue in our school. However, we have had to deal with the "perception" of it. Our school has about 200 active students. About 80% are caucasian, the rest are either hispanic, asian or african-american. A few months ago, we were testing 5 of our black belt students to be Assistant/Trainee Instructors. The testing procedure is fairly straight forward: The following had to be demonstrated: 1. All forms up to and including the current one. 2. All one-step sparring patterns. 3. All 3 step sparring patterns. 4. Focus Target precision. 5. Some basic terminology. 6. Performance of combinations given verbally without being shown. 7. Four 3 minute rounds of sparring with proper techniques demonstrated. Four of the students performed all of these tasks perfectly. The fifth student had problems with some of her forms and one step sparring. This student also happened to be an African-American young lady. Everyone is gived 3 opportunities to correct their mistakes. As, we the council, met in the office to discuss who would be accepted as an Assistant Instructor, we knew this was going to be a challenge. The last thing that we wanted to do was soften the requirements because someone might be offended or use the race card. We decided not to pass her at that time. As we walked back into the classroom, the parents of the young lady declared, "You all ganged up on her, didn't you?" The reality was that she was not as prepared as the other students. By making this accusation, all those parents did was devalue the effort put in by the students/instructors that have worked hard to get where they are. I have spent extra time with this young lady to get her ready for her next opportunity to test for that position. I think that she will eventually make a fine assistant instructor, but we would be doing her and our school a disservice to allow her to teach or believe she is ready to teach if we allowed her to pass on a lowered scale.

I have only competed in our organizations closed tkd tournaments. I would love to attend/compete against some other arts. Does anyone know of any open tournaments upcoming?

Speaking of going rough on lower ranks. Thursday night we had our sparring clinic and had a very good showing of 20 students. Our chief instructor was very pleased about that. But, we have this cocky young blue belt (17) that has been warned many times about his contact level. We had some new green belts in class and their first time sparring that were getting apprehensive about sparring because he was trying to crush them. I knew this had to be dealt with, so instead of giving him another verbal warning, I lined up in front of him. After blocking a couple of wildly thrown punches and kicks, I sidestepped and reverse punched him in the gut. I helped him to the office and once again chatted with him about his conduct. Hopefully, knocking the wind out of him will get through where words alone would not. Consequently, this kid will not be testing for rank until he can demonstrate proper respect for his classmates and honor of higher ranks. I am hoping that he does come around, though as he does have some talent.

In upper ranks (I am told) the differences are more mental than physical. In our organization, 5th Degree is considered to be the peak of your physical learning. In theory, a 6th Degree Master will not perform a sidekick any different or "better" than a 5th Degree. The difference is in the application. My instructor explains it in the following manner: "When I spar a 5th degree, when I attack, he blocks and then crushes me. When I spar a Master and I attack, he blocks me while he crushes me."

In our organization, we currently have 2 female masters (6th Degree). At least one of them is a school co-owner. In our Region in Georgia, we have (at least) 2 women school owners. I have sparred the female 4th degree school owner from Columbus, GA. She can rip your head off without any problem and is able to take any punishment that can be given. Her skills are superb. I have found that many of the women in our organization are extremely vicious sparring competitors and I do not mean point sparring, either. With that in mind, I believe it is a dis-service to not spar females as you would a male. In the real world, women get hit hard, they should be prepared for an attack and to be able to defend themselves in a real situation. Otherwise, why take martial arts?

Our classes are scheduled to be 1 hour, but usually end up going over 10 to 20 minutes depending on how much we spar. 10 Min - Stretching/Warm-up 10 Min - Floor Drills 15 Min - Focus Target/Bag Drills 10 - 20 Min Forms training (Kata) 10 - 20 Min Sparring Thursdays - 5 Min Warm-up 55+ Min Sparring

I would also have to define full contact a little better. Us upper ranks to tend to throw harder at each other. With the lower ranks and it is only medium to light contact. Rules (Regular Days): Legal targets are above the waist (except for leg kicks). No strikes to the back either. Anywhere on the headgear is also fair game and encouraged. (We try to avoid the face). (Special Days): Almost anything goes. Elbows, knees, takedowns, 2 or 3 vs 1 sparring. We still try to avoid the face and back though. Thursday Nights are our fight night 60 minutes of continuous sparring. My very favorite night.

How many days per week does your school (full contact spar) A. Every Day the doors are open. B. 3 times a week. C. Twice a week. D. Once a Week. E. Less than once per week. F. Never In our school, we (full contact, not tournament) spar each and every day for at least 10 minutes at the end of class. Every Thursday, we spar the entire class (My favorite night). How often does your school spar and what are the rules that are employed?

I agree, hook kicks tend to be slow when thrown alone. However, if part of a combination, it can be very effective. My favorite method is to throw a round kick and finish with a hook kick (same leg) or hook kick/round kick (same leg). I have found by starting with the round kick, I can add some height to the hook kick as well.

In this situation, I have used an outer forearm block. In some cases this may dislocate the shoulder of the opponent thus ending the fight before it starts.